The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-04
ACCIDENTS MAR
THE CLOSING DAY
Jockey. Loop the Loop Man
and Aeronaut Are In.
jured

Accidents, with death defeated bv a
narrow margin, marked the closing day of
the minnesota state fair. > The fall and
INJURY OF Arthur Jones, a jockey, in the
sleepiechase race. the miraculous escaDe
Oh Bapcock, the loop the-loop man. and
an accident that befell Aeronaut T. F.
Nelson as he descended in parachute
were sights that thrilled the SPECTATORS.
None of the accidents resulted fatally,
though all of the victims We're more or less
injured
The first accident occurred in the stee-
plechase race. Young Jones, mounted ON
SnoWdr1ft. was riding easily until the
second obstruction was reached AS the
Jump was made his horse stumbled and
the rider was thrown heavily to the track.
fortunately he was thrown clear of the
horses behind and escaped with severe
bruises.
Ropes Fail to Work
Babcock, the loop-the-loop man, was
equally fortunate in escaping serious in
jury, though that he did is a miracle All
went we'll with him as he made the dan
erous descent down the inclined pIane
ana around the loop. The jump across
the open space was made successfully and
the wheelman dashed at terrific speed into
the rope that had been stretched across
the runway to stop him. The rope runs
On two pulley blocks and is supposed TO
give as Babcock strikes it, In some
way yesterday afternoon the rope became
tangled in one of the pulley blocks so
that the give was only on one side.
For this reason the wheelman was
thrown violently to one side and to pre-
vent himself from being dashed from the
platform Babcock threw himself from the
bicycle and was hurled with great force
to the floor.
The crowd held its breath for an in
slant until Babcock was seen to arise and
walk away unaided. He suffered only
bad bruises.
= With these two sensations to feed upon
the spectators gazed anXiously as prepa-
rations were made for the balloon ascen-
sion. 1t seemed almost fatal certainty
TO many that something would happen.
The huge canvas bag carrying the daring
aeronaut rose slowly and sailed high into
the heavens while those below watched
spellbound and in dread But in a mo-
ment apprehension vanished, as on preced-
ing days, and every eye was eagerly
strained to watch the parachute descent.
'Why Doesn't He Jump"
But as the moments passed a groan
escaped those who had witnessed the
same performance earlier in the week,
and instantly it became known that
something was wrong and none could
answer the query: "Why doesn't he
jump"
IluuuIeuS OF IeeC ABOVE ana SAILING
rapidly eastward the aeronaut who looked
the size of pins head could be seen
Juggling at ropes, though what the diff
ficulty was none could conjecture.
At last the parachute was loosened and
sigh of relief came from the standing
multitude in the fair grounds.
For a hundred feet or more the descent
was like a bullet from a rifle and then
the white canvas spread and danger
seemed to be over. The crowd became
disinterested until, in another moment
Look! LoolxI'' was the cry repeated
from thousands of threats as the para
chute was seen to sway violently from
side to side and the aeronaut seemed in
imminent danger of being hurled a thou
sand feet to the ground.
Swings in the Air
| Like a huge pendulum the trapeze-
/ like contrivance on which Nelson was
perched swung to and fro. The crowd was
| dizzy with horror. Now almost horizontal
| on one side and then on the other the
! trapeze swayed while in response to the
| movement the parachute swerved and
| seemed almost to collapse.
The velocity of the descent was terrific
And as the speck in the distance dangled
on his perch over a mile away, there
were few who believed that he could es
cape death or serious injury. S..
A dozen messengers rushed from the
fair grounds to the spot where the aeros
naut landed, and the tidings that he wak
not fatally hurt brought relief to thoS&
who waited and expected a different re=
port.
The trouble was caused by disadjusted
ropes. Nelson the aeronaut, while bads
ly bruised, was not seriously injured.