Los Angeles herald., 1908-10-12
u. S. BALLOON
BURSTS IN AIR
ABOVE BERLIN
AMERICAN AER0NAUTS HAVE
THRILLING ESCAPE
GERMAN RACE MARRIED BY SPEC
TABULAR ACCIDENT
1000 Feet Up SILK Bag Breaks; De-
seends Like Cannon Ball--Thou-
sands Gaze as If PetrIfied.
Many Faint
ERx Associated Press. !


ERLIN. Oct. 1.-THE internation-
al balloon race, which started
a today from the suburb OF
schmaraenbors. was the occasion Of
a thrilling accident, two American
aeronauts having a marvellous escape
from death.
The American balloon Conqueror,
the only American built craft IN the
contest. having on board A. Holiano
Forbes and Augustus Post, less tnan
two minutes after the start pursc at
an altitude of 1000 feet. 80
For 1000 feet 1t shot down like
bullet, and then the cornsilk bag as
sumed the shape of a parachute, thus
checking the rapidity of the descent.
Coming close to the earth, however,
the basket smashed into the roof OF
q house, but the two men escaped
with but slight injuries.
Twenty-three In Race
The race, in which twenty-three bal
looms participated, representing Great
Britain, France. Germany, the United
States. Switzerland, Belgium, Italy
and Spain, started at 3 O'Clock this
afternoon in the presence of at least
5000 spectators. The sunshine was
brilliant and the heat was that of
summer.
Amid the strains of america and
volleys of cheers. the first balloon was
sent away. 1t was the American ii,
under command of James G. Mccoy,
who was accompanied by Lieut.. Vogh-
mann.
The balloon was decorated with the
Stars and Stripes, and 1t sailed away
to the southeast at a rapid pace, the
aeronauts waving their hats.
A representative of each OF the other
nations followed the American balloon
at intervals of two minutes, the ma
tional hymn of the respective countries
ringing forth as the ropes were cast
loose.
Ascends In Second Batch
The second batch of eight balloons
was led by Forbes in the Conqueror,
which was started with some difficulty
owing to a gusty wind and too much
ballast. But eventually 1t shot upward
and reached a high altitude In an in
credibly short time, the basket sway
ing violently.
Then, almost instantly, a cry of horror
arose from the crowd who saw the SILK
collapse and shouted:
"The balloon Is rippingl"
Thousands stood for a moment as II
. petrified. Some turned away, faintlng,
as they saw the balloon falling with
lightning-like rapidity.
At the same time showers of sand
and appurtenances of the balloon snot
downward with equal rapidity, and
= then daylight was seen through the en-
velope, great ragged edges of the silk
showing on either side.
Saved by Chance
"They are killedl'' went in hushed
whisper through the crowd, but short
" the remainder of the envelope ap-
reared to take first triangular shape,
and then was transformed into a sort
of parachute at the top of the net and
H. nd
vas considerably arrested by this
change in the bags shape.
1t came down slower and slower,
meanwhile being swept by the wind
far to the southeast, and finally dis
appeared from view behind a block OF
houses.
The suspense among the crowd was
terrible, but few minutes later a
telephone message was received from
Friedenau, which announced the men
had landed and had not been seriously
injured. A great sigh OF relief went
up among the people, who threw their
hats in the air for joy.
The other balloons were sent up after
a brief delay, without further acci-
dent.
Tells of Experience
A. ROLAND Forbes, who appeared to
be very little worse for his experience
except that he was suffering some
what from the shock. gave the Asso-
ciated Press a thrilling account of the
accident.
"We had some difficulty" he said,
sin getting away, but once we left the
ground everything seemed to be right.
We mounted almost perpendicularly to
an altitude of 1000 feet.
''As / looked at the recording in
strument to make note of the alti-
tude heard peculiar swish and said
fo Eocf. ssTbat sounds danparnuS'
Immediately I saw that the envel-
ope was raidly debating, the gas escap-
ing in clouds.
INSTANTLY threw the appendix clear
of the basket and the ropes and, draw
ing my jackknife, cut the ropes that
were attached to the thirty-nine bags
of sand hanging around the basket.
All Ballast Dropped
post in the meantime, threw over
everything portable. We could see,
however, that we were falling more
rapidly than some of the elected arti-
4 cles. Later, when the descent of the
balloon was checked, we observed one
bag of sand fall into a baby carriage,
which was smashed to pieces, but for
tunately the nurse snatched out the
baby and saved it's life.
Both of us sprang up and held on to
the ring above, hoping in this way to
be seen the envelope gradually spread
ing out.
I'VE continued to fall with terrific
speed until a sort of parachute had
been formed, and then we knew that
unless further mishap occurred we
would probably be saved from death.
Danger Is Increased
"Our speed did not decrease as much
as we should have liked, and we were
still moving at a rapid pace when we
reached the tops of the high houses on
the streets, which increased the danger.
I'VE passed over one roof. almost
touching 1t, and still holding on to the
ring. We avoided the next block, but
finally struck the Mansard roof of a
house in the block adjoining and the
net and envelope fell to the opposite
side.
"The basket crashed against the tiles
and went partly through into an occu-
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