Evening journal., 1901-07-30
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OF 10 an Insane Asylum.
Il went up. ina. balloon once, and 1
never want to make,such T1psagain,"
said Colonel A. Noel Brakeman. MY
experience as an aeronaut wasiinfIon-
dom" he continued, ''and It would
never have occurred. butror a friend'I
CHANGED to meet'there. Heswas going
to make an ascent, and'he persuaded
me to accompany him.
'The balloon was IA. feature OF some
big exhibition, andtevery day. It was
inflated and made an ascent, withlfour
or five passengers, in charge of'an ex-
perienced aeronaut. There were about
five in the party the day took the trip.
We got into the basket, which was
boxed in quite high, then let the rope
go, and we shot up about 5000 feet. 1t
was interesting to look down on the
world and hear the noises OF London
streets coming from so far below. The
balloon sailed along smoothly, and we
drifted FOR about eight miles.
1T was when we tried 70 descend
that the trouble began, The method
was 20 throw out anchors as the bal
loon settled toward the earth. The
aeronaut said that when one Of these
anchors caught firmly he would haul
the balloon down 10 the tree IN which
the anchor was expected to become
fastened. This would be done by wind
ing IN the rope ON winch in the car.
We would be expected TO climb out Of
the balloon into The tree, he said and
lac would then take hold Of the valve
rope and. standing a safe distance
away, open the valve. let the gas es-
cape. and the big affair would collapse
and. sink. He informed us that we
must get clear OF the sinking folds. as
they would come down fast. and II
they caught and covered us we would
be I'm an atmosphere Of most poisonous
gas.
All this was very interesting, but
we did not seem to be making very
much progress toward the point where
We would have TO look out for the de-
scending folds of the collapsing bal
loon. The anchors caught in a whole
lot Of trees, but they did not hold. One
would get tangled IN n tree, and then
the balloon would sway far over, tint
ing the basket I'm which we were until
1t seemed that we would be spilled out.
Then the anchor would break loose.
and we would shoot up again.
Il became very tired Of this and told
the aeronaut that 1 thought It was time
to bring the voyage to n conclusion.
He told me If did not like 1t 1 could
jump out. At first 1 thought he was
simply resentful of my remark, but he
said he meant what he said.
"'When the car tits over again, you
climb out ON the edge he said, and let
go. 1t will probably be a plowed field
underneath us, and you won't get hurt
'Woll J did as he suggested. When
the anchor caught again, L climbed out
and hung to the edge Of the car. When
I saw that the car was as low as 1t was
likely to get. let go. dropped about
IL feet, and. as he expected, a plowed
field was below us.
Gas soon as 1 dropped out the bal
loon, relieved Of my weight, shot up in
the air again and scared Off. walked
to the nearest road and continued along
It until came to an inn.
"I asked the landlord how far It was
to London. and he told me It was eight
miles. 1 ordered a carriage to take me
there, and while / was waiting the
landlord asked me where / had come
from.
Il took him to the door of the inn.
and. pointing to the balloon, which was
then sailing along about a quarter Of a
mile above the ground, said, L jump
ed out of that
''The man looked at me in alarmed
fashion, and after had returned to the
sitting room noticed that several peo-
pie peered through the window at me.
'Finally my four wheeler was ready,
and set OF for London. After we had
driven along for half an hour or so the
coachman suddenly turned the horse in
through a gate, and we drove into big
courtyard. / yelled to him and asked
him what he meant, that / wanted TO
go straight to London, but he paid no
attention and slowly circled the court.
When he stopped on the other side, 4
man wearing glasses stuck his head in
the carriage, scrutinizing me closely,
pulled back, said something to the
coachman, and we drove on TO London.
FINALLY we reached my lodgings.
and when we did so the coachman
jumped of the box. ran up the steps
and as soon as his knock was answered
asked il Mr.. Brakeman lived there.
The maid was just answering that l
did when 1 reached the top OF the steps
and collared the fellow.
"'What was that place you drove me
into on our way to LondonY 1 asked
him.
1t was a hinsane hasylum, sir be
replied When you said you had jump
ed out o. that balloon, we thought you
was crazy and maybe you was es-
capped patient from the hasylum.' -
Washington Post