The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1908-10-14
Balloon In Race Drops With
Men CIinging to 1t.
Two NARROWLY MISS DEATH.
Accident Thrills Thousands Gath.
cred Near Berlin to Witness
the Annual Contest For
the Bennett Cup.

Berlin, Oct. 12.-The International
balloon race, which started from
Schmargendorf. was the occasion Of
thrilling accident, two American aero
nauts having Il miraculous escape from
from death.
The American balloon Conqucror the
only American built craft IN the con-
test, having on board \. Holland
Forbes and Augustus Post, less than
two minutes after the start. hurst Mt
an altitude Of 1000 feet. For 1000
feet II shot down like Il bullet. the aer-
Onauts clinging to the overhead ring.
and then the torn silk spread out the
parachute, and the rapidity of the de-
scent was checked. Coming close to
the earth. however, the basket smash
ed into the roof of house, but the
two men escaped with slight injuries.
The race. in which twcnty-three bal
looms participated, representing Great
Britain, France. Germany, the United
States, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and
Spain, started in the presence of at
least $4,000 spectators. Amid the
strains of america" the first balloon
was sent away. 1t was the America
H.. under command of James G. Nc
Coy. who was accompanied by Lieu
tenant Voghmann. The balloon was
decorated with the stars and stripes.
A representative of each of the other
nations followed the American bal
loon in succession at intervals of two
minutes, the national hymn of the re-
spective countries ringing forth as the
ropes were cast loose.
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 it shot up and
reached high altitude In an incredi-
bly, short period, the basket swaying
violently. Then almost instantly cry
of horror arose from the crowd. who
saw the silk collapse and shouted.
'The balloon is ripping upv'
The thousands who had gathered
there stood for moment petrified
Some turned away, fainting, as they
saw the balloon falling with lightning
like rapidity. "They are killed." went
in hushed whisper through the
crowd. A few minutes later tele-
phone message was received from
Friedenau. which announced that the
men had landed and had not been
killed.
One bag of sand fell into baby
carriage, which was smashed to pieces,
but the nurse snatched out the baby
and saved its life. The basket crashed
partly through tiled roof into an oc-
cupied room. The man In the room
was terrified.
81 could cry with vexation," said
Aeronaut Forbes. 'after coming so far
to take part In the race and then to be
knocked out by such an accident.
cannot say now what was the cause
of the catastrophe, which will inves.
tigate. 1t was our good fortune to be
up so high; otherwise the balloon could
not have formed itself into para
chute"
Brigadlcr General James Allen. U. s.
A.. chief of the signal corps; Lieutcn.
ant Colonel John r. Wiser, military
uttdCne lO lue AlleTlCdH elnDdSSN ut
Berlin, and L. d. Dosier, president of
the Aero club of st. Louis witnessed
the accident.
All the competitors In the race are
provided with rations for three days.
This Is the third International balloon
cup race for the James Gordon Ben
nett trophy. The first race was held Mt
Paris in 1906 and was won by Lieuten-
ant Frank p. Lahm of the United
States cavalry by flight of 402 miles.
The second contest was held under the
auspices of the Aero Club of America
at st. Louis in October, 1907. 1t was
won by the German balloon Pom
mern, which landed at Asbury Park,
n. j.. having covered S73.4 miles in an
air line. 1t was piloted by Oscar Erb-
sloeh. The French balloon LIsle dc
France, pilOted by Alfred Leblanc, was
second, having covered six miles less
than the POmmern.