The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1908-07-23
wins
BALLOON RACE
Long Distance and Endurance
Medals Are Captured by
Col. COey of Chicago.
ALL BAGS LAND IN SAFETY

st. Palu, July 21.-The great inter
national balloon race, the third ever
held in the United States, is over,
with the mammoth Chicago, piloted
by it's owner, Charles A. Coey OF
Chicago, the winner, and the Ameri-
can. the st. Paul balloon, piloted by
Capt. Percy S. Hudson and. n. p.
Wild, second. The United States OF
Minneapolis finished third, the cham
pion Pommern fourth and the baby
King Edward fifth.
The Chicago won both the long
distance and endurance medals.
Although fourth in the long-dist luce
race, the Pommern was second i'll the
endurance tests, remaining in The air
sixteen hours and fifteen minutes.
Chicago Stays Up Longest.
The Chicago stayed in the air sew,
enteen hours and twenty minutes,
covering a distance Of eighty-ive
miles and landing in a field three
miles east of Blooming Prairie, Mimi,
at IL o'clock yesterday noon.
The American, which finished sec
ond, sailed seventy miles, to Ovation
ma, Mimi, remaining in the air four
hours and forty-two minutes and land
ing in a field two miles east of the
village at 10 o'clock Saturday night.
The United States, sailing for four
hours and fifteen minutes, covered a
distance of siXty-two miles, coming
down at 10 o'clock of the same ever
ing at West Concord, MINI.
The Pommern, remaining in the air
sixteen hours and fifteen minutes,
traversed a distance of only sixty-one
miles, owing to shifting air currents,
and landed at 1920 yesterday morn
ing, eight miles east of Warsaw,
MINI.
The King Edward, which finished
last, remained in the air only one
hour and ten minutes, landing three
miles south of Hampton, Mimi, a dis
lance of twenty-nine miles, at 6
o'clock Saturday night.
All the trips were attended by the
best fortune and the landings made
without serious accident.
Constant Fight to Keep UP.
From the time the balloons cast off
it was a constant fight on the parts Of
the aeronauts to keep them in the air
when night set in and the damp con-
tracted the gas. Further fight was
impossible in the case of the first
three bags to take flight. The Pom
mern and Chicago succeeded in re-
naming in the air over night, but
flew so low that their guide ropes
dragged along the ground, catching
in fences and trees.
Some idea of the difference in the
flights of this race and those of the
two previous races may be gained
from the fact that the Pommern at
the St. Louis race sailed $40 miles. re-
naming in the air forty hours, while
in the last rae it covered but sixty
one miles and remained in the air a
little over sixteen hours.
The American stayed in the air
twenty-three hours in the Chicago
race, covering over 400 miles, while
in the last race it remained aloat not
quite five hours and sailed seventy
! miles.
Put Blame of Gas.
The aeronauts and A. Leo Stevens,
balloon manufacturer and n of the
expert air sailors of the world. attrib-
utes the poor fights to the gas, which
they claim had a lifting capacity of
only about fifteen pounds TO 1000 GU
bic feet, while the gas required by
the balloons should have a lifting
power Of forty-five to fifty pounds for
a thousand feet.
The start of the balloon race.
which came as the final event of a
week that has been devoted to festivi,
ties and pageantry incident to the
conclave of Shriners in ST. Paul, was
! Witnessed Saturday afternoon by
thousands of people.