The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1908-12-10
A FRIGHT IN MIDAIR.
Going Up In Balloon and Coming
Down in a Parachute.

| once went Up in a balloon and
cane down III =. parachute. Some
thing went VI ~...,. aid all the money
in the WOrlU uo,.DIeu would not In
duce me ~ ...eAe the experiment
again.
One grows strangely accustomed
to dangers as an acrobat, and when
it was suggested that | should earn
$25 in as many minutes by taking
the place of a parachutist who had
fallen i'll at the last minute jumped
at the chance.
1t was at large country fair. The
laughing crowd had probably never
seen balloon go up. AS the great
silk bag gradually swelled a silence
fell upon the onlookers.
The sick parachutist's manager
patted me on the back and said it
was money easily earned. l agreed
then.
Keep COOL" he said, land what
ever you do, don't look down except
to judge your distance from the
earth. You see that tower? 1t is
about 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 felt my feet leave
the ground. The upward movement
was gentle, and a great cheer came
up to me until the band drowned it.
l hardly heard the cheering or the
band. The involuntary murmur still
rang in my ears. Perhaps my nerves
were upset, possibly it was intuition,
but from the moment l was drawn
up from the ground felt the con-
viction that grim trouble lay ahead.
Ignoring the oft repeated instruc-
tions, looked down. How slowly the
balloon went up! Could it be possible
that l had not gone more than hun
dred yards? The giant overhead be-
came a living thing, intent on tortur-
ing the puny mortal who had trusted
his life to it. 1 knew I dared not
leap before l was high enough, for
the parachute takes 100 feet some
times to open.
I shut my eyes and tried to count
to kill time, but the figures became
jumbled, and l looked down again.
A swallow skinned past underneath.
Far below there was sea of upturn-
ed faces, and the music foated up
distinctly. The balloon seemed to
stopped rising, and for an eternity
l tried to gauge the height.
Again the band stopped, and was
in silent world. The crowd of
breathless specks far beneath was
getting full value for it's money. The
only noise heard was the beating of
the blood through my head. 1 was
was afraid. 1t was the first real fear
had ever felt in my work.
When the supreme moment came
I pulled the string without realizing
what l was doing.
What years / lived in those next
and consciousness when my feet
touched a wild desire to live came
with the first terrible rush, and my
heart stood still as l looked eagerly
aloft. The ropes of the parachute
had twisted and l was falling to in
stant death.
Grasping the ropes in clutch of
steel, shook them frantically. Half
the huge parachute bellied out with
noise like a pistol shot and the speed
of the fall was lessened with jar.
Again shook the death trap. The
ropes were sliding at snails pace,
and bit by bit the parachute was
opening. Still fell far too fast. l
could not breathe, and my hands
seemed to be refusing to hold on.
Bang! The last fold had opened
out, and was saved. Dizzy and numb
with fear, held on tightly, wonder
ing whether I should faint before l
touched the ground. That, and that
only, was my thought as l sailed
through the space. had almost lost
the ground gently. And then | COL
lapsed.- Times.