The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-08-07
A FRIGHT IN M|DA|R'
Going Up In a Balloon and Cc:7-
ing Down In a Parachute.
THE AGONY OF A FIRST TaIp
Experience and Sensations of an Ac-
robat Who Took the Place of a Pro-
fessionai Aeronaut In an Emergency
The Dash Through Space.

1
I once went up in a balloon andl
came down in a parachute. Something
went wrong, and oil the money IN .thel
world doubled would not induce me toll
make the experiment again.
One grows strangely accustomed to
dangers as an acrobat, nj when it
was suggested that l should carr $25
In as many minutes by taking the place
of a p~arachutist who had fallen i'll at
the last minute 1 jumped at the chance.
1t was at n large country fair. The
laughing crowd had probably never,
seen a balloon go up. AS the great
silk bag gradually swelled a silence
fell upon the onlookers.
The sick parachutist's manager pat
ted me on the back and said 1t was
money easily earned. agreed-then.
Keep COOL" he said, land, whatever
you do, don't look down except to
judge your distance from the earth.
You see that tower? 1t is about al
thousand yards away. When you are
that distance up pull the check string
and shut your eyes,"
A dull murmur rose as the ropes were
cast OFF and I felt my feet leaye the
ground. The upward movement was
gentle. and a great cheer came up to
me until the band drowned II.
l hardly heard the cheering or the
band. The involuntary mu.1nur still
rang in my ears. Perhaps my nerves
were upset. possibly It was Intuition,
but from the moment I was drawn up
from the ground I felt the conviction
that grim trouble lay ahead.
Ignoring the oft repeated i%nstruc-!
tons, I looked down. How slowly the
balloon vent up! Could 1t b possible
that / had not gone more than a hun
dred yards? The giant overhead be-
came a living thing, intent on tortur.
ing the puny mortal who had 1rusted
his life to 1t. knew I dared not leap
before I was high enough, fer the par !
achute takes 100 feet sometimes to
open.
I shut my eyes and txted b count to
kill time. but the figures became jun
bled, and l looked down again. AL
swallow skinned past underneath.
Ear below there vas . sea e&upturned
faces, and the music aoat6 up dis
tinctly. The balloon seemed to have
stopped rising. and for an eternity 4
tried to gauge the height.
Again the band stopped, md I was
In q silent world. The crowd of
GREATNESS specks far beneath was get
ting full value for It's money. The
only noise l heard was the beating of
the blood through my head. I was
afraid. 1t was the nrst real fear I had
sver felt in my work.
When the supreme moment came
pulled the string without realizing
what I was doing.
What years I lived In thoae next
few seconds. An appalling nausea a n
. Wild desire to live came With tn,
arst terrible rush. and my heart stno,
stIl ~ I looked eagerly aloft. The
ropes Of the parachute had twisted.
and I was falling to instant death.
0rasping the ropes In q clutch OF
stssl ! shook them frantically. Hall
tie huge parachute bsllisd out with a
notss like a pistol shot, and IL speed
of the fall was lessened With . Jar.
Again I shook the dsath tap. Ths
ropes were sliding at Z sna1fe pace.
and bit BY bit the parachute va open
Ing. sim I fell far too fast. I could
not breathe. and my hands seemed to
b refusing to hold on
Bang! The last fold had opened ont,
and was savsd- Dizzy and numb
With fear. 1 held on tightly, wonder
ING whether I should faint bo6ore I
touched the ground. That and that
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