The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1901-10-03


weight on It. With lurch she nearly
rghted, but only for an instant ant
then went over again, this time goinl
farther than before. Still hung Oh
for dear life hoping that my weight
would straighten us up In a lull, Du'
the next instant the wind, striking tire
canvas on the under side, sent us over
Just how 1t happened, or what my
position was never knew, for ! was
In a confusion Of ropes and ribs and
linen I'm an instant. My fright must
have crazed me for few minutes, al
though 1 stIll chung to the ropes
The first thing can recall after that
was the sense that the wind had blown
the parachute nearly inside out, and
the sharp strain had snapped two or
three Of the cords. So that now we
were a confused mass Of canvas, rain
ropes and man, all flying on tornado
at n terrible rate, and gasping for
breath; and always the earth was
coming nearer,
l imagined saw my body after II
should strike the ground or mud,
shapeless thing, of flesh and bones.
The thought sickened me, and closed
my eyes to shut out the sight of the
dim earth.
1t is amazing how rapidly mans
brain will think In such moments.
No sooner had closed MY eyes than
saw the old homestead In Ohio, look
L. Hf1 4ba yaIohf II laff
II, ten years ago. / saw a boy Of six
teen cautiously crawling out of Sec
ond.story window on TO the porch. On
reaching the edge he easily slid down
one Of the corner posts and landed on
the ground. Here, slipping into his
shoes, he gave one last look at the
house and stole out into the shadows
AID darkness. Just what the next
scene would be cannot say, for was
suddenly twisted in such a way that
nearly all my weight came on one
rope, which instantly snapped and let
one of my feet loose.
This reused me. I seemed to go
down and onward faster than before.
If such thing were possible. Hooked
down and saw the ground not seven
ty-five feet below me- The parachute
was flying over it at great speed. Sud-
denly the ground seemed to rise up,
for the woods had come underneath
me Two or three seconds more and
my brains would be dashed out on
some limb Of some neighboring tree.
I 1erked my other foot loose, so I
could go down feet first; then shut my
eyes as 1 breathed a silent prayer,
just as binding flashes lightened
above me. The next moment, amid
the thunder and a great. fresh gust Of
rain, something seemed to reach up
at me. There was n crash as l met 1t
aud then became senseless.
When | regained consciousness the
Sky was blue above me and the sun
was nearing the horizon in mists OF
great glory. Looking about me found
was lying on or in the balloon, which
had been blown against the top Of a
large, spreading oak in such a way
that the bag completely covered the
higher branches, On this huge can
opy had been flung down, falling
into a sort of hollow between two
branches, or more likely been shaken
into that hollow by the gale as 1t bat
tied with the outspread balloon,
which was much torn in places, and
would probably have been blown
away In shreds had the tornado not
passed so quickly. 1t lasted not twelve
minutes, as | afterward learned. Pos.
slbly | might have dropped right |
through the stuff, but for the fact that
the oak was greatly overgrown with a |
huge grapevine.
AS soon as l tried to Chamber out of
that hollow | found my right leg was
broken, both bones, right here below
the knee; my left ankle badly
sprained, my right side severely
bruised, and every bone in my body
aching from the great Jar had un-
dergone.
For nearly half an hour lay out
on my airy bed, my hands
still entanglef among the ropes, near.
err dead than alive; then 1 heard n
voice shout, Here is b. right over this
big oakg' and I knew search party
had found the balloon. I shouted then.
They were greatly amazed to find me.
as well as my apparatus there. How
did they get me down?
But before he had fairly begun to
explain the process the expected train
the group broke up, and that
was the last heard or saw of the
young parachute jumper. - Youths