Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-03
TERROR OF PARACHUTE DROP
VOLUNTEER AERONAUT TELLS
OF HIS EXPERIENCE.
It Is Question Of Life or Death
Until Big Umbrella Opens
Out-Ropes Twisted.

From the Buffalo Times.
1 once went up in balloon and came
down in a parachute. Something went
wrong, and all the money in the world
doubled would not induce me to make the
experiment again.
One grows strangely accustomed TO
dangers as an acrobat, and when 1t was
suggested that l should earn $25 in as
many minutes by taking the place of a
parachutist who had fallen ill at the last
minute 1 jumped at the chance.
1t was at a large country fair. The
laughing crowd had probably never seen
balloon go up. AS the great silk bag
gradually swelled a silence fell upon the
onlookers.
me on the back and said 1t was money
easily earned / agreed-then.
Keep COOL" he said land, whatever
you do don't look down except to judge
your distance from the earth. You see
that tower? 1t is about Loco yards away.
When you are that distance up pull the
check string and shut your eyes,
A dull murmur rose as the ropes were
cast off and l felt my feet leave the
ground. The upward movement was gen
tie, and a great cheer came up to me
until the band drowned 1t.
Nerves Shaky.
l hardly heard the cheering or the band.
The involuntary murmur still rang in my
ears. Perhaps my nerves were upset.
possbIy it was intuition, but from the
moment / was drawn up from the ground
felt the conviction that grim trouble
lay ahead.
Ignoring the oft-repeated instructions,
looked down. How slowly the balloon
went up! Could it be possible that mad
not gone more than 100 yards! The giant
overhead became living thing. intent on
torturing the puny mortal who had trust
ed his life to it. i knew l dared not
leap before / was high enough. for the
parachute takes 100 feet sometimes 70
open.
/ shut my eyes and tried to count to
kill time, but the figures became tumbled,
and I 10 .ked down again. \ sWaiio"
SKINNED past underneath. Far below
the music f1oated up distinctly The bal
loon seemed to have stopped rising, and
for an eternity tried to gauge the height.
Again the band stopped. and l was i'm
silent world. The crowd OF GREATNESS
specks far beneath was getting full value
for its money. The only noise I heard
was the beating of the blood through my
head. was afraid. 1t was the first real
fear I had ever felt in my work.
At Last the Drop.
When the supreme moment came 1
pulled the string without realizing what
1 was doing.
What years I 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 / looked
eagerly aloft. The ropes of the parachute
had twisted, and l was falling to instant
death.
Grasping the ropes in a clutch OF steel,
I shook them frantically. Half the
huge parachute bellied out with noise
like a pistol shot. and the speed Of the
fall was lessened with jar.
Again 1 shook the death trap. The
ropes were sliding at snails pace. and
bit by bit the parachute was opening.
Still fell far too fast. / could not
breathe. and my hands seemed to be re-
fusing to hold on.
Bang! The last fold had opened out.
and was saved. Dizzy and numb with
fear, held on tightly. wondering whether
l should faint before touched the
ground That and that only. was my
thought as I sailed through the space. 1
had almost lost consciousness when my
feet touched the ground gently. And
then I collapsed.