davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun., 1907-04-14

to read his aneroid. but he said that AZ near.
as he could make il out the altitude va
between a mile and a half and a mile an
three-Quarters.
When the lights Of Boston came YER
plainly into view the genius Of Mr.. nav
;. Thomas as a press agent began to bloom
anew.
we want. - he said. "to land in Boston
preferably on Boston Common"
we haven't ballast enough 10 20 th'
far" said Donaldson
we will all take of our overcoats sr.
shoes If necessary, ticket them and drnl
them overheard when We have to
But she's bearing too far TO the south
east now, said one Of the passengers whf
knew the lay OF the land and the water
We'll go out over the harbor."
BY that time the airship was nearing fh''
pig city but her course was too much to%ai ,T
the water. Donaldson said that if he tbrn
out ballast and went higher up be mlgN
find a wind current setting in from tt
harbor that would enable us to reach 'h
city. so he dropped bag or two.
The balloon arose steadily for ''F
seconds. Then the great bag leared o'"'
toward the north, the basket spun arovw
like a dying pegtop and we were IN VI
stih wind that would bear us far ~ 'l'.
north OF the city.
THAT settles it," said Donaldson, ne
about o o'clock and We might a. vel "
looking. for landing place"
BY the time the balloon had se''lor
down 10 the right height for letting e. q"
anchor We were well up country and N'-
yond help in getting down. We had rN"
usual rough shaking up while the aror'.
was getting good ground hold. and wteT
we had pulled ourselves down by hau.'nF
in on the anchor line until the basket touched
we seemed to be in a clurnp o,
bushes.
I'm step out and" began one - 'f b
passengers.
Please don't" Donaldson interruClr
MY greatest worry always il that some .1'
will step out when we get down 10 WI
ninety or a hundred feet OF the ground
As We found out afterward, we were
then in the tops Of some great elm tro"'
seventy or eighty feet tall in the towns q"
OF Weston, dozen miles or so TO the no'''
west Of Boston.
The sun., 1907-04-14

The month of March was a bad one for
wrecks at sea- In az least one case an eX-
trornely valuable ship with valuable cargo
was wrecked so that it is considered almost
impossible to save anything
This was the Dakota of the Great Northern
Steamship line. which climbed a reef OF
Noshumi, near the Bgv of Toxic, early in
March and then Topped over the obstruc-
tion In such a way that her nose was buried
in the sea while the propelers were exposed
and working in the air until the engines
were flooded.
Salvage is considered a possibility even
in the most extraordinary wrecks. but the
peculiar position of the Dakota from the
start made IL very hard TO accomplish any
thing The Japanese Government de-
Rpatched a warship to the scene to help II
anything could lie done, but apparently
nothing could.
Capt Young, al expert salver now is
on his way from Msrseilles 20 Toxic. on
behalf Of the Liverpool Salvage Associa-
ton, to look over the Dakota. Unless she
can be saved the loss will be tremendous.
The Dakota cost 81 100000 to build and
the cargo carried was enormous.
As has been set forth, the Dakota carried
2S,OOO tons dead weight, all the cargo being
in the hold So big is the Dakota that
although only the superstructure is used
for passengers 800 can be carried.
She 10 such big boat that handling her
in the awkward position in which she rests is
well nigh an impossibility. Luckily enough.
this is not the season for typhoons, and
only an exceedingly violent storm will
be able TO destroy the huge craft.
Just what measures can be taken to save
craft which have the misfortune 10 make
q landing at a place where there are not
proper terminal facilities forms a topic
OF wide range. An engineer speaking Of
this recalls some Of the more famous cases
Of daring work.
The Suevic, which went ashore OH Bran
dies rocks Of the coast Of England on March
II, presents a typical case of the handling
Of the problem. From the position Of the
The sun., 1907-04-14

