Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1910-11-04
AERONAUTS TELL
OF HARDSH|PS
Snowstorm Caused Post and
HawIey TO Descend.
NEARLY LANDED IN LAKE
Sky Sailors Suffered Greatly During
the Four Days They Sought Civil.
zation In WiIds of Canada.

GotIOu VIlOS OI SdUdOds
Hawley and Post, of the balloon
America H., which left st. Louis on
Oct. II in the international balloon
race and landed in the wilds of Can.
ada, reached Quebec. having taken
eleven hours in travelling the 227 miles
from Chicoutini by the Lake St. John
railway.
They travelled 1856 miles in forty.
six hours and established new record
for balloons.
Both men are in excellent health
and spirits, Notwithstanding their
strenuous experiences of the last ten
days.
Many interesting new details of
their flight were given out by the aero
nauts. Their course into the wilds of
northern Quebec was rather more wes-
terly than that of the Dusseldorf,
which landed near Kiskisink, due
south Of Lake st. John, for the Amer.
lea II. in soaring north of Lake st.
John left the big inland sea to the
immediate east. obtaining fine view
of 1t and crossing first over the AS.
huapmouchouan river and the village
of Peribonca, Just south Of Lake
Tschotogama. II was on the shore of
Lake Tschotogama that Hawley and
Post fell in with the hunters who
piloted them into the pathway of
safety.
I'VE were doing our BEST" said Mr..
Post, ito fly to the utmost limits that
the continent would allow We knew
perfectly we'll where we we're when
we passed over Lake st. John on Wed.
nesday. the 10th. and we made up our
minds that II possible we wouldn't
descend until we got to the coast Of
Labrador. On Wednesday afternoon.
however, the weather. which had been
threatening all day, began to make US
very apprehensive.
"At 8 o'clock in the afternoon snow
had already began to fall and soon our
view Of the earth beneath was almost
entirely obscured. We judged that this
meant the end Of our trip, for 1t would
have been madness to have pursued
the journey in q binding snowstorm.
Furthermore, the extreme cold had
caused our gas to contract and we had
begun to fall rapidly. We only had six
and half bags of ballast left, when
at last very reluctantly we decided to
effect landing. We at once began to
look around for good landing place,
but owing to the rapidity with which
the snowstorm overlook us we had to
trust pretty much to luck
I'VE found ourselves dropping di.
rectly into a large lake, which we af.
terwards discovered to be Lake Chilo.
CANA. We Immediately threw out sew.
eral bags Of ballast and rose slowly
and heavily In the snowstorm. Madly
we threw out more ballast, for the lack
alarmed us and made us think for
moment that we should possibly per-
ish in the lake-a miserable ending to
such splendid journey.
'Brt on terrific gust of wind the
ballt whirled aloft, carrying us in a
few seconds beyond the lake. Then we
at once let out the gas and came down
safely on the side Of huge hill 1t Is
unlikely that the balloon will be re-
covered.
I'VE really suffered greatly from the
cold as we tramped slowly away from
the America II. We were seriously
hampered by the goods we had TO
pack, for 1t was absolutely necessary
to take along the heaviest clothing,
besides the remaining food. Frequent.
ly we made through streams Of Ice
cold water. So cold was the weather
that at times our clothing was frozen
to our bodies. When we came across
the trappers the fourth day we could
have cried for Joy. We were about
all in"