Evening star., 1909-06-05
BIG BALLOONS READY
Nine Entrants in Distance and
Endurance Race.
START FROM INDIANAPOLIS
Contest Under Auspices of the Aero
Club of America,
GOVERNOR TO ACT AS STARTER
Government Officials Present to
Watch Flight-First Ascent at
3:45 O'Clock This Afternoon.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind, June 5.-The ma
tional distance race for balloons of the
Aero Club Of America and the endurance
contest held under the auspices of the
Aero Club Of Indiana will start late this
afternoon from the new motor speedway,
five miles northwest of this city. where
nine great gas bags are swinging above
their moorings. Six of them are entered
in the national distance race and three In
the Indiana Clubs event to prove ability
to remain in the air during the longest
period. Many members Of the Aero Club
of America have gathered here. The en-
trants for the races follow:
Carl Fisher and Capt. G. l. Bumbaugh
National race:
of Indianapolis. in the Indiana
Capt. Baldwin of New York and Charles
Walsh of Mount Vernon. N. Y, in the
Hooser.
A. H. Morgan and j. H. Wade, jr., OF
Cleveland, in the Cleveland.
Albert Bond LAMBERT and H. T. Heney-
well of ST. Louis. in the st. Louis.
John Berry and Paul Mccullough of st.
Louis. in the Univedsty City.
A. Holland Forbes and Capt. Harmon OF
New York, in the New York.
Handicap:
DR.. Goethe Link and j. R. Irwin Of In
dianapolis, in the Indianapolis.
DR.. H. w. Thompson of Salem, Ohio,
and w. E. Mast of Canton, Ohio, in the
Ohio.
c. A. Coey in the Chicago
Etart at Minute Intervals.
The handicap event will start at 3:45
o'clock and the national event at d
o'clock; the ascents to be made at five
minute intervals in the following order:
Forbes, Fisher, Lambert, Morgan
Walsh and Berry.
Gov. and Mrs. Thomas R. Marshall will
witness the start of the balloons and
The states chief executive and party wal
occupy prominent boxes in front of which
a platform will be erected. The inflated
balloons will be led in single file pas
carry out his part of the ceremony.
Gov. Marshall is in hearty sympath.
with the race project, as he believes !
will be of great value from scientific
standpoint. United States government of
ficials are watching the race and tnt
government will be officially represented
by Maj. Hersey.
Allen r. c. Hawley of New York ha.
entire charge of the speedway grounds
and the race. AT his order all the pilots
and their aids assembled at the grounds
this morning. They were assigned their
positions for the start and they imme-
diately began the preliminary work. Haw-
ley issued an order to the effect that al
the bags be completely inflated several
hours prior to the start, IN order that al
be thoroughly tested. The balloons are
guarded by 15O uniformed army artillery
men. Smoking, even in the remote VI
cinity of the bags, is absolutely prohibit.
ed on account of the danger of gas ex.
plosions.
Equipped With Life Savers.
The baskets of all the racing balloon:
were today equipped with big lire savers
A. Holland Forbes. pilot of the balloon
New York. conceived the idea and the
pneumatic life savers were constructed a
his order by tire company of this city
The other pilots We're quick to adopt The
innovation, and, as a result, all of then
are similarly protected. Should any o.
the balloons descend in body of water
the lie savers are expected to preVen
the baskets from sinking.
The pilots and aids prepared big cargoe.
of supplies. as they expect 10 be in tns
air tor several days. Included were large
quantities of food and. water; some o.
the aeronauts provided guns and fishing
tackle to be used in killing game AM
catching fish should they land in unin
habited places.
FORBES OF New York is generally picked
as the winner of the big event on account
;hough A. H. Morgan, pilot of the Cleve
land, and his aid, J. H. Wade, jr., have
suddenly sprung to the foreground of pos
sibe winners. They have special bas
| ket on which they hope TO win points
The secret of success, according TO these
| flyers, Is TO keep quiet and avoid moving
around while Ell route. This special oas
ket makes such thing possible. They
do not carry an anchor and will balance
| at the start with the drag rope already
| overheard
Device of His Own.
Carl Fisher has invented a life saver OF
his own. He has wrapped the outer sides
of his basket with large rubber tubes, in
fated to the limit of their capacity. In
case he should drop in a body of water
he calculates that this would serve him
in good turn.
Director Hawley has cautioned the mer
to remember that they may want to en-
ter other races and not to sacrifice toe
much in endeavoring to win this one. One
point on which Hawley has urged caution
is the possibility of confusion after darl
between the rip cord and the valve rope.
The pilots hope for a wind toward tn,
northeast as this direction offers The
longest distances possible to travel, ant
they confidently expect that they will b'
able TO ieak some records. However
the weather bureau reports that the indi
cations point to winds that will carr,
IL, ael o..duiS eastward.