Five newspaper men climbed into the
big basket, followed by Thomas. There
was room enough. The rim Of the basket
came up just high enough 70 permit them
to rest their elbows on IL when standing
In the bottom Of the basket were a number
OF bags OF sand weighing about twenty-five
pounds each.
Ease her up" said Donaldson to the men
at the lines.
The balloon refused to rise and some Of
the sand bags were taken out. Still she
didn't bulge, and Donaldson said;
Il don't like to start with less sand bal
last than we have now"
Well draw lots to see who stays be-
hind" suggested one OF the newspaper
men.
No" said a youngster Of rather solid
build; "the lot may fall 10 some one who
would be more disappointed than | would
| will give up my place
The young man who said this is now
the editor Of a leading New York daily
paper. The other newspaper men de-
murred at his sacrifice and said they would
Donaldson said that each of the others was
lighter than the one who had volunteered
TO remain, and that settled IL.
Its a bad day for ballOoning" said
Donaldson to him. -and maybe you will
be glad you didn't GO
Thus lghtened, the balloon lifted the
basket from the ground and tugged at
the lines. The wind from the west had
been 50 stih that the big tent cover had
to be lowered part way down the centre
poles; and when Donaldson gave the word
TO let go, the ground and the throng fell
away at an angle apparently Of about
45 degrees toward the west, and the cheers
and the waving Of hats and handkerchiefs
became rapidly fainter
The first sensation az TO height was when,
in passing over the city the eye could dis
Germ the angle from steeples and towers
TO the ground, and thus by sort OF in
tuitive computation perceive that the
balloon was far above them. In a few
minutes this angle was not disceTnible,
and those in the balloon basket seemed
10 be looking directly down on the tops
Of tall objects.
Then the sensation OF being at a great
height disappeared-the angle by which
the eye measures distances was impercep-
tible.
To the east lay Lake Quinsiga mond,
two miles or 80 from the city. The balloon
was passing over one Of the reservoirs of
the city water supply. II looked like half
a teaspoonful OF ink spilled on sheet of
glazed paper, the liquid seeming 10 stand
higher than the surface around Il. One of
the passengers said that with its stone en-
bankment the reservoir looked like jet
cuff button.
The balloon was now over the lake. Half
a mile up" said Donaldson, as he looked at
his barometer.
Lake Quinsigamond is deep, perhaps 50
or 40 feet in depth. yet the bottom could be
plainly seen from this height. From the
over into the lake. slanted down into the
deeper water. Near the middle Of the lake
was the channel Of still deeper water and
this was plainly outlined.
Now as the balloon moved on toward the
east the earth looked like a great bowl,
The sun., 1907-04-14
-5EcF 0T= z1zE S77s7Sz1 coTI.FEO WIZ -oES2REs

If ship in dangerous berth is hastily
released from its place and in such con
dition that repairs are not so costly, then
the charges for salvage are apt TO be high
There is no trlling what they will he and
the ship owner who has 10 pay salvage is
apt to be hard hit no matter what the cir
cumstances.
In the British Admiralty courts the ruling
is that the salvage on life is higher than
that on property This is not unnatural,
and the rescue of passengers on boats
from dangerous situations, while il gives
opportunity for a display Of herOism, also
is a very profitable feat
Some cases Of wrecks give small oppor-
tunity for any salvage, such, for instance, 40
the case OF the VateTee. an American war;
ship which went ashore of Arica Peru
in August of 1898 She was carried inland
half mile and left there high and dry by
a tidal wave which followed a series -
earthquake shocks.
1t would have cost more to float her than
she was worth. so she was sold In the
early 'SOs the Wateree was still in existence
and being used a. a boarding house.
The Monongahela, lying in the harbor NJ
Frederickstadt. in the island of ST CroiS,
on November 1s. 1897, was picked up by
tidal wave. carried over several warehouses
and landed in one of the streets Of the tow
and remained there for few moments
A succeeding huge wave picked her M
and carried her further along 10 second
dry nook on coral reef. She was sub
quently fioated and still is on the navy
list She salved herself.
Government boats. such as warship.
ordinarily do not come in the class of shIs
salvaged. Following such disaster ~
that last month on the Jena in the hsrh
OF Toulon there was moth ng TO lie done
to rescue the sailors.
The sun., 1907-04-14

