The Sunday globe., 1901-08-04

MN OH, ana tNtuludllg ne was lduutu,
and SO he lived to tell the exciting
story of that night on the waters of the
Mediterranean.
1t was Sunday morning in the pleas.
ant city of Bordeaux, France. For
some days previously the inhabitants
of the city had been excited over the
announcement that an Englshman,
Lieutenant Gale, would on this partic-
ular Sunday make a sensational bal
loon ascent The novelty of the en-
tertainment consisted in the fact that
Lieutenant Gale would dispense with
the usual car and would ascent seated
on the back of pony.
Thousands of excitement loving
Frenchmen and FrenchWOmen assem-
bled hours before the time fixed for
the ascent. at the Hippodrome Vim.
cennes. Everything was favorable for
the event The balloon, known as the
Royal CremOrne was filled with gas,
and when Lieutenant Gale appeared
accompanied by the pony, cheers rang
out far and near.
At last all was ready. The pony
was securely lashed TO the ropes at.
tached to the netting, and Mr.. Gale
took his place on its back. The stem.
torian order to let go was uttered, and
up shot the balloon. Gale was seen
seated gracefully on the animal, the
bride i'm one hand, while he saluted
the spectators with the other A shud-
der OF fear went through the crowd as
the pony made an effort as if to free
itself, but its rider was perfectly calm
and collected. Slowly the balloon sail
ed away. and some distance from
Bordeaux IL was observed to be de-
scendiug. Skillful aeronaut as he was,
Gale brought the balloon safely to the
ground, where it was held by over a
hundred peasants by whom it was
eventually secured to a tree.
The pony was loOsened, and then
terrible thing happened. Relieved Of
the weight of the animal the balloon
made an upward dart. Gale was hang
ing on to one of the ropes and before
the peasants could lay hands on the
netting the grappler attached to the
car was dragged out and the unfOrtun-
ate aerOnaut was whirled aloft, hang
ing with both hands TO the frail rope
The Mortified OHlOokeTs could do moth
ing They saw the whlrling figure Of
the ballOOnist as he made frantic ef-
forts to climb up the rope. They saw
him spin this way and that, and, spell
bound. they watched for that critical
moment when nature must give out
and the wretched man must come tum-
bling down TO his doom.
The balloon reached a height of over
1000 feet and swept along for dis
tance of two miles What must have
been the agony of the doomed man
dangling from that rope? What
thoughts must have coursed through
his brain as his arms seemed slowly
but all too surely drawn from their
sockets, 1t seemed hours that he hung
there. but il was only a few minutes.
Bit by bit the rope slipped through his
fingers. He could holu on no longer.
A last shrek of despair, and he feels
himself hurled down, down to his
death. His mangled body was not dis
covered for some days afterward and
when it was the spectators We're horri-
fed at the terrible nature of the iniu-
ries received.
We return now to our own cOHti-
uent. and find the City of Mexico agOg
with excitement. Ii is announced that
the American parachutist, Professor
Carter. is TO make a descent from the
/ ..|NAr. ANI.IH |IlAI 'NN has Ntl A'A Al
rived from the States, and unfOrtun-
ataly his tried -ud trusty attendants
are not with him Knowing the risky
nature of his business, he is reluctant
/ to rely ON local aid to get the balloon
and the other apparatus ready, and
/ proposes a pOstpOnement. The man
agement. however will hear nothing of
it, The eNcitable MeXicans would
. r.vgrF1ieal
tertainment did not come off, With
many misgiyings therefore, Carter
. sets 90 work TO get the balloon ready.
CartaTs preparations are hurried in
/ the extreme and he is glad at length
when the balloon is filled and held
/ down by hundreds of willing hands.
/ He takes his seat on the trapese bar,
/ for he has no basket, and looks up to
/ see that the parachute, by which he is
/ TO descent. is in its place Then he
. gives the signal 10 let go, and with a
/ bound he starts on his upward journey.
/ He commences presently to go through
his performance, which consists of
. some trapeze acts, and as soon as these
are completed he prepares for his great
. dive from the clouds. First of all
/ he carefully examines the parachute,
anu N." I'NI -A wv 'bIh ~ lAA lAI III
. when ho sees that some one has de-
tacher the thin cord which should have
held the top of the parachute 10 the
netting of the balloon. What to do at
the moment he cannot decide The
/ balloon is already getting higher and
higher n he cuts away the other
. ropes of the parachute it will collapse
/ underneath him and he will fall into
. Er..f..H Of .r.ranIfrFFr 4hlVn
him
. But something must De done. other
wise he will risk the balloon collapsing
and so euveIOping him that escape
would De impossible His mind is
soon made up. He viii throw himself
/ from the bar. hoping that by making
/ "a good spring he may clear the over.
hanging folds Of the parachute. He
/ falls clear of the folds, and for some
/ distance drops like a plummet. The
earth IS rushing mp 10 him with light.
uiug.'ike rapidity VIII the parachute
never open, All seems lost, when Of
. o. sudden the horrible fall is arrested
and with @ great crack the parachute
. opens.
Carter gazas aloft The parachute
. is open it Us true. but only partially so.
Then Doe notices O. rent that is getting
. gradually bigger and bigger, while
/ several of the ropes are entangled. AL
. though bis headlOng fan has i'm some
. measure been stopped, he knows that
unless the ropes can be disentangled
. Doe win probably bo dashed 20 pieces.
1e shakes the ropes. but too late, The
earth scars mp toward him. His body
. strikes it with q great thud ana re-
..r.1 10
toward him from all directions. II is
/ impossible that he can live they all de-
. clare
But live he does. though it is by a
miracle. His spiue is broken, all his
/ IL - 49,. Ill. LnLM LLIaL. MnIL