The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-11-15
ev e ~EResLoEH.

Cuc flight. which came to an end al
6 a za. "Wednesday. was one OF the
pleasantest ] have ever made. Al the
same time il was my longest, so Tar
rs distance and time are concerned. j
can say that the race vas a decided
success. Whether we won it or not
j don't know. Ii we did, we are thank
fui, and il we did not it was no fault
Of ANYBODY On the Pornmern, for She
is one ,of the finest balloons a man ever
sailed III.
Before saying anything about the
trip. j want to say that too much credit
cannot be given Ito my ii.
II. clayton. meteorologist of the Blue
Hin observatory, ,near Boston. Direc-
tor A. J.. Roach of this observatory
Was TO have gone up with me, but a
change was decided upon at the last
and Mr.. Clayton came along.
He is not only an expert meteoroloElst
but an excellent companion.
lie was also an ideal assistant 40 an
a%eronaut. for he is neither too tall nor
too small and does not weigh too
lnueD, and in q race every ounce
counts.
Nor Race Six Weeks Age.
Our balloon. named the Tomlneln,
Of Pommern, won the first prize dur
ing The recent International race al
Brussels. just six weeks ago. l MAS
in the balloon then and we sailed $50
miles .a,ld were in the air ty- nine
hours. The trip just ended was a
much longer one, for we remained IN
the air forty hours and covered more
tear LOO miles. although we can oua
Only about $50 =" the di-
Real distance between st. LOUIS and
AsbulN Park.
Our outfit WAS very slender. beeouse
We wanted to carry as little weight as
possible. We We're out to win the race,
and therefore had to put up with IN
convenlences. The food was garfield AZ
.Wo hampers which we used as seat,
in ihe basket. We had tea and coffee.
bread, chicken end mutton stew We
also carried mineral water and Il few
bottles OF vine. Oh, we did not far
badly ut all in the air as far as the
food question was concerned. we mao
our three meals q day just as regular
as +~,loakwork. Me had tin dishes and
knives and forks and spoons; III fact,
everything that one can want on Il trip
like tile just concluded.
GarriAd .~Sunbonnets.
We also had n .h~arograph, which had
b-e.a sealed. "a thermometer, an instru-
position of the stars. maps n charts
of The United States, two s~oveiooats.
and shawis With which we covered our
legs after the sun had set ard what
you might call sunbonnets.
We were both pretty well s~unburTsed.
The sun rays at high altitude are Very
hot. snd they blister the kin in q
short time. Ne had several small and
one large electric lamp. No lights
were carried because we could not af-
ford to Ana We any Are An the balloon
When we left st. Louis we had forty
one bags Of ballast, each weighing 100
pounds. The sand had been sifted care
fully and dried in an oven. This MAJ
done 10 prevent it iEEom freezing ia a
high altitude.
have been asked whether we were
surprised when we landed on the At
lantic ecast and whether il was not due
Ia am accident that we came east
ward.
Planned the Course.
That is not SO. h we were about
OF start from ST. Louis we sent. up
snal pilot balloons 10 aearn Just how
The currents were setting add where
they were strongest. Mr.. Clayton
proved his great value there and Then.
While he a v ana DE- q balloon as
.eraion before. he was Familiar through
study with ali abe air tricks and there
fore soo~ learned that the current away
up WAS stronger tina in the lower re-
Eiona and al the higher altitude the
current was setting in an easterly di-
Tts.1lOn.
1.-The east for ours" he said. We
figured that With good tuck and careful
watching we might land in the New
England states. Mr.. Clayton was eager
to land somewhere near Boston. l