Cañon City record., 1907-10-31
WINNING THE FIRST
INTERNATIONAL RACE
BY CLEVELAND MOEEETT

LlND
that these would enable the aeronaut
| to maneuver his balloon without loss
of ballast. This was the only approach
to a steerable balloon in the race, the
others being simply intended to sail
with the wind. l should explain that
Santos Dumont, although a Brazilian,
had entered for the Aero Club of Amer
lea, owing to the fact that Brazil had
no Aero Club of its own, and that only
one contestant (instead of the pos
sible three) had entered for the United
States. That one was Lieutenant Frank
P. Lahm of the Sixth U. 8. Cavalry,
newcomer in ballooning, with only
fourteen ascents to his credit, eight Of
which had been crowded into few
weeks of hurried preparation. No one
knew much about Lahm, or took him
very seriously; yet he was the only
representative of the Uiited States, and
that, as we shall presently see, by the
merest accident.
AS the hours advanced, anxious eyes
studied the clouds, and there was an
ominous shaking of heads, for the
wind was straight to the west, which
meant the open sea. Every few minutes
trial balloons were sent up, fantastic
figures of animals and men to amuse
the people; but they all drifted west,
where the danger lay, and many
prophesied that it would be poor
race, as the pilots would certainly de-
scend when they reached the edge OF
the Atlantic.
During the last hours bands played
vigorously, and thousands of pigeons
were set loose and went fluttering
away, while the crowd applauded. One
pigeon alighted on Santos-Dumont's
balloon, and the Brazilian, taking this
snap the picture.
The Start.
At four O'Clock the first cry of
'Lachez tout!" ("Let everything go!)
was heard, and sharp on the minute.
by a marvel of good management, Von-
willers beautiful silk balloon, the
| "Elfe" rose slowly from its moorings
near the little pond, while a great
shout from the multitude drowned the
crash of music. The Italian bowed and
smiled over the side of the basket, and
then turned to his stathoscope as the
car, rising higher, took the breeze and
moved swiftly over the Place de la
Concorde, sailing away to the west.
Five minutes later another balloon
started, heavy-looking sphere with
a bright yellow covering of smooth,
velvety finish, quite different from the
more delicate French balloons. 1t was
the Dusseldorf" piloted by Captain
Hugo Won Abercron, one Of the German
champions, who had nearly seventy
air trips to his credit
Again after five minutes came a roar
of cheers and applause, a tremendous
ovation, as de La Vaulx's "Walhulla"
swept upward majestically, the French
champion, confident and happy, way
ing his thanks to the frantic multi
tude of his fellow countrymen.
Next rose Lieutenant Herrera, the
hope OF Spain, amid shouts of "Ay!
Ay! Ay!'-a daredevil pilot, it was
said, who had swept over the Mediter-
ranean from Barcelona to Salces, and
had all the desperate courage OF his
lamented comrade, Fernandez Duro,
hero of the sensational flight over the
Pyrenees.
Then rose Rolls, the Englishman.
with the Britannia" an old-fashiOned
pear-shaped balloon, the kind you see
in story-books; and after him the in
trepid Santos Dumont, amid continued
cheering and a great whirring OF his
queer "descensional' propellers; and
SO on, at exact five minute intervals.
until all the balloons had gone.
The twelfth was the United States"
carrying Lieutenant Lahm, a quiet
hammered, clean shaven young Ameri-
can with a businesslike and a keen,
observant eye; and somehow, as one
watched him, one felt that he had gone
into this race to stay. He swept away
to the sound OF friendly shouting, and.
as he fioated past the Eiffel Tower and
on over the Longchamps race course,
hundreds OF loyal Americans looked
after him and wished him luck.
The last balloon to leave (the start
ing position were determined by lott
was the Zephyr" piloted by Profess
sor Huntington Of the chair OF meteor
ology In Kings College. London. The
sun sank as he disappeared In the di-
rection of st. Cloud, and, almost i'm
rnodfafoly fulI rr,non rnao opd oprood n