Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-08-10
A FRIGHT IN M|DA|R
Going Up In a Balloon and Com.
 ing Down In a Parachute.
THE AGONY OF A FIRST TRIP
Experience and Sensations of an Ac- robat Who Took the Place of a Pro- fessional Aeronaut In an Emergency. The Dash Through Space.

l once went up in balloon and
 came down in parachute. Something
 went wrong, and all the money in the
 world doubled would not induce me to
 make the experiment again.
 One grows strangely accustomed to
 dangers as an acrobat and when it
 was suggested that l should earn $25
 in as many minutes by taking the place
 of parachutist who had fallen i'll at the last minute jumped at the chance. It was at 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 parachutists manager pat ted me on the back and said it was money easily earned. I 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? It is about a 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.
 I 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 was drawn up from the ground I felt the conviction that grim trouble lay ahead.
 Ignoring the oft repeated instruc. tions, looked down. How slowly the balloon went up! Could it be possible that I 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. I knew dared not leap before I was high enough. for the par achute takes 100 feet sometimes to open.
 l shut my eyes and tried to count to kill time, but the figures became jun. bled. and looked down again. A swallow skinned past underneath Far below there was a sea of upturned faces, and the music floated up dis tinctly. The balloon seemed to have stopped rising, and for an eternity tried to gauge the height.
 Again the band stopped. and I was in a silent world. The crowd of specks far beneath was get ting full value for its money. The only noise heard was the beating of the blood through my head. I was afraid. It was the first real fear I had ever felt fin my work.
 When the supreme moment came I pulled the string without realizing what I was doing
 What years I lived in those next few seconds. An appalling nausea and 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 I was falling to instant death.
 Grasping the ropes in a clutch of steel, l shook them frantically.- Half the huge parachute bellied out with a noise like pistol shot. and the speed of the fall was lessened with a jar.
 Again I shook the death trap. The ropes were sliding at a snail's pace and bit by bit the parachute was open ing. Still fell far too fast. I 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, I held on tightly. wonder ing whether I should faint before I the ground. That, and that only. was my thought as I sailed the space. I had almost lost When my feet touched the ground gently. And then col Times.