Cañon City record., 1907-10-31

| ents, battling vainly with higher cur
rents, would be carried to the east
and halted by the sea.
All this added to the general cheer
fulness aboard the United States,'
and presently Lahm and his compan-
ion settled themselves as best they
could on bags of ballast, and turned
their attention to sandwiches, chicken,
eggs, fruit, and coffee that had been
brought along. All, that midnight
supper in the skies! Did anything
ever. taste SO good? Except for the
lack of cigars, which are contraband
articles in balloons, they were per-
fectly comfortable and free from an
xiety. The night was deliclously mild !;
they did not even need light over
coats. And there beneath them was
placid sea with the full moon shin
ing on it. Once little vessel slipped
past far down on the waters and dis
appeared in the shadows. That was
all they saw on the way across-that
little phantom vessel, and the sea and
the moon!
So hours passed, and there was
nothing to do but glance over the side
now and then to see that the guide
rope swung clear of the water, and,
If they settled too much to sprinkle out
sand. From time to time they studied
the ripples on the sea and got their
direction from the compas; and each
observation sshowed that the antici-
pated turning movement Qike that of
the hands of a clock) was going on
satisfactorily. Already the wind was
blowing nearly north, so that, what
ever happened, they at least were COM
to safe land.
Four Left in the Contest
Which, in due course, they did, the
sudden gleam of revolving light far
ahead flashing them England's well
come. They caught sight of this at
about half-past two in the morning.
and. as they drew nearer, saw that it
came from light-ship. So the Channel
was safely passed, They had crossed
a hundred miles or more of open sea,
and, within an hour, were sailing
above the islands of Great Britain,
looking down on the lights of city
lying to the left, quite a large city,
apparently, which they finally identi-
fed as Chichester in the county of
ussex. No other balloon of the seven
reached England as far to the west as
this. although three of the rival pilots,
Vonwiller, Kindelan. and Belsan. did
nearly as well. But de La VaulN, sail
i-y hundreds of yards higher than
Lahm, crossed to Hastings. some
erenty miles east OF Chichester. and
the two Englishmen. Rolls and Hunt
ingtcn. did about the same. This left
these three practically no chance of
victory against a wind now blowing
directly to the northeast, as Hersey
had forseen: the North Sea would
surely bar their advance.
So, when England was reached. only
four of the sixteen were really in the
race: a Frenchman, a Spaniard, an
Italian. and an American. And almost
Immediately the Spaniard. kindelan,
dropped out, descending near Chi
chester as day was breaking. A few
miles farther on. the Frenchman, Bal
san. descended. under the mistaken
impression that he was being carried
back to sea This left Lahm and Von-
willer to fight for first place. and, as
they flew along. Lahm had the posi-
ton OF advantage. He was somewhat
nearer the ground and considerably to
the west. The Italian. on the other
hand. had a silk balloon. At this time,
of course. they were miles apart, and
neither had the slightest idea what
had befallen the other balloons since
the pervious evening.
Imaginary Oceans.
For hours after they reached land
the American saw virtually nothing
of England. by reason of mist and fog.
The sun itself was hidden, and OF the
earth they had only occasioned glimps-
es. their guide-rope disappearing. for
the most part. into a sea OF clouds
which more than once had the SEM
blance of real sea. No wonder the
Frenchman was deceived into descend
ing.
But Lahm was fortified against the
terrors II imaginary oceans; he ahd
faced them in one OF his preparatory
flights. and he sailed on now, sere-
nelly confident tht they were over the
dry land. From time to time tall trees
lifted black branches through the
clouds to reassure him: and presently
the mist parted. and they learned from
astonished farmers down below (by
the handy speaking trumpet method)
that they were sailing over the fertile
fields of Bershire. Through the fog
they had crossed the counties OF Sus-
sex and Hampshire. making swift
progress.
Eight O'Clock in the evening, and the
United States" was still flying bravely
to the north. three hundred miles from
Paris No sleep aboard yet, but every
hod,- hannxt Go fhar anilsd on fhnou1h