Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1908-11-27
HOW 1T FEELS 10 FALL
THREE THOUSAND FEET,

FORBES TELLS OF EXPERIENCE OF
HIMSELF AND POST IN BAL
LOON CONQUER.
A. Holland Forbes has brought to
Washington the first direct account of
the bursting of his balloon (Conquerer)
and his thrilling fall of 5000 feet, dur
ing the International ballon races at
Berlin, General Allen was with US
in Berlin, and shared our patriotic but
unfulfilled hopes in my balloon, the
Conqneror, which burst 5000 feet in
the air, above Berlin, few minutes af-
ter Augustus Post and / went up.
"We got out of that fall without a
scratch, as was cabled in America at
the time, but it was a thrilling time
for us and miraculous escape, and /
shall never forget the experience.
Neither will Post.
ave didn't think much of the acci-
dent while it was happening-there
was no time for that. I had just re-
marked to Post how well the balloon
was working when the noise of the ex-
plosion came
"Post coolly looked aloft, and said:
Forbes. she's gonen | looked over
head, and instantly Compounded our
danger. Post says L said: oh, helln
"We were up exactly $500 feet, as
the instruments showed. We came
down that $500 feet in two minutes.
We were coming down, all right!
1 81 grabbed the ropes and tried to
parachute down. We fell 1900 feet
like piece of lead. We threw out
sand, 80 bags-I had ton Of it in the
balloon-a bag at time We were
going down so fast that it appeared
that the sand was going up in the air,
past US, as we fell. Post and 1 were
worried about hitting the people below
l remembered we warned each othel
about that. But in those crowded two
minutes we didn't have time to worry
about ourselves.
"After some nightly speedy work,
got the ropes so we could parachute
and right underneath US / saw an
apartment house. It seemed to be
coming right up from the earth to meet
US, and it was coming fast.
81 never shall forget Post as he was
then-the coolest man l ever saw.
When he got sight of that mansard
roof coming up to us, he reached over
and said: 'Good-by Forbesey, old man.
1 shook hands and said: 'Good-by,
Gusp And that's all there was to it.
Then we struck.
"The car of the ballaon went crash
ing through the roof Of that apartment
house, tiles, lathing, plastering, and
all, and we found ourselves unceremoni-
ously entering lady's bedroom. Fort
unately, she was not at home. She
was at the balloon race grounds, among
the other $4,000 or SO people who gath
cred to see us start That crowd was a
mile square.
''The kaiser sent a motorcar to us,
with one of his adjutants, and the
military and police helped to disent-
angle us from the rigging. They ex-
pected to find us dead, of course, but
we were not hurt bit, and the kaiser
sent us box for the opera the follow
ing night.
"At the opera we met lady who
was present in the crowd when we fell,
with her two little girls, and when she
said the gas bag burst the big crowd
sighed, and then in absolute silence
watched us come down. The two little
girls knelt and prayed aloud. for us and
I afterward heard that when they
learned of our safety they prayed again,
in gratitude for our lives having been
spared.
"Jacques Faure, in his balloon, was
near us aud saw the Conqueror burst,
and he told me afterward that Erbsloeh,
who saw us hit the roof, megaphoned
to him from his balloon. Faure me-
gaphoned back that he had seen us
alive on the roof, and Erbsloeh wrote a
note of congratulation, while in his
balloon, weighted it with toy sand
bag, which we sometime use in send
ing messages, and dropped it, asking
that it be sent to me. got it the next
evening, just before going to the opera.
81 am enthusiastic about Post. Eight
men arranged with me at different
times to make the trip, but when l
pointed that we were to continue,
whether we were swept out over the
North sea ar not, they all backed down,
one by one: Post merely said; "All
right. Ii we race, we race
81 am sorry we could not win for
America; that's ALL The balloon and
trip cost me about $1,000. I travelled
eight miles, and was in the air jnst
eight minutes. But it was good sport,
and got my moneys worth. I'll try
it again, some time"
How is your Digestion !
Mrs. Mary Bowling of No. 228 8th
Ave, San Francisco, recommends a
| ,nIx Co. or - =