The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-20
THE PRIZE IS WITHHELD
Claimed That the Time Limit
 Was Exceeded.
The Brazilian Contends That He is Entitled to the Reward and M.
 Deutsch Also Shares This Belief.

Paris, Oct 1s-The Santos Dumont air. ship ascended at St Cloud at 2:5S o'clock this afternoon and five minutes afterward began to round the Eiffcl Tower.
 Santos-Dumont completed his trip suc- cessfully, but question has arisen as to WI ether 1t WIS done within the time limit. thirty minutes. M. Deutsch says the aeronaut wop the prize The committee. however. declares that Santos -Dumont took thirty minutes forty and four-sev- enths seconds to make the trip
 Santos-Dumont started at PAP p. m.. rose 25o yards ard then pointed for the Eiffel Tower, the balloon going in q straight line. It was seen through field glasses to arrive at the tower and round 1t. The time. up to Chat point. with the wind in the balloons favor, was eight minutes and forty-five seconds. It re- turned against the wind and made slower headway. but still kept in the true direc- don for St. Cloud, which it reached in the total time of twenty nine minutes fifteen seconds But instead of returning immediately, Santos-Dumont made q broad sweep over the Aero Club grounds, with the result that another minute and
  fore the workmen seized the guide rope Thus, technically, Santos Dumont exceed ed the time limit by forty seconds.
 Given an Ovation.
 The enormous crowd which had gather cd inside and outside the grounds gave the aeropaut a tremendous ovation. As his basket came In speaking distance, Santos Dumont leaned over the side and asked: Have won the prize?'
 Hundreds of spectators shouted. Yes, yes." but the Count de Dion, a member of the committee, approached and threw a damper on the enthusiasm by saying: My friend, you have lost the prize by forty seconds.n
 Numbers of the oniookers protested against this announcement In lively terms, but the Count de Dion said: That is the decision of the committee. in ac- cordance with the rules of the club
 The crowd. however, refused to accept this view. and a warm discussion ensued, many of the spectators taking the ground that Santos Dumont was entitled to the prize because he had reached the ground within thirty minutes, although he had not descended immediately.
 The aeronaut, after protesting against the decision of the committee finally shrugged his shoulders and remarked: Anyway. I do not care personally for the 100000 francs. intended to give it to the poor"
 The crowd persisted in declaring that Santos Dumont had won.
 The number of ladies, who were present, threw flowers over the aeronaut, others offered him boquets and one admirer, to the amusement of the onlookers. even presented him with little white rabbit.
 At this moment M. Deutsch himself ar- rived at the club grounds, having only shortly before that moment reached Paris from Biarritz. He advanced. em- braced Sahtos-Dumont, shook hands with him and said:
 M. Deutsch Magnanimous. For my part. consider that you have won the prize.''
 The crowd then gave the two men 2 great ovation, cheering heartily for San. | tos-Dumont and Deutsch. | Santos-Dumont claims that he won the prize because he reached the park within the time and that the original rules gov erning the contest made no mention o having to touch the ground. The dispute is due to the action of tb' committee which some time ago modified the terms of the contest by inserting thu latter stipulation. Santos-Dumont, at thu time, protested an drefused to be bount by the fresh regulation and on descend ing today, finally declared that he con sidered that he had won the prize ant would not try again.
 If the money was withheld, 1t was no his fault.
 M Desutsch said he would give 25,O0 francs to the poor, notwithstanding thu | decision of the committee, but Santos Dumont declined to accept the offer a: a solution of the difficulty.
 There was a large assemblage of people at the Eiffel tower, and considerable in' terest was manifested in the experiment in other parts of Paris, groups of people | gathering in the streets to watch the progress of the balloon with It's long guide rope hanging and white canvas propellers whirling around, while those below distinctly distinguished the loud ! buzzing of the motor.
 1 Santos-Dumont rounded the Ei1el tower between the second and topmost plat forms at about 75 yards away from the | tower.
 The balloon pitched somewhat when going against the wind and Santos-Du- mont when he descended. said the motor suddenly stopped while the balloon was little distance from the tower. He thought he might have to descend, but 1 luckily he succeeded in getting the machine started again. From that time on the motor worked satisfactorily.