The Evening standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1910-1913, 1910-09-30
FIRE DESTROYS
Big BALLOON


with the Attendance OF 700 high
school and sub.hIgh school students,
the destruction By fire OF the baiioon
used In the daily ascensions' ana the
Fair Baby SHOW. as extras, on tue
bin of entertainment yesterday AT tle
Fair Grounds, one was Kept lnterest-
ed and busy from the time he enter
ed until he returned home.
Seven hundred rah-rah boys and
girls. arrayed In their ncar-colleGe
clothes, and carrying handfuls oil con
fetti and hundreds OF those tantallz-
Ing little rubber balls ready at any
moment or second 10 make lie miseT-
able for the nearest person, are not
TO be denied
The students had possession of the
grounds, and they wasted not a mo
ment of time in having the time oil
their lives. Every one OF them went
in for every little Bit OF fun that
could be gotten out of the Fair. and
1t Is needless to say that they got
1t. They played the wheels, did the
merry go-round, the Ferris wheel and
all of the concessions, until they tired
of their own efforts and made their
way homeward
The destruction Of the balloon was
the big feature of the day. The Inn
mense silken bag caught fire during
the process of initiation for the aft
ernoon's ascension and quickly burn
ed TO ashes. causing n loss to the
owner of 1926, besides losing for him
the SIS per day he was TO receive for
his work
While the balloon was being filled
with gas spark from the flue of the
underground fire entered the bag. and
owing to the excitement and awkward
ness of the attendant inside the bag,
a blaze which quickly got beyond con-
troll was started
In the initiation of a balloon It ID
necessary to have stationed inside
the bag man whose duty it Is to
prevent the silk lining from coming
into contact with the flue. and to ex-
tinguish with water and blanket any
sparks that might enter.
The man In charge of the Initiation
OF the balloon yesterday. however, lay
flat on his stomach on the turf dur
ing the initiation, and when a spark
escaped from the flue into the bag 1t
went unnoticed. until the crowd from
the outside cried out Fire. flre!"
The attendant then jumped up. but
In his haste he upset the bucket of
water which he had brought with
him for just such a purpose. He be-
came confused and neglected TO Gov
er up the flue with the blanket, and
when he saw the blaze gaining head
way he crawled under the folds OF
the balloon out into the open air. In
a short time the big bag was total
loss, the silk and the rope attach
ments being burned to ashes in quick
time.
The balloon was worth S275, and
the cost of the building of the ditch
and flue for initiation stood the own
er SIS. SO, with the S25 received for
the only ascension he had made dur
ing the engagement, his loss will to-
tai 1925.
Mr. Tenney, the manager of the
Western Carnival company, and own.
er of the balloon, has been unfortun-
ate ever since he came to Ogden. He
says that when he was making the
railroad trip TO this city for this en-
gagemeDt he occupied berth No. 13
in the Pullman car, and attributes his
i'll fortune to that fact
When he and his men were trans
porting his properties to the Fair
Grounds from the freight depot a
street car collided with one of the
drays, fatally injuring his best draw.
ing card in the live animal exhibit, a
trained wild boar
Yesterday. from some unknown
cause, his Chinese dragon. creature
seldom seen in captivity, and believed
by many to exist only in mythology,
passed away.
Mr.. Tenney mournfully asks what
next can he expect He declares thai
If he gets away from this city with
his head on his shoulders he will
consider himself lucky again.