The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-05-13
TELLS OF FLIGHT.
AerOnaut Forbes Describes
Wild Aerial Journey.
THEY ROSE 10000 FEET HIGH.
Crossed Rivers, Passed Through Snow.
storms and Shot Earthward-Want-
ed to Break Worlds Record-Mrs.
Forbes Had a Premonition.

Horse Cave, Ky, May 12.-Sadly bat
tered, wreDched and bruised, but not
seriously injured, A. Holland Forbes,
the noted New York balloonist. who
won the Lahm cup at the st. Louis bal
loon races in 1909. and James Herring
ton Yates, amateur astronomer and
wealthy young clubman, are recover
ing from their fall in the balloon Vik-
ing.
Explaining their sensational flight
from Quincy, ILL.,, which ended in a
sudden dropping from the sky near
here, Forbes said:
I'VE wanted to break the record held
by Count DelavauX, who covered dis
lance of 1893 miles in 1900. and that
Of Colonel Schreck, who in 1899 re-
mained in the air seventy-two hours.
I'VE arose to a height of about 5000
feet and Travelled southeast part of the
night in a very light wind. We crossed
the Missouri river at st. Charles, Mo-,
and crossed the Mississippi about ten
miles north of ST. Louis. After this
night of apparently purposeless move
ment" we struck an east southeasterly
wind and went in a straight line until
we landed The elevations varied at
heights of 1000 TO 10000 feet When
at the elevation of 1900 feet, Tuesday
morning. we went through our first
snowstorm An hour later we passed
through a second furry, when at a
height of 16, 400 feet. We made rec
ord at o'clock in the afternoon. when
we reached the extreme altitude of 20,-
600 feet, higher by 1000 feet than any
authorized record ever made in Amer
lea. In descending from the great ele-
walton we had very little sand left, and
as the gas contracted the balloon bag
became extremely flabby Everything,
however. went well until we We're a
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 attached naturally
dropped. This caused the rip cord,
which is attached to the ring, to rip
open the balloon at the height of 300
/ feet from the ground | cannot de-
scribe the sensation of that 300 feet
to the ground. 1t came so suddenly
| have "A faint recollection of seeing
men below me in a plowed field and
subconsciously trying, it seemed. to
/ tilt up the basket that Mr.. Yates and |
might spring free from the rigging
when close to the ground. Because the
/ basket did not tilt as ii would have
done under ordinary circumstances
was the cause of our injury. | believe
/ the only thing that prevented the
| breaking of our backs when the basket
/ fell bottom squarely down under the
weight of the bag was the rubber air
mattress which we had placed in the
bottom of the basket that we might
! be comfortable when we wanted to lie
! down"
! Fairfield, Conn, May 12.-Mrs. Jessie
/ Livingston Forbes, wife of A. Holland
! Forbes, received in a nightmare a fore
warning of the news of her husbands s
/ disaster when landing from a balloon
near Horse Cave, Ky, he was danger
Ously hurt.
Mrs. Forbes awoke the servants In
her colonial home in Fairfield with her
screams