The Washington times., 1910-09-20
New York, y Miss Sophia, !"
and THE Buckeye" Are
Accounted For.
AIDE BALDWIN TELLS
OF STORMY VOYAGE
Great Bag Has Wild Ride During
Night With Two Occu-
pants in Car.

NEW YORK. Eept. 20.-Reports which
reached the offices Of the Aero Club OF
America about 1890 today have cleared
up the mystery which Until that time
surrounded the Eisappearance OF tie
-hree balloons, New York. Miss Sophia
and the Buckeye All three have been
heard from
Since the time the thirteen ballOns
left Indianapolis Saturday these three
had not been heard from No anxleE
was felt for the safety OF their cap
tains and aides until this morning, when
continued absence Of any reports gave
officials here and at Indianapolis grave
WOTTy.
II looked TO officials here today as II
ts-z honors rested between the Buckeye.
which landed at Showalter. and MISS
Sophia. which descended near MicVs1ie-
". Vs-, both having undoubtedly broken
the American endurance record OF y
ucurs and 25 minutes
shortly after Il O'Clock this morning
officials OF the Aero cub OF AnleIlcd
Wade. Of the balloon, Buckeye The
{ telegram read.
Telegram Explains.
Balloon Buckeye landed IN the noun
tains AT TO Monday morning. one mile
.
Va Impossible 20 wire earlier.
The telegram was sent from Chris
tiansburg. Va
About fifteen minutes after the re-
/ ceipt OF the report from the men in
/ charge Of the Buckeye a second tele-
gram dated from Clarzsburg, W Va.
informed Aero Club officials that the
+ Miss Sophia had landed in an out of
the way spot in West svirgtnia about
/ clock Sunday evening So far away
from any sort OF communication was
/ the landing place that IL vas Impossible
/ for those in charge OF the Hiss Sophia
10 let their friends know OF the safety
Tne report made BY capt. Thomas
/ Baldwin, aide OF Pilot Clifford in the
balloon New York. was the most spec
/ taculsr one Of the three.
Baldwin Reports.
Apparently Unmindful Of the fact that
! the entire country was alarmed for the
safety Of his balloon, the New York.
which had not been reported since Il
started IN the Championship race at
Indianapolis Saturday, Capt Thomas
/ Baldwin, the aide Of Pilot Clifford B.
Harmon. appeared at the Aero Club OF
America rooms today and reported that
the New York landed near Portsmouth,
/ Ohio, at 3 o'clock Sunday evening
Il supposed, % course, that every
q
Baldwin said. IN explaining his silence.
[ Although We were not In he air very
/ long, We had a hard time OF u and for
/ fourteen hours We had the hardest
! fight with adverse winds that I ever
| experienced"
we ran into hot sunshine. cold winds.
I thunder, lightning and rain In rapid
/ succession Captain Baldwin said 1T
/ kept US guessing to manage the ballast
under these conditions and when we
/ landed, We had only few pounds OF
| ballast left Our gas was also badly
/ depleted from the constant changes in
/ temperature
/ Saturday night we were soaked
Z by 4 cold rain Sunday morning the
sun shOne brightly. our gas expand
/ ed. and We rose rapidly 70 a height
| Of 5000 feet or more At noon Sun
/ day We struck the worst thunder
/ Storm I have ever encountered in the
/ upper air and TO avert danger we
/ SCARED to height Of three and a
I half miles 1t was q magnificent
| spectacle TO ride. above the storm al
1 such great height but we were in
| no mood to enjoy the sensation.
Out of Ballast
/ HAU the afternoon we sailed In
/ the upper air currents. constantly
/ throwing out ballast BY O'Clock
we were about out or ballast. and
had TO begin looking for a place to
l alight We found a good spot on a
/ hillside near Portsmouth"
/ The Aero Club Of America which
| viii officially announce the winner
| of the American championship bal
i loon race which started from India
/ nepolis on Sunday announced at noon
/ today that it had heard officially
/ from five Of the balloons. The win
| neT will not be announced until the
others are heard from. Unofficially
i the club has been notified that all
/ OF the balloons have landed
Officials Disappointed
| Officials Of the Aero Club are keen
tly disappointed at the almost farcical
! ending Of the race, as neither the
records for endurance or distance
were approached. II was the hope
/ of the officials that three balloons
| could be found which might prove
! serious COntendeTs IN the interna-
1 tional race but the records of Satur-
/ days starters are not such as to give
! much hope for success in this event
1t is admitted, however that the
| balloons encountered unusually rough
weather, and when final reports are
/ received from all the pilots IL MAY
| turn out that the performance was
lar more creditable than the time
aIoft indicates.