The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1908-08-01
A FRIGHT IN MIDA|R
Going Up In a Balloon and Com
ing Down In a Parachute.
THE AGONY or A FIRST TRIP

Experience and Sensations Of an Ao-
robat Who Took the Place Of Pro-
fessionsi Asronsut In an Emergency.
The Dash Through Space.
I once went up In a balloon and
came down In parachute. Something
went wrong. and all the money In the
world doubled would not induce me 10
make the experiment again
One grows strangely accustomed TO
dangers as an acrobat. and when Il
was suggested that I should earn $25
In as many minutes by taking the place
Of parachutist who had fallen III at
the last minute jumped at the chance.
II was at large country fair. The
laughing crowd had probably never
seen q balloon go up. Az the great
silk bag gradually swelled q silence
fell upon the onlookers.
The sick parachutsfs manager pat
ted me on the back and said II was
money easily earned I agreed then.
Keep COOL he said. '-nnd, whatever
you do. don't look down except 10
Judge your distance from the earth.
You see that towerf II In about q
thousand yards away. When Jon are
that distance up pull the check string
and shut your eyes"
A dull murmur rose as the ropes were
cast or and I felt my feet leave the
ground. The upward movement was
gentle, and a great cheer came up to
me until the band drowned It.
hardly heard the cheering or the
band. The involuntary murmur still
rang In my ears. Perhaps my nerves
were upset, possibly II was intuition.
but from the moment l was drawn up
from the ground felt the conviction
that grim trouble lay ahead
Ignoring the oft repeated instruc-
tons, looked down. How slowly the
balloon went upl Could 1t be possible
that had not gone more than hun
dred yards? The giant overhead be-
came living thing. intent on tortur-
ing the puny mortal who had trusted
his life 10 Il. ] knew ! dared not leap
before was high enough. for the par
achute takes 100 feet sometimes to
open.
shut my eyes and tried 10 count 10
kill time. but the figures became jun
bled. and l looked down again A
swallow skinned past underneath.
Far below there was a sea OF upturned
faces. and the music fioated up dis.
tinctly. The balloon seemed 10 have
stopped rising, and for an eternity /
tried TO gauge the height.
Again the band stopped, and l was
In silent world The crowd OF
branthless specks far beneath was get
ting full value for its money The
only noise / heard was the beating OF
the blood through my head. was
afraid. II was the first real fear had
ever felt In my work.
When the supreme moment came
pulled the string without realizing
what was doing
What years lived in those next
few seconds. An appalling nausea and
wild desire to live came with the
first terrible rush, and my heart stood
still as l looked eagerly aioft. The
ropes Of the parachute had twisted,
and I was falling TO instant death.
Grasping the ropes in clutch OF
steel, | shook them frantically. Halt
the huge parachute beilied out with a
noise like pistol shot and the speed
Of the fall was lessened with jar.
Again / shook the death trap. The
ropes were sliding nj snai's pace
and bit by bit the parachute was open
ing. Still fell far too fast ! could
not breathe. and my hands seemed tc
DO refusing 20 hold on.
Bang! The last fold had opened out
and I was saved. Dizzy and numb
with fear. held on tightly. wonder
ing whether should faint before
touched the ground. That and that
only, was my thought as ! sailed
through the space. had almost LOS
consciousness when my feet touched
the ground gently. And then col
lapsed.-Buffalo Times.