Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-23
e mountain, its drag rope almost striking

the mountain, Its drag rope almost striking
the trees.
Much Of the way up to this stage of
the pursuit the balloons were SO close to-
getner that the occupants could shout
greetings. 1t was not necessary to resort
to the Morse "wig-wag" signals which had
been agreed upon.
At 11:42 the Centaur was directly over
Petersburg, N. Y, but so high In the air
that 1t looked little bigger than a hens
egg. Knight caught sight Of it, turned into
a cross road, and sped on. Half a mile be-
hind him were Mr. Bishop and Archibald
of the Centaur. and seemed to be descend
Ing, until Aeronaut Stevens flung two bags
OF ballast overheard.
Mr.. Minahan next received word from
BERN, N. Y, that the balloons had been
sighted about noon. They had been turned
to northeasterly course and were making
toward Massachusetts, where they were
next reported at Williamstown at 1920.
Knight, still leading the pursuing autos,
was nearly half an hour behind the bal
looms at this stage of the chase. The bal
looms struck a breeze due north, which car
ried them across the Vermont line, and
they were reported from Pownal. VT. at
From Bennington, VT, and two nearby
settlements. phone calls came to Mr.. Nina
han shortly before 1 o'clock from Oper-
atorS, who were so excited that they could
scarcely be understood. They reported that
two balloons were falling SO swiftly that
the aeronauts must have met with acct
dent
Subsequent information proved that the
swift descents were under control of Stew
ems and Walsh. The Centaur had decided
to alight, and spot near the military
monument near Center Bennington was
chosen. Knight, four miles away, had
caught the move and put on his top notch
of speed. Four miles further back, plug
ging doggedly on, but out of the running
were the other autos. The Centaur alighted
safely at 1:20 near the monument, a hum
dred Vermonters assisting the aeronauts by
clinging to the drag rope. LOrient swoop-
ed downward near the outskirts of Ben
nfngtOn until a farmer Of the name of
Jones heard the cries of Capt. Hedge and
Aeronaut Stevens. A note f1uttered earth
ward, and Jones secured 1t. 1t had been
hastily written, and read:
Finder of this note please call Prop
Minahan of the Wendell Hotel Pittsfield
Mass. and tell him Centaur is landing on
hillside two miles east of Bennington. We
can see them now. Stevens and 1 are still
up. HEDGE"
Balloon Wins the Contest
In the final squirt to be in at the kill"
Knight sacrificed three chickens on the
highway. nearly collided with a hay wagon.
and reached the Centaur nearly an hour
after it had touched earth. Under the rules
of Saturdays contest an auto to win the
twenty minutes of its aiighting.
L'Orient. after dispatching the note,
raised In the air. and continued it's upward
flight until It had reached an altitude of
nearly three-quarters of a mile. Capt.
Hedge said later that the earth was then
shut from view by statum of gorgeously
tinted clouds. The thermometer registered
no. and Capt. Hedge was so oppressed by
the heat that he had to lie down in the
bottom of the basket. Aeronaut Stevens
also suffered greatly. and started the de-
scent The first gimpses of scenes below
disclosed woods and mountain land of the
most rugged character. Stevens lost no
time In lowering L'Orient. and the balloon
safely at 4:30 p.m on a mountain side
near Jamaica, VT. about twenty-seyen
miles from Brattleboro. Farmers drove to
their assistance, and after L'Orient had
been Debated 1t was carried to Jamaica,
whence 1t will be shipped to New York to-
morrow.
Maj Reber and Capt Chandler sent
word from Bennington tonight that their
trip had been entirely successful They
said that their apparatus had worked per-
fectly and that the ascension and pursuit
had proved valuable test. the merits of
which they will report to the government.
They said that the descent had been made
near Bennington because at that stage of
the journey the purposes of the ascension
had been accomplished.