The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-12
From the New York Evening Post.

From the New York Evening Post.
 HH in the balloon lofts where mem-
 nN bers of the Aero club store the
 VI bags that are expected to carry
 them slSyward in the coming season, ex-
 perts are hard at work. Gigantic 'en- velopes' are regarded seam by seam. Weak spots are re-enforeed with patches Doubtful seams are sewed over. Every strand and knot and splice is inspected. Not until everything has been overhauled Is the balloon packed, ready for shipment to the owner; for not infrequently the most trivial oversight may result in fa- tality. In France $500 balloon aseensions took place without the loss of life or with as little accident as the breaking of a wrist. Yet, no matter how much reas-
 surance Is given, as you appear upon the ground to make your first ascension you cannot help feeling uneasy.
 Before you, held to the ground by car loads of sandbags is a gigantic, house. high bag of silk or cotton, from 25 to 50 feet in diameter, swaying gently to and fro, straining at it's letters like a living. breathing thing. Fastened to the loose ends of the net enveloping the bag is rectangular wicker basket; and in this himsy inadequate contrivance you are to intrust yourself for 10, or 24, or IS hours. high in air. beyond sight of earth, land l ing no man can say where.
 Suddenly the earth falls away. There is absolutely no sensation. No upward move
 ment is felt. If your eyes were closed you would not know you had started The earth simply drops with alarming rapid | ity, and in few seconds the fences you l gazed into a moment before are indis- Ntinct. Before the ascent you may have had fears. if for no other reason than | the dizziness that overcomes you when looking down from great heights. Strange ly, however, no matter how sensitive you may be in this respect, there is no such distressing sensation. You gaze down upon the tip of church steeple whose | height has filled you with awe, and the only feeling is one of exhi1aration as for the first time you see the earth as the eagle sees it You gaze, not upon a fiat surface, but into a gigantic bowl, the rim of which is your horizon; in which | are green fields and woods. villages. cities, hamlets, chocolates e-colored threads that are roads and silver bands that are rivers
 vanishing like dewy cobwebs into the distance. What you see is no less than a oolored relief map of the land beneath you-mountains, valleys yellow with gold en grain, hills and dales and undulations. About this time you become aware that the ground has been sliding at express train speed beneath you. You turn and gaze over the edge of the basket for a last look at the crowd below, but do not find it. Miles in the distance the pilot
 may point out to you spot tiny as the
 palm of your hand, but no sign of your
 crowd can you make out without the aid
 of glasses. In truth, you have been travelling on the wings of the wind with
 out sensation. Were you caught in the heart of a hurricane you would never
 realize 1t, for in balloon you travel as
 fast as the wind itself, neither faster
 nor slower.
 At 20o0 feet the rumble of wagons and the hum of the usual city noises reach you, but your own voice sounds strangely chopped off. No reverberation, no echo
 answers it. Down on earth 1t could not