The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-10-12
 TWO AMERICANS FALL FROM SKY Thrilling Escape From a
 Balloon. BAG COLLAPSES IN THE AIR Beginning of the Great International
 Race.
 
BAG cOLLAPSES IN THE AIR
SIX Forms . Parachute at Berlin and Lives of Forbes and Pest
 Are MiracuIousiy Saved.

Berlin, Oct. 1.-The international balloon race. which started from the suburb of Sehmargendorf, was the oc- caslon of a thrilling accident. two American aeronauts having a miracu- lous escape from death.
 The American balloon Canquerer. the only American built craft in the con- test. having on board A, Holland Forbes and Augustus Post. less than two minutes after the start burst at an altitude of 1000 feet. For D. 900 feet 1t shot down like a bullet and then the torn silk bag assumed the shape of a parachute, thus check ing the rapidity of the desceRt. Com~ Ing close to the earth. however, the basket smashed into the roof of a, house but the two men escaped with but slight injuries.
 The race, in which twenty-three baI- looms participated, representing Great Britain, France. Germany the United Spain started at O'clock this after Spain startd at ! o'clock this after noon in the presence of at least 80.000 spectators. The first balloon sent away was the America II" under command of James C. Mccoy. who was accompanied by Liutenant vogh- mann. The balloon was decora ted with the Stars and Stripes. and 1t saii- ed away to the southeast at a rapid pace~ the aeronauts waving their hats.
 A representative of each of the oth- CT nations followed the Ameriean bat- loon in succession at intervals of two minutes. the national hymn of the re- spective countries ringing forth as the ropes were cast loose.
 The second batch of eight balloons was led by Forbes in the Conquer. which reached a high altitude In an incredibly short period. the basket. swaying violently. Then almost in- stantly a cry of horror arose from the crowd. who saw the silk collapse and shouted '"rhe balloon is ripping up." Spectators PetKi9ed.
 The. thousands who had gathered there stood for a moment petrifed. l Some turned away fainting as. they l saw the balloon falling with lightning ilke raptdtty. At the same time show ers' of sand and appurtenances of the l balloon shot downward with equal rapidity and then daylight was seen | through the envelope. greas ragged l edges of the disk showing on either | side.
 They are killed" went in hushed whisper through the crowd. but short ly the remainder of the envelope ap- peared to take firstsa triangular shape and then was transformed into a sort of parachute at the top of the net and the progress of the wrecked ball loon was considerably arrested. It came down slower and slower, mean while being swept by the wind far to the southeast and finally disappear ed from view behind block of houses. The suspense among the crowds was terrible. But a few moments later e telephone message was received from Friedeneau. which announced that the men had landed and had not been se- rioDsly injured.
 The other balloons were sent up. after brief delay. without further | accident.
 A. Holland Forbes who appeared to be very little the worse for his experI- ence, except that he was suffering 1 somewhat from shock. gave the Asso- l ciated Press a thrilling account of | the accident.
 We had some dInlculty," he said. 'tn getting away. but once we left the ground. everything seemed to be right. We mounted almost perpendicularIy to an altitude of 1000 feet As looked at the recording instrument to make a note of the altitude, I heard a peculiar | swish and said to Post, that sounds | dangerous Immediately I saw that the gas escaping in clouds. Instantly threw the appendix clear of the bas- ket and the ropes, and drawing my attached to the thirty nine bags of sand hanging around the basket.
 Post. in the meantime threw over everything partable. We could see. however. that we were falling more rapidly than some of the elected arti- cles. But later. when the descent of the balloon was checked we observed one bag of sand fall into q baby car- riage, which was smashed to pieces. but fortunately the nurse snatched out the baby and saved it's life. Parachute Is Formed. Both of Us sprang up and held on to the ring above, hoping in this way to avoid the crash. Then above us could be seen the envelope gradually spreadr ing out. We continued to fall witls | terrific speed until 8 sort of parachute had been formed. and then We knew that unless a further mishap occurred we would probably be saved from death.
 "our speed did not decrease as much as we should have liked and we were still moving at a rapid pace when we reached the tops of the high houses in | the streets, which increased the dam ger. We passed over one roof. almost touching it, and still holding onto the | rings. We avoided the next block but finally struck the Mensard roof of a house in the block adjoining, and the net and envelope fell to the opposite side. The basket crashed against the | tues HGilA partly through an. oG- cupied room. The man in the room was terrified, but recovering himself assisted us to the roof. down through the skylight and to the street below. where the crowds cheered us and | sh ook our hands. Neither Post nor myself was seriously hurt"
 The competitors in the race. are pro- vided with rations for three days. This Is the third international balloon race of the James Gordon Benntt l trophy.
 l All the balloons took an exactly sim liar direction. which would lead. if the same course were followed. into South | ern Russia overland. but many of the competitors, Including Mccoy have taken water anchors. in the event the wind veers and carries them toward | the sea.
 1 The Americans are hopeful and are determined to use their utmost en.i deavors to win the race. but McCo5 prior to the start pointed out that the European aeronauts possess the mos extensive experience. He, however fully expects to stay up at least fortw-