Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-05
ONE FAILS TO MAKE START
Only One Minor Mishap Occurs to
Mar the Getaway.
BASKET TANGLED IN WIRES
Darkness Falls as the Last Great
Gas Bag Casts on From
the Earth.


looms entered into the Chicago to ocean
race left here late this afternoon. The
start was originally scheduled for 3:3'
O'Clock. but was delayed to such an ex
tent that the first balloon. the Fielding
did not cast of its moorings until two
hours and fourteen minutes after the
scheduled time. The others arose at IT.
regular intervals. the last to get away
the mammoth Chicago" of 10000 cubic
feet capacity. leaving at $50 o'clock, wher
night was descending fast and the spec
tators could scarcely distinguish the huge
bulk as 1t sailed into the upper strata
Of the air.
Only one small rnishap marred the
start, which was viewed by scores Of
thousands of spectators. When the 9Th
cinnatf left the ground its pilots. Leslie
Haddock and George Howard. failed t.
calculate correctly their distance from q
mass Of electric light and telegraph wire!
near the starting point and their basket
became entangled in the obstacle. A
warning shout from the spectators gave
them their first notice of danger.
Both men leaned over the edge of thu
car and grasped the wires. Howard fel
back and it was feared that he had beer
seriously shocked. AS Haddock sue
ceeded in clearing the car. however. How.
ard again came into view and waved hi.
hand to the crowd, being apparently unin.
jured.
81 Will" Fails to Start.
The only other happening to mar the
race was the failure of the balloon 81
WIZ to start. The bag had showed sew
eral defects when it was inflated for q
trial flight several days ago and c. H
Perrigo Of Chicago. its owner. was un-
able to obtain the necessary repairs in
time for today's event. He sailed instead
in the Illinois. taking the place of c. E.
Gregory. who had been scheduled to ac-
company j. L. Case in that balloon.
All the balloons took a northeast by
south course from this city. sailing out
over Lake Michigan and being lost to
view In the evening mists which arose
from that body of water.
Early this evening. a dispatch from
Kalamazoo. Mich, stated that a large air
craft had passed over that vicinity.
From the description thought to have
been either the Fielding or king Ed
ward which started within half an hour
of each other and gained considerable
away.
The starting times Of the balloons. to.
gether with their capacity in cubic feet
and their pilots. are as follows:
5.45 p. m. Fielding. 10000. Capt. Hon.
eywel and F. ]. Fielding.
Z p. m. King Edward $1,000. Leopold
Gregory and H. p. Wild.
s.34 p. m Vile de Dieppe. 5000
George schoeneck and A. E. Mueller.
6.43 p. m. United States. 10000. Col
A. p Shirley.
dock and George Howard
$50 p. m. America. $4,000. p. s. Hudson
and Lieut.. ]. J. Meade. U. s. Marine
Corps.
7.24 p. m. Illinois. 1900, J. L. Case and
c. H. Perrigo.
$50 p. m. Chicago. 10000, C. A. coey
and c. L. Bumbaugh.
Few Changes in Crews.
Changes in the crews Of the aerial
crafts were comparatively few. George
Schoeneck took the place of Paul Lucier
in the French entry and Leopold Gregory.
a ten-year-old boy, sailed in the Canadian
balloon in place of Lieut.. Preston.
The first seven balloons kept well to-
ward the earth, taking full advantage of
the wind. which was blowing from the
west-southwest at the rate of about nj
teen miles an hour.
BEFORE the Illinois ana SulCdSO ndu
been released. however. the wind had
died down to about half its former veloc-
ity. and the pilots of these cars cast out
ballast with a liberal hand, shooting to
a height Of close to 1900 feet and CATCH
ing there a fresh air current. which car
ried them rapidly in the direction taken
by their competitors.
Darkness was falling so rapidly when
the Chicago cast off that the outlines
of the big balloon were blurred past rec
ognition in a few minutes. Suddenly. how
ever, the balloon arose past the shades
cast by the earth's curvature, and it stood
out in the twilight with startling dis
tinctness A great cheer greeted this
sight, but fifteen minutes later II was
again lost in the darkness. and the spec
tators left in the Enclosure. specializing on
the chance of q mishap to any Of the con-
testants while crossing Lake Michigan
during the hours of darkness.