Suevic it was clear that as a whole she
never could be got OF After some time
lost in trying the simple methods Of de-
pending upon tides, il was decided to dyna-
mite her in two.
Placing the explosive at points where it
would act best as a cutter, the boat was split
in two pieces. When the last charge had
been fired, about two-thirds of the boat,
including the engines in the rear, came
away intact.
This preserved an even keel and was towed
away to the mainland. The rest of the
boat was left on the rocks and no attempt
will be made to save that part.
Just what price the snlvers will get for
their work is hard TO say. Had the Suevio
been a total loss it would have been a
great blow to the White Star Line, Of whose
feet she is part.
Doubtless by splitting her up in this way
the loss from the wreck was cut in half. II
will be possible practically TO fit a new bow
to her and she will be able after a time TO
enter again into the transatlantic trade.
The case Of the Suevic is not unlike that
Of the American liner Philadelphia. which
about nine or ten years ago went ashore on
the Manacles of the coast Of England. She
WehI up AhSH anu uIy anu Hei DoSh was
broken.
There was no chance Of getting her of
as a whole and after vain struggling it was
settled that all that could be done was to
cut her in half. At that time the Phla-
delphia was not such big boat nor par
ticularly renowned as a fast one. When the
pieces were ready they we're towed away.
The Philadelphias parts were taken to a
shpyard and after infinite trouble she was
put together again with the addition Of
piece in the centre part to make her longer
craft than before. The Philadelphia has
made many trips since then. She is capable
Of being driven fast and is one Of the most
trustworthy of the American Line fleet.
In the Spanish-Amercan war she was
taken by the United States for use as one
Of the commerce destroyers and renamed
then the Yale. The Philadelphia has suf-
The sun., 1907-04-14

Quebec. where she was put in dry dock
and thoroughly repaired.
After having been worked at unavailingly
from November OF the preceding year
until September, 1905 she was fioated in a
little more than a month of careful work
with the air. In effect she was a huge bub-
bic when she was got on.
II was the first time that air pressure had
been tried in such circumstances and it
was very complete success. 1t was a
very ingenious experiment and great credit
was accorded to the engineers who had
conceived the plan.
II is unlikely, however that such thing
could be attempted in the case of a ship
Of the size Of the Dakota. IL is unlikely.
too. that attempts will he made 10 get the
Dakota of except perhaps, by the under
writer's.
j. Hill. who is president of the steamship
company which owns the Dakota. made it
clear some time ago that even if she were a
total loss he was not going TO replace the Da-
kota. The competition against the ships
subsidizSd by the Japanese Government has
minimized the profits from running such
a line.
The Jebba was a boat from Cape Town
and Australian points which went ashore
on the Bolt Tail OF the Devon coast Of
England. The loss from her accident, il
was figured out, would be s5OOOOO if she
we're not sslvaged. Steps are being taken
now to get her of her uncomfortable berth,
and it is likely that she can be saved
The question Of salvage in the minds Of
most sailors IL very important IL is i'm
possible to say just what charges can be
made in the'case OF individual ships. Much
Of course depends upon the difficulty of
the work undertaken and upon the length
Of time IL takes
The sun., 1907-04-14
Want to smoke?"

Want TO smoke?'
The passengers grinned, Donaldson
wound the open and tapping neck OF the
gas bag around his arm, held 1t there for
a minute and then said:
Now you can light up
What" exclaimed the passengers.
Light up" said Donaldson.
Cigars were nibbled at the end and
matches poised for striking but nobody
scratched
Go ahead" said the aeronaut
There was fash of matches, and soon
the men in the basket were enjoying their
smokes.
There is always a thin stream Of gas
trailing out of the neck Of the balloon"
Donaldson explained. We can smell il a
: ~ittle a Il the time. When | wind the neck
around my arm most Of the leakage is
shut on and we soon pass out OF the
Illuminating gas, or a mixture Ct it
with air, will not ignite from a coal. But
II any mans cigar goes out let me know
before you strike a match, Better not
try to get a light from another cigar. II
might make spark hot enough TO touch
of the gas and air mixture where the gas
comes out.
Thus assured, the passengers crooked
their elbows around the supporting lines
Of the basket and leaned their backs against
its rim, a. a man leans upon the rail Of a
steamship at sea, and pufed away in COM
fort. Two of them threw their legs over
the edge of the basket and with one arm
twlned around rope, smoked medta-
tiYely and spat down between their feet
to the ground half mile below
In the increasing cooness of the after
noon the balloon soon descended TO within
less than 200 feet Of the earth. Suddenly
the basket was brought up with a short
jerk and the big gas bag swayed over
in the direction in which we were going.
Drop your cigaTs!" said Donaldson
The drag rope had turned itself around a
tall brick chimney on the ell of a large
farmhouse. There was a bit Of a struggle
and the chimney was toppled over through
the glass roof of a conservatory. The
family had not seen the balloon and they
came tumbling out Of the house in terror
so sorry" shouted Dave Thomas, with
a gesture Of anguish. Please send the bill
10 Barnums HippOdrome at Providence
next week
A little further along, while passing over
a cemetery. the drag rope picked I'D a
Rravestone and deposited il in the door
yard Of a residence few rods away.
Beyond this point the balloon crossed the
river and took cross-country course
The heavy drag rope OF balloon sings
various songs, according to what it is pass
ing over.
We were coming to a farmhouse and the
rope was whistling softly az il ran through
meadow. The farmer was walking from
the barn to the house with a pail Of milk.
he heard something. set down his pail and
held his hand 70 his ear.
just then the drag rope came 10 n stons
wall and hummed like planning mill. The
farmer seemed TO be getting excited. Then
the rope struck the rdgepole OF the barn
and roared and creaked like a gigantic
horse fiddle.
The farmer cast his eyes up. saw the heavy
rope zlpPlng over his head, followed it
The sun., 1907-04-14

