The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-11-13
ADVENTURES IN A BALLOON
DR. THOMAS RECENT NARROW
 ESCAPE NOT HIS FIRST.


 looms are Made.
 When the gas bag of the balloon ca vorted up into the air the other day with Dr. Julian P. Thomas tangled in the ropes it but added one more thrill ing experience to a long list previously enjoyed-that's what he says, enjoyed by the gentleman.
 The drag rope has been a prolific source of the adventures. In Appleton s for Novemeber Dr. Thomas tells how he has been nearly killed with kindness kindness and his drag rope:
 The latter is 300 feet long and weighs 75 pounds. One of it's functions is to act as ballast; when it's end drags on the ground just so much weight is. re- moved from the balloon. It also is sort of feeler in fog or at night.
 The objections to it are that it de- stroys property and that in passing over forest it patches in the branches and jerks and rocks the balloon caus- ing the gas to escape and the aero- nauts to become seasick. There Is also the very considerable risk that en- thusiastic spectators will grab it and cause great danger to the aeronaut in their endeavor to save his life.
 Once some eager Brooklynites twisted the drag rope of my balloon around post and dashed my wife and me down on top of church The force of the concussion threw us to our IpaaS i,, +ba bot+o,,, of tho bo eIrar 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 approximations and it was only when the police began to use their clubs that we were finally releas- ed.
 "On another occasion several hum dred persons grabbed the guide rope and caused us to be blown toward four large chimneys belching forth smoke and sparks. The balloon was surround ed by the sparks and it is mystery how it escaped ignition. Fortunately some of our friends were following in an auto and with the help of the police freed us.
 After so many mishaps with the guide rope l devised a contrivance for hoisting and lowering it quickly both to keep it out of the reach of crowd and to raise it when passing over a forest. It is nothing more than a double pulley, but consider 1t per manent improvement in aeronautics.
 Even with large amount of bal last one cannot always control the buoyancy of the balloon. On one oc- casion we were 10000 feet up in the air in the hot sunshine above the clouds.
 A cool current of air struck us and condensed the gas in the balloon, so that we fell into the clouds There, out of the suns rays, we cooled still more, and fell more rapidly.
 l was throwing out ballast all this time; but without stopping our des- cent. Indeed at one time in our fall the sand cast overheard seemed to move upward, at such a tremendous rate were we descending From the clouds We fell into the cool breeze that always blows over forest; and lastly we crossed a river, which added the finishing touch to the condensation of the gas in the balloon
 We threw over all the ballast. the anchor and guide rope, our luncheon and water, the cemera, and all the clothes we should not absolutely need on our arrival on the earth We were 50 rapidly approaching. Nothing seem- cd to check the rapidity of our fall, and when finally we struck In the midst of a forest our legs were doubled up under us in spite of 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-after we had some what recovered from the shock of our alighting- before the balloon would rise so that we could steer it to a suitable place for deflating it. Fully one-third of the gas was lost-or rather it was condensed to two-thirds it's former volume"
 The first cost of ballooning is smaller than that of automobilng, but each ascension costs about $500. The delights of the sport are so intense that in the reaction after they are over the earth seems tame and not worth while.
 One has almost to become accIimated on descending from the high attitudes, for a week after an ascension I have no appetite and am depressed. Inclden- tally l should not recommend balloon ing to person of weak heart or nerves.
 When one leaves the earth the im- pressions come so fast that one can hardly differentiate them. They pro- duce a kaleidoscopic effect A man must stop and concentrate his mind on certain special sensations, or else on returning to earth he will find that 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 earth sinks from you; the houses become tiny boxes, the street lines. and large rivers appear brooks that you could easily jump across.
 The lakes are pools and marshland seems solid. This latter was the cause of my friend Nocquet's landing where he did and sacrificing his life. Forests become smooth like pasture land. Railroad trains are like crawling worms and all the earth sounds even tually cease. At one or two thousand feet you pass the dust line, which is as clearly marked AS fhe line hetvea,, l