New-York tribune., 1910-09-19
BALLOONS RACE
THROUGH STORMS
Two. Which Started from lndI-
annapolis, Land in PennSyI-
vania Rains0aked.
THREE FLY IN A BUNCH
So Close Together as They
Passed Over Pittsburg That
Spectators Feared a
Collision.
THREE FLY IN A BUNCH

Pittsburg. Sept 1S-Two Of tbe thir-
teen balloons which ascended from IN
dianapolis between and o'clock yes
terdav afternoon landed to-day.
The Topeka came down at $50 o'clock
this afternoon in the yard Of John Rey-
burns farm. seven miles south of Wash
ingt0u. Penn. on account of shower.
Pilot R. 6. Cole and his aid r NJ
Jacobs. of Topeka, Kan. reported that
most of the night they had travelled so
closely to the others of the big aeronaut-
icaI party thar they could talk from
basket to basket. The Topeka was en-
tered in the -for-all event
The Drifter. with Albert Holz. pilot.
and George r Howard. passenger. land
ed at Uniontown, Penn The aeronauts
stated that they encountered three
storms while flying at an altitude OF
about twenty-three hundred feet and
crossed the Ohio River three times.
Their big gas bag was literally soaked
and made so heavy by the rain that they
were forced to descend.
The Buckeye passed over Charleston
". Va. at o'clock this evening.
Four other balloons crossed the Ohio
Rive. near Wheeling ". Va.
Hundreds Watch Balloons,
Eastern Ohio. West Virginia and West
ern Pennsylvania We're all balloon hunt
ing to-day. All afternoon local news
Dsper. offices were advised from outlying
districts that four balloons. sailing high
and separated by about ten-minute in
tervaIs. had been sighted.
The first report came here from Wash
ington. Penn. The balloons had been
sighted there at o'clock. and the third
had passed at l % p. m. They were all
over 1.Ooo feet nigh. but Sheriff John
Ms7rphy, who reported their passage,
said that he distinguished the forms of
two men in two of the baskets and three
men in the car of the third balloon.
At Cannonsburg. just northeast OF
Washington. the balloons were sighted
bv hundreds of persons and one man
got so excited he turned in a fire alarm.
over the junction Of the Monogdhela
and Youghiogheny rivers the aeronauts
evidently encountered trouble with the
lower air currents and avoided them by
mounting to the height of nearly a mile.
At this altitude Jhey sailed up the Mo-
nongahela valley. over the fire and smoke
of numerous steel mills
Sailing Close Together.
The balloons were sighted between
and 3 o'clock from the southern suburbs
of Pittsburg, at McKeesport. Elizabeth,
Carrick and Mount Oliver. At that time
one Of the balloons had a twenty min
utes' lead on the three others. and the
latter we're so close together that 1t
seemed as if they would bump.
At the extreme height it was impossi-
BILE to identify the balloons. and as dusk
closed in they were reported as barely
visible as they proceeded northeasterly
along the course of the Allegheny River
During the afternoon showers threat
ened several times. and at o'clock some
rain fell here, but at that hour no report
had been received of any of these four
balloons landing The wind held steady
at about twelve miles an hour, as il had !
all day The local Weather Bureau re-
ported that during last night the aero
nauts could not have had wind much
better than four miles an hour. but at
daybreak it became brisker.
During the evening note dropped |
from the Million Population club bal |
loon. of St Louis. was brought into a |
local newspaper Office. 1t read;
We are now at the .. 2.Jo0-foot level, |
travelling northeast, with fourteen sand |
bangs left 30 p. m. Don't think we |
will be able TO stay up all night. 81
LOUIS Won PHUL. Pilot
JOSEPH O'REILLY, Aid.
The Million Population Club balloon |
went up at =: 80 p. m. from Indianapolis /
Yesterday. and was entered in the Amer
lean championship event
Nothing further has been heard from
any of the balloons up TO midnight TO-
night.
Columbus Ohio. Sept 1s.-Two bal
looms. participants in the indianapolis /
contest. passed over this city early this
Continued second Dage