The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-08-08
BALLOON BLEW UP
Santos DumOnt Narrowly Es-
capes Death in Paris
In Attempt to Win Prize Of
100000 Francs.
WENT AROUND TOWER.
Balloon Was Then Struck by a
Gust of wind
Which Resulted in Collapse OF
the Whole Thing.

Paris. Aug S.-Santos Dumont start
ed from st. Cloud at 6:lO a. m. amid
hearty cheers in another attempt to
win the prize offered by NJ. Deutsch.
His initial movements We're promising
as the balloon turned around Einel
tower, in minutes and "a seconds after
starting and reheaded for St Cloud.
Just over the Avenue Henri Marcen.
however. a strong gust of wind struck
the aerOstat. which veered violently to
one side almost simultaneously bound
ing backwards a distance OF so yards.
The hydrogen gas was forced from the
front to the back part of the balloon.
creating a sudden expansion which
caused the machine to dip. Her screw
touched the steel cords and broke them.
M.Santos Dumont Immediately stopped
the motor and the balloon began TO de-
scend. Unfortunately the cover of the
aerostat struck the corner of six
story building. A report like the shot
of a cannon followed The balloon col
lapsed and fell rapidly. Luckily the
frame caught on the coping Of the
building and the balloon remained sus-
pended, otherwise Santos Dumont
would have been killed AS it was the
aeronaut hung in a most dangerous pc
sition in nid-air for half an hour until
DX a great effort he succeeded IN CalIM-
ing the iron bar of a window to which
he clung until rescued with some diffl-
Guilty by the use of ropes.
The balloonist escaped without a
scratch however. The explosion of the
balloon attracted enormous crowds and
the reception of Santos Dumont on
reaching the street was most enthus-
iastic, many ladies clinging to his neck
and kissing him repeatedly.
AS NJ. Santos Dumont superintended
Il
was quite ready to recOmmence opera
tions.
M. Deutsch, who offered the prize OF
100000 francs for the rounding of Eilel
tower. and the return to the starting
point within a given period of time was
so affected by the danger that Santos
Dumont had passed through that he
told him that he would rather present
him with the prize at once than to see
him kin himself with his experiments.
but the balloonist replied that he had
rounded Eiffel tower in such short
period of time that he considered the
result too satisfactory to permit the
REIMBURSEMENT of his attempts in the
future.
NJ. santos-Dumont gave the following
account of his trip:
This time it is not the fault Of the
motor, which worked admirably. It
was the balloon which caused the ac-
cident. I rounded the Eiffel tower with
admirable speed as nAu a favorable
wind and was already returning over
the BOis De Boulogne when the wind
freshened suddenly and struck me side
ways. Like a ship in a storm the ball
loon pitched and rolled, now and then
recovering its normal position. AnOth-
er sudden veering of the wind caused
the front of the balloon to pitch down
wards and the ropes caught. The bal
loon wires broke. I saw the danger ana
my only thought was to descend as
quickly as possible. This I was doing
successfully but I was driven by a con-
trary wind in the direction of the Eiffei
tower, again the breeze veered and
threw me against a building. The bal
loon burst like a toy balloon the frag-
ments, completely covering me. The
rest you know. I am unhurt have
not a scratch and will soon recon-
mence. The motor is uninjured. I
have worked it for ten minutes. / will
now send it to st. Cloud and set TO
work repairing the balloon"