The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1909-03-22

22.-Lost In binding snow
storm which has been raging
I'm the Sierra Madre noun
tains and over the Mojave
desert for SO hours, Captain
A. K. Mueller, the famous
aeronaut, and five companions
who ascended in the balloon
American at Pasadena Satur-
day, are in great danger of
death today.
No word as to the whereabouts
of the missing aeronauts has been
received today and the storm is
raging with unabated fury, and
grave fears that they will die from
the exposure or starvation are en-
tertafned. Rescue parties are be-
ing organized and will scour the
mountains and desert in the hope
Of finding the lost party.
Prominent Men I'm Party.
Captain Mueller Is accompanied
by Lane G. Gillian, a prominent
young mining man, formerly a
resident of Walla Walla, Wash;
Richard Halstead, prominent So
ciety man Of Pasadena; Sdyney
Gray, pigeon fancier of Pasadena;
Harold Parker, photographer of
Los Angeles, and F. G. Dodschutz.
a chauffeur, acting as assistant
pilot on the balloon.
Members of the party are light
ly clad, and when they started
carried but one small hamper of
food, barely enough for one meal
for six healthy men.
Storm Is Severe. i
!, Reports were received here ear
ly this morning that the balloon
had been sighted at Lancaster, a
station on the desert. Later ad-
vices showed this report to be
unfounded. Both Palmdale and
Lancaster report that a heavy
snowstorm, almost blizzard, has
been raging there for SO hours
and that no balloon could possi-
bly, have been sighted unless it
landed in the towns. Over seven
inches of snow had fallen on the
desert early today and the storm
showed no sign of abating.
Advices received from different
stations in the mountains state
that nothing has been seen of the
balloon since it crossed Mount
Lowe Saturday evening.
Heavy Fall of Snow.
A fierce storm has been raging
ever since and more than four
feet Of snow has fallen on Mount
Wilson up to an early hour this
morning.
That the balloon has already
made landing is practically cer-
tain. Carrying six persons through
the cold air of the stormbound
mountains, there is no chance that
It could be afloat. Whether the
aeronauts have landed in the
mountain crags or dropped on the
smooth surface of the desert their
plight is equally serious.
Unless fortune favored them
and brought them safely to earth
near some habitation, the chances
are against their finding their way
out of either predicament without
encountering danger from starva-
tion and exposure. The mountains
are wild and the desert trackless
in the best of weather; in bliz-
zard conditions are terrible.
Danger Is Great.
Ill fortune pursued the balloon
from the start. Six passengers In
the car precluded the possibility
of carrying sufficient ballast toI
an easy landing. But
90 sacks of sand were carried and
six of these we're sacrificed before
the huge balloon cleared the city
limits.
Seven more bags were lost when
the balloon dropped rapidly from
600 feet altitude after 1t had en-
q current of cold airl
above Altadena. More sand was
lost when the party crossed Mount
LoNa.
Wire communications on thel
desert is uncertain today on ac-
count of the storm.
An unconfirmed report was re-
cefved here late today that the
are safe In . construc-
ti6n camp along the line Of the
A0ueduct. Little credence isl
g