The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-02
ADVENTURES
 IN A BALLOON
pn. THOMAs.s REGENT MARROW
 ESCAPE NOT HIS FIRST.
People who Grab the Drag Rope-Trou- bIe when Balloon Takes Cold. Sensations of Rn Ascent.
 Earth Seems Tame
 Afterward.

the ropes ft but added one more thrill | ling experience to long list previous ly enjoyed--that's what he says, en- ioyed-by the gentleman.
 The drag rope has been a prolific | source of these adventures In <-opie- | tohss for November Dr. Thomas tells | how he has been nearly killed with kindness--kindness and his drag rope. |
 The latter Is 800. feet long and | weighs seventy-five pounds. One of its | functions is to act as ballast; when ] It's end drags on the ground just so | much weight is removed from the bal | loon It also Is a sort of feeler in a | fog or at night
 The objections to 1t are that 1t de- | stroys property and that in passing | over forest 1t catches in the branches and jerks and rocks the balloon, caus- { ing the gas to escape and the aeronauts to become seasick. There is also the very considerable risk that enthusias- tic spectators will grab 1t and cause great danger to the aeronaut Tn their andeavor to save his life.
 Once some eager Brooklyniteb twist ed the drag rope of my balloon around post and dashed my wife and me down on top Of a church. The force of the concusslon threw us to our knees In the bottom of the basket. Looking up we found directly In front of us the cross on the steeple. We. were then dragged on down to the ground in spite of our congratulations and 1t was only when the police began to use their clubs that we were finally released
 On another occasion several hundred persons grabbed the Yuide rope and caused us to be blown toward four large chimneys belching forth smoke and sparks. The balloon was sur rounded by sparks and 1t Is a inys- tery how it escaped ignition. Forto- nately some of our friends were fol- | lowing in an auto and with the help i of the police freed us.
 1 After so many mishafps with the I guide rope I devised a oontrivanee for hoisting and lowering ik quickly, both | to keep it out of the reach of a crowd and to raise 1t when passing over a forest. It Is nothing more than dou- ble pulley, but I consider 1t q perIua- nent improvement in aeronautics.
 Even with a large amount of ballast one cannot always control the buoy ! ancy of the balloon. On one occasion wo were 1o.800 feet up in the air In the hot sunshine above the clouds. 4 cool current of air struck us and condensed the gas fin the balloon. so that we fell into the clouds. There out of the suns rays, we cooled stip more, and fell more rapidly.
 I was throwing out ballast all this time. but without stopping eur descent Indeed; at one time in our fall the | sand I cast overheard seemed to move upward. at such tremendous rate | were we descending. From the clouds we fell into the cool hreeze that al- ways blows over @ forest, and lastly we crossed a river, which added the finishing touch to the condensation of the gas in the bnlioan.
 We threw oyer all the ballast, the anchor and guide rope, our. luncheon and water, the camera, ana ali the 1 clothes we shsuld not absolutely need on our arrival on the earth we were | so rapidly approaching. Nothing seemed to check the rapidity of our fall, and when finally we struck in the midst of forest cur legs were doubled up under us in spite nf the protection afforded us by the basket.
 I should have had to throw my brother overheard, too, to have kept
 in the air, and indeed, he had to get out of the basket--afterward we had some what recovered from the shock of 3ur alightlng--before the balloon would rise so that we could steer 1t to suit able place for defiating it. Fully one third of the gas was lost--or rather 1t was condensed to two-thrds It's former volume
 The first cost of baliooning is small Ter than that of automobiling, but each ascension costs about $500 The 1 delights of the sport are so intense that in the reaction after they arc over the earth seems tame and not worth while.-
 One has almost to become acclima- ted on descending from the high alti- l tudes; for a week after m ascension I have no appetite and am depressed, Incidentally I should not recommend balloonjng to a person of weak heart | and nerves.
 when one leaves the earth the im- l pressions come so fast that enc can 1 hardly differenttate them. They pro- duee kaleidoscopie effect A man must stop and concentrate hAs mind on certain special sensations, or else on returning to earth he will find that l he has no sensation in particular to tell about.
 There Is the impression of the crowd of people shouting and waving their hands. Before you realize 1t they have vanished as individuals. The il earth sinks from you; the houses be- come tiny boxes, the streets lines, and large rivers brooks that you could easily jump across.
 The lakes are pools and marsh land seems solid. This latter was the cause of my friend Nocquett's landing where he did and sacrificing his life. Forests become smooth like pasture land. Railroad trains are like crawl ing worms and all the earth sounds
 
 sand feet you pass the dust line which l Is as clearly marked as the line be- tween the water and air.
 As high as two ,Aousand feet thers are still frequently seen butterflies, mosquitoes and other insects. Re- markedly beautiful effects of clouds are seen from the balloon. They often seem like snow banks, and their edges are always bluish like water and ever give the aeronaut the sensation Of ap- preaching the ocean.
 When in the clouds you can sec only 1 the basket and its occupants; and sud- l denly pass out of them to find that 1 you are driving straight into a noun | tain reak, as we did once. If you 1 stay in the fog there is nothing to warn you of such a danger exoeFt the l roaring the wind in the tree tops. and a quick casting out of ballast may. be necessary to save you from balloon wreck on the crags.
 It may interest the reader to hear somethlngs about the construefien of hig modern balloon and it's equip- ments. 1t Is made or what is kn VII as balloon cloth, which sometimes is of silk and is sewn in small sections of about a yard square. so that if one of the sections should burst the whole balloon would not collapse and destroy . the aeronaut.
 At the top of the bag is the valve to let the gas out when one wishes to dascend roDe for OpeninE if rms 1