The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1907-03-29

more ana more interest Is DeluS
taken in ballooning in this country as
the time approaches for the great in
ternational contest at st. Louis this
coming summer, and people who have
never had the opportunity of bal
loon journey or who would have
lacked the courage to venture had
the opportunity for fight come, are
eager to read how it feels to others
to be caught up into the heavens and
to be driven hither and thither by the
fitful winds like a bit of fleecy cloud.
Men aeronauts are common and their
experiences have often been related,
but the woman balloonist is still
among the rare things of earth, and
just what the sensations of balloon
ing are to her have not so often
been told. There have been numerous
women parachute jumpers in this
country but few if any balloonists. In
Europe, however, there are several
daring women aeronauts, among
them Princess di Teano. Of her ex
periences she says:
NC utSI SIllhSo OuC
after becoming convert to balloon
ing is the extraordinary ignorance of
everybody in general concerning the
sport. To begin with, an idea firmly
rooted in the human mind is that
whichever way the wind is blowing
and at whatever rate, you must i'm
mediately and inevitably be carried
out to sea and drowned the only other
alternative is that the balloon should
burst in mid-air, and that forthwith
you are landed in fragments on Moth
er Earth. There seems no middle
course available. If you are of an
argumentative turn of mind you will
point out that on a tolerably calm and
clear day there is no reason why you
should not descend before you are on
the brink of the sea, for possessing
eyesight and maps you can scarcely
come on it unawares, and if you start
in gale you know what to expect
and are willing to risk it. Balloons
do not burst through pure contrari-
ness, and only suicidally-inclined
aeronaut would tie up the neck of his
balloon and thus court disaster. If
you succeed in arguing out these two
points, your friends will fall back on
the minor horrors of ballooning.
They will say they are bad sailors
and would certainly be i'll all the
time; besides which they suffer from
giddiness, and would no doubt jump
overheard. OF giddiness / know moth
ing, having never experienced it,
either when ballooning or otherwise;
but as to seasickness I can speak
with assurance, for if anybody was
likely to feel 1t in balloon I should
be the first sufferer. No, it is all COM
fort and peace and perfect rest.
From the moment that the signal
Hands Off" is given and you have
cleared the roofs of the adjoining
houses you may settle down among
the ballast-bags for happy day. The
air is absolutely still, for you travel
with the wind, and therefore do not
feel even the faintest breezes. There
is no sense of motion, of course
how could there be?-for there is
nothing to lar or shake the car. The
world is stretched beneath you as
large unrolled map of which you can
not see the corners.
A few well-known places indicate
your course, and are an cSer-chang-
ing interest.
Sounds reach one from the earth
with curious distinctness. Even at
considerable height I have often
heard a dog barking from what
seemed startlingly nea", when we
were really several thousand feet up,
and a man on a road would only
seem a tiny black speck at that dis