work in the holds In some cases they
covered over the holes in the ships bottom
with plating. In Others they depended
the water.
The huge tank took care Of the weight Of
the engines and Of about twenty-five tons
of water in the hold Of the vessel. When
the air pressure was turned on to the fullest
extent the ship foated of the rock, having
been lightened enough with the water on
to permit Of being hauled on her bed.
To some extent il was a ship without
bottom, for even when of the rock no at
tempt was made to fill up the larger holes
in the bottom The water was pumped
ont Of her and the air taking its place kept
all Of II out. The Bavarian was foated
in sixty feet Of water and towed back TO
The sun., 1907-04-14

All the usual methods availei nothing
Finally it occurred to r. o. King the con
suting engineer. and ". ". Wotherspoou.
the superintendent in charge for the North
American Wrecking Company, Ia make
use Of compressed air. n thing which had
never before been tried in salvage work.
The vessel was made AS alright as DOS
sible. The holds were turned into caissons
and floor work of heavy timhers was put
in as a ceiling to the cassons. The matches
were sealed with plating.
A system of air locks was established.
A wooden tank Of 200 tons capacity was
set in directly between the engines, which
weighed $50 tons. When the air was let
in the water naturally was forced out
Sandhogs. as the men who work in air
pressure are called. were sent down To
The sun., 1907-04-14

Some Things That Are different From
Those Found In the logs OF the Modern
Aero CIuhs-A Balloon Car smoke
ROOm-The Drag Rope as an Enter
taIner er-TOWed 10y q Freight Train
Il am interested" said a man who is
getting TO be quite as old as he makes believe
hs thinks he is. "in everything that is printed
about modern aeronautics. One reason
is that l once participated in an air journey
myself before aeronautics WAS surrounded
with the safeguards that later day expert
ence has suggested. Comparing it with the
modern flights that | have read about
think that it had its share Of moving in
cidents."
The man past middle age was requested
10 20 on with his story, and as he was per-
mitted TO proceed without Interruptions
it 10 reproduced here without quotation
marks for what he said:
The biggest advertising scheme ever
devised by a CIRCUS press agent was the
creation Of David s. Thomas. who repre-
sented in that capacity along about 1878
P. T. Barnums Great Moral Show. then
known az the Hippodrome. Dave Thomas
had not skinned the dictionaries OF re-
aoundInR superlatives, az was done by
lO0Y FhulllLOu ldbcIt Dub INV W
accept free advertising from the upcountry
dailies.
How did it come 20 himI By balloons.
The show carried two Of them-one large
enough 70 take up two persons. the other
Of about 10000 cubic feet capacity and
capable Of soaring away with half dozen
men in the basket.
The ascensions we're made at the close
OF the final afternoon performance. In
the little towns the Mayor or the editor in
chief of the morning daily was taken up;
in the cities Of larger size as many editors
in chief as would 60 and il any such de-
clined then managing editors, city editors
or reporters were taken along. The ex-
perience. Of course, was novel. and much
good advertising was the result.
When the show pitched its tents in Woroes-
ter. Mass.--I think 1t was in May. 1875
Thomas distributed his advertising gsner-
Ously among the newspapers and then
sought introductions to the editors in
chief. He invited each one to accompany
him IN flight in ths large balloon. II
any declined he was requested to designate
mernber Of his staiT who would represent
him IN accepting the compliments Of Mr..
nArnum for the aerial trip.
The sun., 1907-04-14

