Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-02

| coast at ten minutes past ~ o CLOCK he
| Channel was crossed safely, the English
! side being reached at ten minutes past
| o'clock this morning. Everything went
smoothly, NJ. Won Willer stated, and they
| travelled north until about o'clock, when
| they the Humber ahead and the North
| sea to the eastward of them
| Being afraid Of being driven out to sea,
| they determined to land and let go the
graphing iron: tnfortunateiy, gust OF
| wind caught them and drove them fu-
| rouSly over number of fields, the anchor
| failing to catch anywhere.
| 1T was a trying time he remarked,
| but ultimately caught q garden gate,
and, coming up against the side of house,
| we struck, the car on one side and the bal
| loon resting on the other side of the house.
The chimneys and roof were damaged and
| also other portions of the building, but we
| were very glad to climb from the basket on
| to the roof and then to terra firma by
| ladder. This has been the most exciting of
| my thirty descents, while Lieut.. Giannette,
! who has made seventy descents, has had
| nothing to equal it,
Nobody Was Hurt.
Happily, neither was hurt. The failure
of the anchor to catch hold was the cause.
NJ. Won Willer said, of the accident which
will prove costly matter. the balloon
being damaged, as well as the buildings
| the occupants of which received the rudest
| shock of their lives. The scene of the
! aerial wreck visited by large crowds.
NJ. Won Willer said they had never ascer-
| tanned their correct bearings When the
Humber showed ahead they mstook it for
| the sea, and consequently decided to de-
| scend.
| Mrs. Rooley. across whose house the
Ellie descended. was washing I'D the dinner
pots when she heard the crash, which made
her think an earthquake had struck Lin
colnshire. She dared not go to the front
as She thought the house was falling in,
and when she went to the back door she
found, her escape barred by the top part of
the balloon.
Woman's Narrow Escape
| The woodwork in front of the house was
| shattered, and the rope attached to the bal
| loon tore away a considerable quantity of
| brickWork and thing. A woman in the add
| joining garden narrowly escaped being
| smothered under the falling network
Various claims for damages were pre-
sented to the aeronauts, who promptly met
them, and later in the day left with their
balloon for London and Paris The dis
lance travelled is 600 kilometers, about 400
miles.
The Valhalla descended at half-past
o'clock this afternoon at Walsingham, in
Norfolk. The aeronauts reached the French
coach at point between Fecomp and ST.
Valery-en-Caux at 1 o'clock in the morn
Ing. Reaching the English coast they
passed over Brighton at o'clock in the
morning, and crossed the Thames at ebert
sey, thence drifting in a straight line to
Walsingham. They decided to descend. for
the reason that the sea was only four
miles to the northward
Had Many Adventures.
One of the competitors had an exciting
experience at Alton about o'clock this
morning. A thick fog hung over the town,
and the rope caught in the wires in hop
garden. Getting free the balloon sailed
over the town. The rope got entangled
with telegraph and telephone wires, bring
ing them down.oIt then twisted round a
chimney pot, but the balloon was released
by the rope being cut. 1t was soon lost
again in the fog.
The Montauer descended at half-past
O'Clock this morning at Rumboldswyke;
near Chichester. The aeronaut states that
the wind swept him over the channel, and
he feared that he would be carried out to
the Atlantic. The wind changed. and about
4 o'clock in the morning the English coast
doomed UP in the moonlight. He came
down by graphing tree, and Immediately
took a train for London. He saw nothing
of his rivals. The time of the voyage was
twelve hours from France. He descended
safely near Singleton Station, some six
miles north of Chichester, before noon to-
day. The aeronaut sent his balloon back
via Newhaven and went on to London.
Mr.. Wellman's Opinion.
Mr.. Wellman, who proposes to go to the
north pole by balloon, stated to the Lon
don Tribune that he was much Impressed
by the good qualities of the Walhalla.
Speaking of the United States, the Ameri-
can balloon, he said the pilot, Lieutenant
Lahm, was accompanied not by Mr.. Levee,
as reported, but by Major Hersey, Mr..
Wellman's prospective companion in his
voyage to the pole. Major Hersey has made
seven balloon ascents unaccompaned, and
his kill and sangfroid and equal to any
aerial exigency.
Mr.. Wellman is in favor of waterproof
cotton for balloons, because it offers the
greatest resistance to dampness and
changes of temperature. He does not think
the motor propeller attached to Mr.. Santos
Dumonts car is of much practical utility.
Mr.. Percivial Spencer. head of a well
known firm of aeronauts and balloon manu.
facturers. stated:
Il am quite satisfied with the progress Of
the race. AS far as it has gone it has DEM
onstrated once more the merits of the old
fashioned style of balloons. The great de-
sideratim in an ordinary balloon is
strength, lightness and buoyancy. combined
with maximum comfort and ballast carry
ing capacity. The less complicated the bet
ter 1t is. Any addition in the way of steer
ing or propelling mechanism necessarily
adds to the weight and seems to be In an
ordinary balloon step in the wrong d.
- x,,+h.r naua NJ Mr. Rolls was re-