Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1917-07-02
BRITISH OFFICER IN
WAR BAL LOON HAS
A VERY CLOSE CALL

ton balloon section is great game OF
tag. Death is the other fellow He is
always hot on your trail and every now
and then he gets you in a corner. Then
you're it.
Get the major to tell you about the
time he was carried over the Germna
lines and back again, all in one night,
said the young lieutenant, as we tug
ged at the end of tiny wire cable
in the little basket under the "sau-
sage" high in the wintry sky But the
major was silent. Later he said
"Oh, all right. I'll tell you abou:
| it after dinner tonight" He did not
| like to talk about his own exploit, al
though he mentioned several of his
men who had been the heroes of ad-
ventures in the clouds. But I did get
to read the official report of the incl
dent, and this was thestory:
Shortly after midnight one night the
major, after carrying out certain ex'
periments at about a mile high, sig"
nailed that he was ready to come
down. The winch on the big lorry in
the road began to grind way at 12:l7
a. m. the sausage was swaying just
out of reach of the landing squad.
Then. "by an error of judgment" as
the report puts it. the winch turned a
revolution too far. The metallic 2,
where the balloons short core was
spliced to the wire cable, wedged in
| the opening leading to the revolving
drum or windlass, and the cable part"
ed.
With a bound that jerked the basket
this way and that like ball on the
end of an elastic string, the balloon
went skying.
At 1921 a. M, the balloon was a
mile high. The major had not use
his parachute, to which the harness
about him was still attached be-
cause the wind at a mile and below.
wad away from the German lines
which ran some two miles away. In
stead, he pulled at the valve cord to
let out the gas in the sausage.
Still "valying," to use the Vernac-
ular of the game, the officer, at 1927
a. m. found himself at above 10000
feet, or about two miles above the
earth. 1t was bitter cold and getting
colder every instant.
At 12:40 a. m. he passed the $4,000
foot mark Though he had been keep
ing the valve wide open all the time
the balloon still scared.
Now he looked downward. There
were light below, lights which flared
up for minute, then went out; great
white tails of light hanging in the
air and Illuminating the countryside
beneath them.
The major in his sausage was cross
ing the lines" He knew in an Instant
what had happened. He has risen to.
high cross-current of air and was
being swept over the German trenches
into German territory.
1t was too late to jump now. If he
tried the parachute and landed safely.
it would be only to be taken prisoner
by the enemy.
So cold that his marrow seemed
frozen. he now set about to tear up
his maps. notes and everything which
might help the Germans. Leaning out
of the basket and peering down. he
could no longer see the fiar,gi sent upl
TIC light the trenches. The indicator
showed that he was falling now, rather
rapidly. Making sure that he had de-
stroyed all papers, he waited.
Still falling, the major threw out
some ballast to check the rapid des
cent. One faint hope still was left
him; he might be blown back across
his own lines again by the air currents
nearer the ground
So as much as he could, he husband
ed his gas and his ballast, jockeying
the balloon like an aeronaut in an in
ternational race, his prize for winning
being his freedom. If he lost the
best he could hope for was to be d
prisoner of war during the duration
of hostilities. There could be no half
way.
At mile high the balloon was still
dropping, though slowly. No lights
were visible anywhere. The sky was
murky and there were no stars tot
serve as guides It was to be a fight
in the dark, hit or miss without see
ing what he was doing. The absence
of trench flares looked bad. He must
have drifted far behind the German
lines.