The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-06-12
2,G0O See Faulty Safety De.
vice Throw BallOOniSt
From 30O-fOOt Altitude to
Hillside.
BREAKS EVERY BONE
J. 0. Gill Killed in First Acct
dent of Ten Years Expert
ence as Skillful Navigator
of Air.

MOTtOn PARK was OeUlCateO IN Qu-
man blood yesterday.
| j. .. Gill, aeronaut of Mt. Sterling,
o.. sacrificed his life for the seekers
of amusement Making a sensational
| leap from his balloon. which had float
ed high above. he fell four hundred
| feet to instant death when his para
chute failed to unfold.
When the crowd of two thousand
persons who had remained to see the
| final number of the dedicarory pro-
| gram OF the new amusement park. saw
the helpless body shooting downward.
| hearts stopped beating and terror
| chilled the throng.
Every Bone Broken.
| With neck broken and every bone
in the upper part of the body crushed.
the lifeless man was picked up south
west of the park.
Realizing the fate awaiting him, Gill
struggled vainly until close TO the
/ ground TO unfold the second para
| chute.
| A few minutes before the ascension
| the pleasure-seeking crowd. watching
| for a new sensation. was laughing and
! chatting on the field from which Gill
arose with his balloon. Almost every
spectator realized the fate Gill would
meet when they saw him dangling in
the air, his second and third para
chutes still a bundle of goods. The
jollificatlon stopped Immediately and
the crowd seemingly was supplied
Tries New Fold.
Gill was an old hand at the business
although still a young man. His bal
loon was new, and two of his para
chutes were untried. Before he had
even made preparations for the ascent,
he announced TO Charles Jordon, sec
retary of the Commercial club, with
whom he made the contract. that he
| intended trying a new fold by which
his parachutes would open more rap
| idly, He usually used three para
chutes of twenty eight-foot spread. His
new parachutes We're of twenty-foot
! spread. 1t is believed that GIL did not
realize that the area of the twenty
| foot spread was about half that OF
| the twenty-eight-foot spread
! His Intentions were TO rise TO a.
height of from four to six thousand
feet, according to a letter he wrote
accompanying his contract His as
! cent was far under a thousand feet.
| however He expected TO descend
| rapidly in the first twenty-foot para
! chute, cut loose and descend again
until the second parachute opened, and
| shortly before striking the ground. to-
, cut loose in a twenty -eight-f foot para
chute. He believed his drop would be
very sensational.
Ropes Give Trouble.
| Gill had trouble with his ropes from.
the first. and when his balloon arose
ar s 40 O'Clock. he could be seen trying
to hitch the loops higher around his
legs Even at his extreme altitude.
before he cut loose. he could be seen
adjusting ropes in preparation for cut
ting the rope. AS his balloon sailed
! southeast over the home OF S. =. Slick,
Gill could be seen to jerk the rope
! which operated his cutting mechanism.
His first parachute opened He de-
sCended rapidly, and was working with
the second. He then cut away from
the first. Instead OF opening. the two
! bundled up parachuteS upon which he
depended for his life fell with even
more rapidity than he did. The ropes
which fastened him to the parachutes
were loose, and the two bundles of
flimsy canvas dropped like shot In
spite of the fact that he was rapidly
turning over on his head. he worked
frantically with the ropes until he VAS
| within fifty feet of the earth.
He struck the hard ground with a
thud which broke his neck and crushed
every bone in the upper part of his
body. No one saw him hit. as the
1 field was partly obscured from the
few persons on the road by a hedge
and billboard. The thud could be heard
by all persons who were on the same
level as the field.
Within a few minutes his crushed
body was surrounded by several hum
dred persons, who were kept back by
the sheriff and police. The body was
covered until an ambulance removed it
TO the undertaking parlors OF Jordan,
| McManus & Hunt.
Home at Mt. Sterling.
Secretary Jordan telephoned early
in the evening to Mt Sterling The
telephone operator there said she
knew Gill and his family. and that
she would summon a member to the
telephone However. it was not until
midnight that Mr. Jordan again re-
ceived a message from Mt. Sterling,
this time from an undertaken, who
said he would be here at noon today
and take charge of the body.
Gill had just completed letter in
| which he said:
IF you want to know about my
| work, write to Charles w. Jordan at
Richmond, Ind, for information. / am
| going to make an ascension there to-
day"
Gill received s15 for each ascension
ra no