Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-04-21
ABOUT an hour and quarter after our

ABOUT an hour and quarter dIIef our
start
THAT was one of the weird sensa
tons of the balloon voyage, the don't
know where Il m atneSS' of 1t all. The
thought came to me: Where are we?
How and when are we to get down?
OF course l knew how the landing
would be brought about, and felt no
anxiety about it. On the contrary, as
the earth came nearer l had feeling
just like that when your boat APP
proaches the shore 1t was a feeling of
confidence and safety.
I'm the balloon l felt no wind Nat
urally, for we were moving with the
wind. Hardly breath of air famed
my cheek. There was no sensation of
Increased heat or cold.
AT one time when we We're above
the clouds l heard a noise that startled
me. it was a rushing roar like that of
Niagara. | said we must be over a
waterfall, and large, one, too. and
asked Mr.. Levee to make us descend
so as TO see it. My husband at the
same time thought of a storm and
thought that Il high wind, with rain,
was threatening us. But Mr.. Levee-
see what experience doeS-told us
something more wonderful than either
of us had supposed. The roar was that
of the wind in Il forest beneath us.
You may have heard the same noise in
the woods, but its sound was carried
up to us in the stiffness with far
more impressive effect.
Fear? Absolutely none; not at any
time. l was too busy. i made notes,
took pictures of the car and of my hus-
band and Mr.. Levee. The notes l shall
write up some time. The pictures
there is funny thing to tell about
that To take pictures of each other in
that narrow car we had to stand at OPP
pOsite sides and lean far back over the
edge to get the object and the camera
in focus-at least six feet apart" Mrs.
Thomas smiled unconcernedly when
she said this. And she had done this
at point pretty near mile above the
earth in a wicker basket. 1t was sug-
gested to her that she would not have
cared to lean back of the parapet on
her own roof, perhaps fifty feet above
the sidewalk, TO take a picture.
quite so,' said Mrs. Thomas, "One
lost all sensation of fright, that dread
full involuntary fear of falling which
one feels in looking down from even a
moderately high window. AS the bal
loon neared the grounds that sensation
of height did come to us. DR.. Thomas
says he felt it considerably, but then /
was not looking, bat holding on.
las it was, when we came down the
car bumped against the tops of trees
fifty feet high, and a fall would have
been unpleasant. l didn't see much of
our landing, for L was protecting my
face from being scratched by the
twigs, but in a short time the car and
the gas bag were fiat on the ground.
with hardly a bump. and we We're
rolled out on the ground like dice from
a box. Mr.. Levee is wonderfully clev
er, as that landing showed.
Yes, one can do pretty much as one
pleases in a balloon car. You are not
expected to walk around much, for
changing from side to side .joggles' the
gas out of the bag, and Mr.. Levee had
TO ask DIR. Thomas, who is very ener-
getic and always wanting to do some
thing, to stand more quietly. Another
thing you must not do is throw things
out when the balloon is ascending. It
increases the upward speed too fast.
We did not even throw away the rem
nants of our luncheon of sandwiches
until we were descending. Then we
threw out everything we could spare,
even the luncheon"
Mrs, Thomas is now looking forward
to frequent trips in the big balloon
which is being made in Paris to DR..
Thomas order 1t is expected to arrive
in New York about May 1. In due time
DR.. and Mrs. Thomas expect to invite
their friends-the car will hold five per-
sons-to take sail in the upper air as
casually as others offer n ride in a
brougham or a seat on a road coach.