The Topeka state journal., 1908-10-15
German Balloon Busley Heard
From at Last.
Last of 23 Contestants to Be
Accounted For.
ESCAPE is THRILLING
Aeeonauts Signalled to a Pass.
ing Ship.
Two of the Airships Are Still
Missing.

Berlin, Oct 15.-The German bal
loon Busley came down yesterday
morning at o'clock in the North
sea. The two men on board were
| rescued by a passing steamer.
This news was received in tele-
gram from Edinburgh and caused the
greatest relief for there was great
anxiety regarding the fate of this air
| ship. The Busley is one of the 23
balloons that started in the race for
| the international trophy last Sunday
| from a suburb of Berlin and now
every one of the contestants has been
| accounted for. There are still, how
ever, two balloons missing. These are
the Plauen and the HergzeI, which
started on Monday in the endurance
test.
The dispatch received by the Aero
/ club from Edinburgh says that the
| Busley early yesterday morning got
| into communication with a coaling
steamer bound for Edinburg at a
point in the North sea to the north
west of Heligoland. The steamer
signalled that she would stand by. The
| aeronauts then opened their safety
valve with the idea of bringing the
balloon down. In the meantime the
steamer had launched a small boat to
| pick up the two men. The balloon
| fell into the sea and was driven by a
| strong wind away from the steamer.
| The men in the boat pulled their
hardest and finally managed to get a
| line fast to the car which was being
! dragged amid clouds of spray over
the tops of the waves. They hung on
until the two aeronauts had been
| rescued. The transfer of the balloon
| lists to the small boat was attended
with the greatest difficulty. AS soon
| as they were safe on board the con-
Meeting line was cut and the balloon
! free of weight of the boat went
/ careening away over the sea.
The aeronauts were half naked and
utterly exhausted. They were taken
back to the steamer. where they re-
ceived every attention and were given
food and restoratives.
The men rescued from the Busley
are DIR. Niemeyer and Hans Hiede-
mann. They landed at Edinburgh
this morning and Immediately started
for home by way of London. The
point where they were picked up is
Item miles from Heligoland.
While the news of the rescue of the
two balloonists from the Busley was
heartily welcome, the most serious
apprehensions are entertained for the
safety of the other two airships 1t
is now three full days since the Plauen
and the Hergzell have been heard
from. Exhaustive meteorological OBJ
servations indicate that they were
driven out over the North sea. The
German admiralty is conducting a
thorough search of this body of water.
The surveying ship Sieten, IA torpedo
boats and a fleet of 20 fishing smacks
are constantly engaged One division
is steaming in radiating lines from
Heligoland to the English coast, a
second is cruising along the west
coast Of Schleswig- -Holstein. and a
third is patrolling the north Frisan
and Dutch coasts.
The two German aeronauts had q
thrilling experience ana a narrow es-
cape, but they are today none the
worse for their adventures.
A second telegram received here
gives details of their flight and res
cue. After the start from Berlin, the
balloon drifted toward southern Rus
, sia and was then driven to the north
west. The men say they were pass
ing over Cuxhaven. Finding they
were being carried too far to the
north they decided to descend ano
early Tuesday morning, at a point
about 10 miles from Heligoland they
. dropped the balloon into the sea. Thi:
was after they had sighted the
steamer Prinz Wilhelm and signallet
to her. The steamer chased the bal
loon for some distance until she wal
small boat The envelope with the
pilots on top of it and the cal
: dragging below was driven rapid!
, over the water. The two men were IN
) the water for half an hour before
they were finally dragged to safet,
into the small boat. 1t is estimated
? that they travelled 435 miles before
they came down. Although no award
| has been made officially, the Englisl
balloon Banshee, which came down OIL
the coast of Denmark isregarded as thu
international cup contest winner. Th'
French balloon Condor is second anC
the Belgium Belgica. third. AS it i
not practical to hold long flights il
the British isles the Banshee ma!
give over first place to some othel
country.
Hunt Missing Air Ships.
London, Oct. 15.-Three cruisers o
the home fleet which are now a
Queens ferry, Scotland, have been or
, dered to search the North sea for thi
two missing balloons that sailed ava.
from Berlin last Monday in the en-
durance contest.