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


a cloud to the north, and was struc
" with fear that the storm was abou
II to burst forth,
" almost concluded to drop then ant
+, there, but was not more than 500 fee
e from the earth, and the very sam,
d fear of being taken for a coward whicl
a had sent me up now Kept me ascend
@ Ing. At the same time the cool draf
Of air was carrying me toward the for
K est at no great speed
% But In n few more seconds of ascent
, was out Of that cool space and going
] up through air which had not yet be.
[ gun to share In any degree the south
ward motion Of the advancing storm.
, Up went till had probably reached
1900 feet Of altitude, my usual as
cent. Then the growing cloud in the
north lifted with wonderful speed till
1t spread over the sky above me, and
bright lightning zigzagged down from
the zenith In two divergent streaks.
In the SCATTERING thunder that fol-
lowed I pulled the cord Of the para.
chute and dropped.
Twas not frightened much. I thought
II likely still had time to hoat down
before the coming Of the tornado, al
though l thought 1t must be blowing
hard overhead, The storm was, as it
were, vast advancing hand, half
open, the palm down and the fingers
thrust out above me. The palm or
wrist, I thought, would not reach ne
In air. -'
As the parachute openei out and
my speed slackened began, as usual,
to look out and up for the danger that
threatens a parachute at every descent.
After the parachute is cut loose the
balloon, IL unweighted, will float for
miles out across the country before
finally overturning and tumbling back
to the earth. When 1t has reached the
ground, some one must take a trip to
bring 1t In with team and wagon.
This means loss Of time and money,
to avoid which heavy weight it at
tached TO the top OF the balloon, and
this causes 1t to turn over soon after
It is free,
Now a balloon with this weight at
tached to II is n pretty heavy thing,
and If, in falling, 1t happens to miss
the parachute, all right But IL it hap
pens to crash down into the slow
falling umbrella, It is all over. Moth
ing but a miracle can save the men.
After I had parted company with
the balloon 1t lowered above me for n
little time, as If striving to regain its
balance, then it suddenly turned over.
Immediately the gas escaped out OF
the hole at the top Of the inverted bal
loon, and it began to descend. Slowly
1t came at first, then faster and faster
as 1t grew more empty.
sat In the trapeze watching II so
intently that 1 forgot about the cy-
cionic wind which was threatening
me- Down came the balloon In & zig
gag line. Would 1t strike me? For
rev seconds | could not tell. Then 1t
passed about twenty feet to the right
or me, wriggling and tapping, and at
mat very moment the lightning flashed
terribly again, and such a rafting and
rending thunder sound as followed
Lever heard since nor before. At that
time must have been 800 or 900 feet
above the ground.
Down, down l went! The earth
seemed to be rush up toward me-the
llttle silver streams Of water. the
houses, barns, trees and ponds. The
only thing that was lessening In an.
parent size was the balloon, which
rushed down almost directly beneath
ana away from me, until suddenly It
began to behave strangely. Turning
ana twisting, 1t lay almost horizontal
Tor moment, tIen beIlied ont and
dew southwark.
The tornado had struck IT, Tn nm
instant | understood this. The gale
was below me, whether above me or
not. In very few moments It must
strike the parachute, and felt that I |
was little better than dead man.
Lightning streaked the hidden sI,v
again, and thunder ratified as ~ tbe
bolt had fallen near and while / was
swinging myself up and putting INV
rect on the trapeze bar, grasped with
my hands the iron hoop where rones
are Joined together at the bottom ~
the parachute, and prepared to do INV
pest TO Keep right side up. With a cool
mead and steady nerve, an, aeronaut
can OFTEN save his life by quickly and
carefully working the ropes.
run! and on went my light silk can
The next instan" the wind had sa,1sd
me. 1t came with rain. It struck M
with such force that 1t near
y sent it1oyer Flying along toward
lne SOUTH ! grasped the rope on the
opposite side from which the para