Evening journal., 1907-10-23

They veered off in a southeasterly
direction, and their endeavor was to
reach the Atlantic coast. they said
When they passed over Dover they
found that the wind was changing,
and observing the great cxpanse of the
Delaware Bay before them they de-
cided thatit would. be too great a risk
to float out over the lay and take
chance Of being swept southwark to
the ocean. The bay is thirty miles
wide opposite Little Creek. so they Se-
cided to descend before reaching the
bav instead of continuing and trying
to land on the Atlantic coast.
Anchor Dragged Three Miles.
They let their anchor drag for three
miles. and finally it caught in a corn
field on the Ward farm. tenanted by
W. f. DENLY. at Little Creek. just one
mile from the bay shore, The descent
was made without any trouble. and af-
ter the gas escaped from the big hag
1t was folded carefully by the daring
German air navigators and packed for
shipment to New York. Before it
could be loaded into a farm wagon
hosts of folks from the surrounding
farms ana the advance guard of Dover
residents. who drove out in carriages,
arrived at the Ward farm and con-
graduated CAPTAIN Won Abercrom AMI
Captain Heideman. who stood proud
and erect in their bright German uni
forms. DESPITE the fact that their feet
had not touched the earth for nearly
two DAYS.
Captain Heideman got into the car
riage Of Colonel w. ID. Denney and
Ridgely Harrington. of Dover. who
volunteered to take him to that town.
They had not gone far when their
horse became frightened and ran away.
Colonel Denney and Mr Harrington
leaped from the carriage into a hedge
but Captain He efsman plucldly re-
manied in the cf~iage and tugged at
the reins Of the maddened horse. After
the animal had sped four miles and
had many narrow escapes from smash
ing the vehicle, Captain Heideman sub
dued the beast
on arriving in Dover Captain Won
Abercrom and Captain Heideman were
given an ovation by the populace. A
reception was gotten up in honor Of the
distinguished foreigners at the New
Century Club, where Mayor Pennewiu
and women Of the club did the honors.
They prepared to go to New York on
the afternoon express train, and will
put up at the Waldorf Astoria. Their
balloon also was shipped there.
I'VE had an exceedingly successful
flight" said Captain Heideman. who
speaks English as fuently as his ma
tive tongue. I'VE are not experiment
ing for the German Government as has
been erroneously stated, and will not
make a report to our government un-
less called on to do so. We partici-
pated simply out Of love for the
sport. We had no idea of making
such a long flight, and it is with great
qualification that we found we had
rounded out 500 miles. We were com
Portable throughout the long voyage.
and took turns at navigating"
| Captain Abercron is commander of
a company in the Thirty-ninth regi-
ment of German infantry. and this is
his one hundredth balloon ascension.
Captain Won Abercrim does not
speak English. He had with him a
German invention for measuring dis
tance and time while aloft. The bal
! loon carried a basket six feet long, by
four feet deep and five feet wide. in
which the navigators carried their
provisions and also had to live while
on the trip.
1t was just . o'clock when another
! of the German balloons passed north
/ east over Wilmington. II was yellow,
and basket containing two men
dangled from it. while a German flag
proclaimed the identity of the airship.
1t was sighted near Hockessin shortly
after s o'clock.
=, THEY WANTED A GIRL.
Wilmington suburbs had the balloon
fever almost as severely as the city.
Farmers. farm hands. and their wo-
men folks We're seeing balloons all
morning On the farm near Hockes-
sin. Owend by w. p Peach, Of the
Peach Kaolin Company. a cream coll
ored balloon containing two men caTle
i within speaking distance at about S
o'clock this morning. The balloon
floated no flag TO distinguish it. but
one of the men was English speaking.
party Of girls was standing near the
orchard when the big bag passed over.
One of the mean leaned over the
Continued on Page Two.