Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-05-12
AERIAL DISASTER
HAS CONVERSATIONS
BALLOON OF FORBES AND YATES
BROKE AMERICAS ASCENT
RECORDS.
EXPERIENCES AT
10000 FEET ELEVATION
Forbes Gives Thrilling D $ es'0n OF
Series of Accidents in Air Rip
ping Open of BaIIoo,$ Rapid De-
scent of 800 Feet .rth-me" Will
Probably ReeovkA

Horse Cave, Il, May 12.-That the
flight for the worlds distance record by
Aeronauts Forbes and Yates, which be-
gan at Quincy, ILL.,, Monday evening
terminating late Tuesday in disaster.
was not without its compensations' was
indicated by statement made py
Forbes last night.
The balloon broke the ascent record,
it is declared, and some valuable photo
graphs of Halley's comet were secured,
at an elevation of $4,000 feet. Tues
day morning the Viking passed thru a
snow storm, at 1140. at an elevation or
10000 feet An hour later they passed
thru second furry, at height of 16,-
400 feet AT O'Clock Tuesday after
noon the balloon reached an altitude
of 2060O feet. 1000 feet higher than
any authorized record ever made in
America
Forbes Describes Descent.
Forbes last night thus described
their experiences after reaching the
greatest height: In descending from
the great elevation we had very little
sand left and, as the gas contracted the
balloon bag became extremely tlabby
Everything, however, went we'll until
we were few hundred feet above
the ground, when the appendix line
broke loose from the ring supporting
the basket. There was so little gas in
the bag at the time that the rigging
collapsed and, with the basket attach
ed, naturally dropped. This caused the
rip cord, which is attached to the ring,
1oy. Il i~hk ~
300 feet from the ground. I can not
describe the sensation of that 300 feet
descent to the ground.
The Final Drop.
II have faint recollection Of seeing
men below In a plowed field and Of
subconsciously trying, it seemed. to tilt
up the basket, so that Yates and I
might spring free from the rigging
when close to the ground. Because the
basket did not tilt, as IL would have
done under ordinary circumstances.
was the cause of our injury. For a
moment was stunned by the impact.
Then I recovered and saw two or three
men coming to our aid. They extric-
ated US and. in improvised litters, we
were carried to this house."
1t is now believed that both men
will recover,
Not Sufficient Ballast.
Discussing the more remote cir
cumstance which might have had a
bearing on the accident, Forbes ex-
planned:
'In starting from Quincy we were
unable to carry more than thirty-three
40-pound bags of sand, which. together
with the tremendous height which
we ascended. shortened the trip. We
should never have started the flight
with less than fifty bags of ballast On
this trip l did not mind the low tenn
perature 50 much; both of us were
prepared for it. We suffered for want
Of oxygen, tho when we went higher
than $4,000 feet the air pressure of
that altitude is not more than three
Or four pounds. and it seems one can
not get enough air. We painted like
dogs and my ear drums and eyes
panied me greatly. Yates suffered in
the same manner. Some aeronauts
take tanks Of oxygen with their sup
plies, but we did not think We would
need IT. One becomes accustomed to
rapid changes in air pressure after he
has been in it awhile"
Both Forbes and Yates were resting
at the home of Joseph
Bastin, north OF Center. and expressed
the opinion that by the end of the
week they would be able to undertake |
the journey to New York.