Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-15
BALLOON COLLAPSES
FOUND ON DAIRY FARM AT BEL
MONT, VA.
At First Supposed to Have Been Sent
Up From st. Embellishments
Dispels That Belief.

While Mr.. w. H. Ash. who conducts q
dairy farm at Belmont, Fairfax county,
and Mr.. william Nero, a neighbor. were
standing together in front Of the farm barn
Wednesday afternoon about 4 o'clock, there
came suddenly a whizzing sound from
above and out of the sky dropped a bal
loon, or at least the remnant of an aerlal
yoyager of that description, much the
worse for the buffeting it had received IN
it's flight. The mass of oil silk, twine- net
ting and copper wire spread out on the
ground in hollow, where 1t had fallen De
tween the barn and several large trees. IN
It's sudden descent to earth the balloon nao
escaped collision with the building and
missed the treetops, but when examined py
the two gentlemen it was found, mucn 70
their disappointment, that the basket was
missing.
To a rod at the bottom of the bag was at
tached coil of wire about seventy-f1ve
feet in all, and Mr.. Ash and Mr.. Nero
thought that this had probably been used
for the attachment of the basket. They
had no forewarning of the approach or
their visitor until it cleared the tree tops
and was well on its way to the ground
They were at a loss to know how the CAP
became detached. as 1t was evident that the
apparatus had not until then touched the
earth since the time it was sent up.
After examining the coil of wire it was
surmised that the basket had become loos-
ened in the lurching of the balloon and had
fallen somewhere else.
Balloon Taken to Farm House.
Mr. Ash and his companion gathered the
bundle of miscellaneous material together
and conveyed 1t to the farm house near by
Not being we'll acquainted with the APP
thought at first that. the bag had been
composed of something like oil cloth. and
he was in favor Of casting the entire mass
into the cellar and allowing the incident to
pass as one of the extraordinary occur
repces that interrupt the, monOtony or
every day farm life. But 1t was not so
with his wife. AS soon as Mrs. Ash ex-
amined the fabric she pronounced 1t
most excellent piece OF oil silk goods. DELI
cately woven, SO as to prove exceedingly
strong. At her suggestion the material
was spread out upon bedstead in an up
per chamber, where its dimensions could
be Appropriated.
The balloon was in this room this morn
ing when, upon the invitation of Mr. Ash,
1t was inspected by a reporter for The Star.
Dimensions Of Aerial Visitor.
A rough measurement showed that from
base to apex the bag was about twelve feet
long and about eight feet in diameter at its
widest part. r. =
The strong oil-coated silk was confined
in network Of heavy cord about the size
used in large seines. The net work was
caught together at the bottom to a large.
round stick, something more than an inch
thick and about eighteen inches long. The
copper wire which had been attached to
the stick was composed OF three STRANDS
and was something like an eighth of an
inch thick. There was a long rent In one
side Of the airship reaching. in fact, from
top to bottom. Thirteen seams extending
lengthwise united the material OF the bag.
1911 tv1rx IN he vryoN nj q n YV1a
or a date about the parts OF the balloon
recovered to give its possessor any idea %
to who had sent it upon its mysterious
voyage. The small stick attached bears the
name Of a manufacturing company in Ell
mira. N. Y.
Much regret was expressed by Mr.. and
Mrs. Ash that the basket had not been dis
covered. This was particularly true, as
such a discovery would probably have en-
abled the finders to tell definitely whether
or not the airship was the one sent up re-
Gently at st. Louis. said to be valued at
500, and containing a document which
to the Louisiana purchase exposition, as
we'll as the ownership Of the apparatus.
A Striking Coincidence.
1t seemed a remarkable coincidence that
the airship should have alighted where
1t did. as Mr.. and Mrs. Ash had expressed
desire to capture the handsome voyager
from st. Louis. upon reading in the papers
of its aerial flight and the interest attach
ing to its contents. Nv
Mr.. and Mrs. Ash are still not convinced
that the afrship that has visited their quiet
home on the Potomac is not the prize from
st. Louis.
From the description given Of the latter
balloon 1t appears that the one found Is
rather small, but the measurement made
was only approximate while the handsome
quality of the material, the absence of the
basket and the time Of it's appearance lend
strength to the belief that the two are the
same.
1t was pointed out this morning by Mr..
Ash that the balloon landed just within the
northern portion of the original George
Washington estate, Mount Vernon being
about four miles from the spot The farm
on which its voyage came to termination
is now the property of Mr.. Eugene Frost.