The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1908-05-01
ADRIFT IN A RUNAWAY AIRSHIP
One of The Most Thrilling Exper-
ienees in the Annals of Aero

! ienees in the Annals of Aero
! nautics.
| In September, 1905, a big fair was
held in the little town of Oconto,
Wis. One of the advertised attrac
lions was an ascent of the airship
Columbia, owned by young balloon
list of 25-Captain William Matte
ray of the Chicago Aeronaut club.
! The vessel was a new one, valued at
$40 900, and was of the Santos Du-
mont dirigible balloon type. propell-
ed by small gasoline motor, says
the Wide World Magazine
Much public interest was aroused
by the ascent and large numbers of
people came to the fair grounds in
the hope of witnessing it. Captain
Matteray waited a couple of days
for favorable weather, but on the
third the wind still remained too
high for safety. On hearing of this
further postponment the assembled
crowd-some of whom had come 100
miles to watch the f1ight-began to
murmur angrily. Like crowds the
world over they dislike the idea of
having to forego the spectacle they
had expected to see and some of
them were not slow to express the
opinion. in no measured terms, that
the whole thing was a fake" and
that Captain Matteray never intend
ed to go aloft at all.
That was enough for the daring
young aeronaut, IF they do think
I'm afraid" he said, there's no way
of providing I'm genuine but to
make the trip" So, much against
his better judgment,-for the sour
rying clouds above showed the storm
that was raging in high attitudes
he climbed into the framework of
the airship and started his motor.
About $50 in the afternoon, with
the propeller whirling merrily and
|, the crowd satisfied now, cheering
themselves hoarse, the Columbia
shot gracefully upward. Two min
utes later, as Matteray had feared,
) she was being whirled eastward to-
ward the Great Lakes at a dizzy
. speed in the grip of the gale.
Realizing his danger, the young
aeronaut strove to direct the airship
into the calmer zone, but presently
to his dismay, the little motor dashed
to the framework broke down, leav-
ing the big balloon at the mercy of
the wind, which drove it onward at
ever increasing speed.
Looking down Matteray saw that
he had been blown over Green bay,
an arm of Lake Michigan 10000
feet below he could see the waves
; cleaning in the dying day.
Ere long 1t began to get dark and
judging that he was now over dry
land again, the aeronaut descended.
Lower and lower swooped the bal
! loon. until presently Matteray heard
, an all too familiar sound and an
, instant later found himself submerg-
ed up to the waist in ice-cold water
Hurrledly he flung out some ballast.
= but still the Columbia did not rise.
! and at last he chopped away he
: fastenings and tumbled his now use
less engine overheard Relieved of
the weight, the airship rose again
f up and up until she was in the cloud
2 once more-still driving before the
, relentless wind. Wet to the skin and
!, half dead with cold, the young bal
loonist chung Il the bamboo frame
s work beneath baIloon-a struct-
: ure so frail th] ene misstep in the
c darkness won have nurled him
through the 4 to destruction.
$ Grimly he wor h if the pleasure
t loving crowd %h~se reproaches had
! sent him on the life-and-death voy-
age thought that he mad made
good and retrieved his reputation.
And so the hours passed away
r with the helpless balloon still driv-
r ing onward, until at length the aero
maui decided to make arother at
tempt to land. Descending he dis
covered that he was still above Lake
: Michigan. He could see nothing but
oil 7
big vessels close at hand. BY skill
full maneuvering he got Gown to
within fifty yards OF one large steam
er and called to the only man visi-
; Bile on deck, who was watching him
, in speechless wonderment, to catch
the trailing anchor rope But the
mariner was not taking any risks
/ he replied "vnicallv thai "he wasn't
f in the catcn4ng business and the
balloon drove helpless away 1t
would have been an easy matter to
have pulled the Columoi down then,
, but the seaman probably feared to
NEEDLE with contrivance he did
not understand, in case he might
damage his own vessel
Night had set in and black dark
ness was all around him but Matte
ray tried another descent short
time afterward, only to find himself
istill over the lake. Once again he
plunged up to his hips in water, and
had to throw out more ballast to save
himself from drowning After lis
third failure he arose and got into
a higher atmosphere, where his vet
clothes froze to his chilled body. The
big gas bag was drippin, wet, AMI
as soon as it struck the higher air
the envelope became cove ed with a
thick coating of ice. The addition IL
weight and the intense cold serious
ly affected the buoyancy of the oai-
loon, and several times during the
er-to-be-forgotten night it sag
ged down periously near the water.
so that Matteray had to sacrifi ce
nearly all of his ballast to keep
clear.
He expected to be killed at any
moment, but made up his mind that
he would stick to his ship until the
finish. He resolved if the worst came