Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-21
Travelled 5000 Miles to Stay
Up Eight Minutes.
TWO MINUTES DESCENDING
Kept Busy Throwing Sand Bags al
People Below.
KNOCK CHIMNEY OFF HOUSE
Lady Sorry She Was Not at Home
When They Unceremoniously
Called by Way Of Roof.

NEW YORK. October 21.-Augustus Post
and a. Holland Forbes. the American aer-
onauts who fell in their exploded balloon
Conqueror at the aerial carnival in Der
lin, October II, arrived here yesterday
With them were Gen. James Allen, head
of the United States signal service. and
Francis H. Kimhan Of New York. the
''skyscraper architect"
The four men organized the Balloon
Club of the Kronprinzessin Cecile." ana
did nothing but talk. think and dream
balloons all the way across the Atlantic.
If they couldn't think Of anything else
in their line they would go all over the
cinematograph pictures of every phase OF
the Wright brothers aeroplane, now on
view in Europe.
Forbes had previously fallen 5.4O0 feet.
and is quite used to rapid descents. Mel
Their Of the heres Of the Conql ror's spec
tacular drop bears a scratch. and each is
as composed as an iceman
Crowd Below in Peril.
I'VE Travelled 5000 miles to 20 o., in a
balloon eight minutes" said the smiling
cheerful Forbes. LOT these eight minutes
we spent six going up $500 feet and the
other two minutes coming down.
The Conqueror held $4,000 cubic feet
Of gas and the balloon itself was ninety
feet in height. We We're ~" rect ABOVE
the gas works Of Berlin and directly un-
derneath us stood and parched so 200 per
sons Of the crowd of half million that
had turned out to witness the carnival
without warning. below the mid lie or
the sack, came a lateral split. We had
forty-two sacks Of sand, each weighing
about fifty pounds There were ten sacks
Of sand inside the basket and thirty-two
tied outside.
Tho first thing Mr.. Pest did was to
throw out the sacks from the inside o. the
basket while ! get busy cutting the lines
that held the outside bags.
LAS fast the haes of sand thrown
overheard fell the basket at first kept UP
with them. 1t was sand racing W.T.
sand. and a pretty even race; but as the
sand went out and down the basket was
left behind and the sand fell first
Knock Chimney Off House.
I've had more fears that the sand
would hurt somebody on the earth than
that we should be injured ourselves.
Now. half empty of gas. the balloon be-
gan to form a kind of parachute. allow
ing us to settle gently. you call it.
After getting rid of the sand we cut
some of the cords above that hold the
basket. Sinking gently meant str'k ng
a mansard house with such force that Y
knocked off chimney. The bag curled
over the side Of the house. the car fxed
itself partly In the roof and going through
partly into a lady's chamber.
Il grasped my opportunity and jumped
out and beran to snap my camera. In or
der T. secure soma interesting photographs
of the wreck.
Just before we struck we cut the ring
that concentrates the ropes above the
basket.
THE lady upon whom we called so un-
tremendously sent US a note later ex-
pressing her sorrow that she was not at
home.
zone of the sandbaes struck 50 n ar
a man that It almost stripped him Of his
clothes. Another bag crushed baby car
riaee. but the baby was not In It.
mo reason can be found for the bal
loon bursting"
Gen. Allen attended the electrical con-
rress at Marseille. He witnessed the fall
Of Post and Forbes at Berlin.