The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1909-04-29

possession of the balloon, and bore it
off upon it's tempestuous wings. |
will quote Captain Muella's account
as it is more graphic than any can
give you. "With the suction of cy-
clone, like a feather we were swept
upward toward the mountain peaks.
To have tried to land then would have
been certain death. We would have
been dashed to pieces. No man could
have acted quickly enough to have
avoided the rush of wind that poss-
essed us. No man would have dared
to. We. held council of war. The
gentleman told me that to go over the
mountain ranges to point where we
could land in safety near supply
station, might mean a hundred miles.
| threw out seven sacks of sand seek
ing an upper air current, that would
carry us back over the San Gabriel
Valley. We passed through three
distinct strata of air currents, each
higher one being colder than the one
bene ath, and three strata of snow
clouds, reaching height of 1900 feet.
All of these currents were sweeping
northward, and / had but two and
one half sacks of ballast left. 1--WE
lust land as soon as possibleo l
shouted to the men, "and we must
first find out where we are.' The
clouds were so dense that we could
hardly tell in which direction the
and watched my barometer. could
hear the men gasp, catching their
breath. We dropped three thousand
feet in less than a minute. Through
rift in the lower fog saw ragged
peak, barren save for scorched pine
tree. In all that panorama beneath
us it was the one spot big enough 10
hold the basket of the balloon. To
see, to Judge, to do,-all in an instant;
that was the necessity. The men re-
sponded to my wild shouts like steel
springs released. When we were
within 300 feet of the mountain, l
commanded and everything was
thrown overheard; the valve was
pulled wide; the balloon was sucked
inward to its apex, forming an almost
perfect parachute, and the car luffed
almost to stiffness, then settled upon
the rock within ten feet of precipice
reaching hundreds of feet below.
tell you for sure that was the most
miraculous landing have ever heard
Of 1t was the closest call of my life.
All! we went down like a hawk. |
thought of the big black bird as we
shot. 1t was the one chance in a
thousand to save those men. You
see the ballast was gone, and l could
only drift on and on farther away
from life TO certain death. | know
that | did right and no man flinched
at my perilous decision. l am happy
1t was so.o
After landing they tied the balloon
by the trail rope to giant pine, and
went foundering through the snow to
the shelter of group of pines farther
ahead. Before leaving Pasadena
every man was told TO dispose of his
matches, and everything about his
clothing that could be in any way ex-
plosive, or take fire by coming even
IN remote contact with gas, and here
they were, upon bleak mountain
peak, covered with snow in an I'M
known region, with darkness settling
own,-and no possible chance for a
fire to keep them from freezing. In
desperation each one went through
his pockets again and again, hoping
by some fortunate oversight at start
ing, match might have been over
looked. AT length-between the out
side and lining of the vest of one of
them, match was found where it had
slipped through the pocket of Edwin
Dabschutz, and on this, hope revived,
ard they eagerly collected together
heaps of brush and fir bouehs, and
such small papers as they had about
them, and gathered in an anxious
group about the little pile,-and one
struck the fateful match. Every
mans face was tense and white with
suppressed feeling, as he watched the
little blaze, upon which their very
lives hung, glow brightly for mo-
ment, sputter, and when just threat
ening to 60 out, catch upon the oily
fir boughs, then leap up, widen
and deepen into roaring flame. 1t
lit the mountain side for miles, and
they felt sure they were safe for the
night. They shouted and sent out
their halloos through the wide lonely
spaces, but their calls for help
brought no return, save the empty
echoes of their own voices, reverber-
ating around the snow crowned peaks
that stood about them. At last these
weary voyagers of the air settled
down for the night, but found little
sleep. At break of day, after partak-
ing of frugal meal of the remnants
of food they had brought; they start
ed out to find some way of escape
from starvation and death.
Through piercing cold and driving
snow they climbed down the noun
tain side, every step full of danger,
upon the Drinks of falls and almost
impossible snow, into hidden riffs and
gullies, until they came to the Te-
junga river whose icy waters they had
to ford a number of times, only to
find after all these dangers and hard
ships, that they were at the end of
canyon, which dropped down sheer
hundreds of feet. The only way now
was to retrace their dreadful journey,
recross the icy fords, and climb again
the mountain peak. The return was
far more fatiguing than the descent.
At last they found themselves back
in the place where they had camped
the previous night. After rest they
deserted before them ridge short
distance ahead, and with renewed
hope they rushed forward, hoping
from its summit to look off for miles,