Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-01-12
AERONAUT'S TRIP IN
A ROWLING TEMPEST
Comte de La Vauix's Long to
Be Remembered Ex-
PEI fence.
.ExPECTEDTO
Was Carried Out to Set But by
Caprice of the Elements Again
Brought to Land and to
Safety.
Pnrls Cor. London Globe.

COmte Henry de La kaulN, y Well
known French ]aeronaut, has had many
and various adventures in his day, but
his latest one smaCks somewhat of
vaudeYilIe. He and another a~cronaut,
NJ. Jaubert, went to Algeria to see the
eclipse Of the sun and to take obserya-
tons from their balloon, the Centaure.
The trip was most successful, and
nome very interesting scientific data
were secured. The trouble came after.
When The aoronauts made their de-
scent the natives, thinking he aerial
monster had something TO do with the
eclipse, were at first disposed to give
it's passengers q hostile reception; but
in the end they oVercame their fear
and aided the VOyagerS from the clouds
TO anchor. When Comte de La Naul&
and his companion had made every
thing fast they went off in search Of
Bomething to eat, leaving their photo
graphic apparatus Slung up to the rig
ging of the balloon. The natives"
they argued, ARE so ignorant and SUI
perstitiOus that they will be afraid TO
touch our cameras" But the native
mas a very strong propensity for THEY
bng, and so soon as he had come to
the conclusion that there was nothing
supernatural about the balloon or it's
passengers, he began to look for plum
der. 1t did not take him long to find
it. The result was that when the aero
returned to the Centaure they
found it stripped Of it's Photographic
apparatus. The natives had stolen all
the instruments, and although the
count tried to brighten them by telling
them that in case of ineXpert handling
they would Ego off, with terrible con-
sequences he might as well nave saved
himself the trouble. The instruments
were not returned.
What Comte de La Vaulx himself de-
scribes as the most thrilling of his eX-
periences was the so-called "Concours
de Temple which took place on Au-
gust 26, 1900, when he started in the
Horizon, inflated with $500 cubic yards
Of gas, with a number of other balloons,
in the midst of a tremendous storm.
THE experiment." he afterWard said,
was exceedingly dangerous, and eV-
erybody urged that the balloons had
better wait till the storm was over.
But as Commander Rcnard, who rep
resented the committee OF the Paris
exposition, was absent, ana was re-
placed by NJ. Louis GODDARD, the latter
refused to admit of any delay, and said
that he would not take upon himself
the responsibility of calling off the
competition. / started with NM. GU
det and Lepic, whom / a Vainly
tried to persuade to remain upon the
ground, about Z O'Clock in the evening.
Several of the balloons that had start
cd before me were dashed against the
trees. and the vast crowd assembled
a catastrophe at every moment.
The Horizon set off, happily without
striking any obstacle, and we were
borne westward by a furious gale. The
night was dark. Our ace was from
fifty to sixty miles an hour. and at
$3.50 we were already in sight of the
lighthouse of La Heve.
I'VE expected to be dashed out to
sea, when suddenly a strange caprice
of the wind carried us south, and for
q while we hoped TO keep away from
the coast. But soon after we again
saw lights at AvrancheS n the heavy
surge along the coast, and the sound
of the waves roaring and dashing
against the rocks reached our ears.
My companions grew pale, and | must
say l myself ave up everything for
lost, for to land among these rocks
meant certain death for us all, n our
to sea we could only expect short shrift
in such a bowling tempest. l felt only
one satisfaction-that l had not will
ingly undertaken such a foolhardy ex-
plot, the only one in which l ever in
Cured serious danger, and that another
was responsible. In mother instant
we were over the sea, with immense
pillows rolling below. My companions
remained silent, and we all expected
the worst. But happily luck again ia
vored us.
In the distance we perceived light
houses and the dark outlines of the
coast, toward which we seemed to be
returning. 1t was / o'clock. The ball
loon sped along rapidly, and when l
thought we were again over dry land
L let a bottle fall. / heard it with re-
lief strike the ground distinctly, and l
knew we were saved. l pulled at once
for all l was worth on the escape valve,
and In another moment our anchor
struck the ground. But the race that
ensued was terrific. We were jOlted
and hustled about in our basket a dis
lance of over a mile, in the
striking against branches Of trees, and
each of us holding on TO the car Tor
life. AT last the anchor caught
firmly in a tree. and the balloon itself
was dashed into a grove, where n
silk was torn. and the car landed be-
side a hedge. We had, indeed. a MARI
row escape, and I should not like To
repeat the experience"