and its rim seemed 10 be on level with tho
eye. The little hills and valleys of the
landscape we're not discermble. To the
north the Peak Of Mount WaChusett showed
like a slight elevation and beyond il Mount
Monadnock looked like an ear on the edge
of the bowl
Mount Tom. over 10 the west. by the
Connecticut River. could he seen. and 20
the east, some forty miles distant. Bunker
Hill Monument and the big chimney in
the Charleston Navy Yard, being almost
IN line, showed aE one narrow chimney.
The balloon was moving eastward az
about the rate of a mile in two minutes;
yet there was no sensation Of motion. The
great bowl beneath seemed To be passing
slowly toward the west.
My ears sing" said one of the men in
the basket.
We're falling" said Donaldson from
his perch above the ring. Work your
jaws and your ears will stop ringing You
can see that we are descending by looking
at the shadow Of the balloon on the ground
II grows larger"
The balloon was allowed to descend
until II was in the valley of little river
that flows toward the east. There il al
ways wind current one way or the other
in valley and with the current setting
easterly the balloon sailed along part Of
the time with some Of the $50 foot drag
rope trailing 1t crossed the track of the
Boston and Albany Railroad half n dozen
from one to the other side of the river.
Conversation with persons along the
highways and in the dOOryardS was easy
easy for them, for we could make out
what they said in ordinary tones. hut hard
Tor Us in one way, for we had to shout to
make them hear.
"Whered you come from" some one
would shout at the top Of his voice
From Worcester" would be the answer,
using the hands IA a megaphOne.
Ihnn Upi1lH hnar . -
his ordinary voice:
They say they come from Worcester
Offers Of hospitality came TO US all along
Usually the inducement 10 descend was pie
and milk. A few hospitable souls invited
us to come down and have something,
and we shook our heads regretfullv.
There were a few incidents Of tie trip
that mentioned az moving incidents" when
| began talking. These were strung along
at various stages of the journey.
II was supper time when we saw the viii
lage of Ashland ahead, and we decided to
descend. The drag rope was trailing about
fifty feet on the ground.
Donaldson shouted TO those below TO
catch hold Of the rope. One man succeeded
in getting a grip on it and found himself
going 10 fast that he was afraid 10 let 20
He came to a stone wall hit the top Of il
with one foot and landed in a small pond.
He hung on and made a wake like that
Of swimming muskrat till he reached the
other bank. There he got help, the bal
looms speed was checked and the airship
was pulled to the earth. towed TO a stone
fence and weighted with cobblestones. A
man promised To keep persons with matches
away, and We went 70 hotel 10 supper
After supper the wind mad fallen. and
the ascent Of the balloon was lmost straight
up. Az the height Of about half a mile
Donaldson said;
The sun., 1907-04-14

fered changes OF names incidentally as we'll
as changesBof form. She has be' n known
as the Paris, the City Of Paris, thI Vale and
the Philadelphia in turn.
One Of the best feats in the line Of salving
a wrecked boat was performed not out in
the ocean but in the st Lawrence River.
On a foggy morning. November 3, 1905.
the Allan liner Bavarian ran herself high
and dry on the Wye rock about thirty
eight miles from Quebec.
No ship could have saddled herself better
on the rock, and the Bavarian lay there
at high tide with her bottom crushed in
and full Of holes. Months Of time and
S15OOOO in money were spent in useless
effort to get the Bavarian on. The tides
did not help because the Bavarian went
on at high tide.
The sun., 1907-04-14

cities having an estimated population c' %
or more In 1904 show total OF 1871 .io7 an i0- 80
NJ 2,76H6S3, or 1873 per cent over their sho' 20 :
the census Of 1900 In those slG sthe int"H 3
cities have risen 10 that class Norfolk -. NJ"
kers n. v. Schenectady, ~ V: Houston.
Tacoma, wash. TeTre Hautc. Ind Dala, . .
Youngstown. Ohio: Port Wayne, lnd.. Ho.ycas
hass.S and Akron. Ohi0. -.;
The sun., 1907-04-14
GROWING state and City PoUula,,on.

The States having q density Of poplaHrr 10
1908 OF more than 100. with the Increase IN r-''
since 1900. arc: