The Washington times., 1917-03-02
How British Major, in "Sau-
sage" Balloon, Passed Ger
man Lines Twice in Night.
CARRIED BACK TO BASE
Officer ImperiIed When Gable
Anchoring Bag Parts Like
Sewing Thread.
BY WILLIAM PHILIP sIMMs.

Life in an observation balloon section
Is a 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 1t.
Get the major to tell you about
the time he was carried over the Ger
man lines and back again all In one
night" said the young lieutenant, as
we tugged at the end Of tiny wire
cable, in the little basket under the
sausage" high in the wintry sky. But
the major was too modest. He said:
"Oh, all right. I'll tell you about it
after dinner tonight" He did not
like to talk about his own exploit,
though he mentioned several of his
men who had been the heroes of ad-
ventures in the clouds. But did get
to read the official report of the in
cident and this was the story:
Shortly after midnight one night
the major, after carrying out certain
experiments at about a mile high,
signaIed that he was. ready to come
down. The winch on the big lorry in
the road began to grind, and at 12:17
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 V,
where the balloons short cord was
spliced to the wire cable, wedged in
the opening leading to the revolving
drum, or windlass, and the cable part
ed like a piece of sewing thread.
Makes Sudden Ascent.
With a bound that jerked the bas-
ket this way and that like a ball on
the end of an elastic string, the bal
loon went skying.
At 1921 a. m, the balloon was a
mile high. The major had not used
his parachute, to which the harness
about him was still attached, because
the wind at a mile, and below, was
away from the German lines which
ran some two miles away. Instead he
pulled at the valve-cord to let out the
gas in the sausage.
Still "valving," to use the vernacu-
lar 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 Stting
colder every instant.
At 12:40 a. m. he passed the 1900
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 lights below, lights which fiared
up for a minute, then went out; great
white balls of lights hanging in the
air and Illuminating the countryside
beneath them.
The major, in his sausage, was
crossing the line" He knew in an
instant what had happened. He had
risen to a high cross-current of air
and was being swept over the Ger
man trenches into German territory.
over Enemy's Lines.
1t was too late to jump now. II
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 flares sent up
to light the trenches. The indicator
showed that he was falling now
rather rapidly. Making sure that he
had destroyed all papers, he waited.
Still falling, the major threw out
some ballast to check the rapid de
scent One faint hope still was left
him-he might be blown back acrnss
his own lines again by the air cur
rents nearer the ground.
So as much as he could he hus
banded his ballast and gas, jockey
ing his balloon like an aeronaut in
an international race, his prize for
winning being his freedom. II ne
lost, the best he could hope for was
prisoner of war for the duration oi
hostilities. There could be no half
way.
At a mile high the balloon was still
dropping, though slowly. No lights
were visible anywhere. The sky was
murky, and there were no stars 10
serve as guides. 1t was to be a night
in the dark. a hit or miss without
seeing what he was doing. The alb
Sence of trench flares looked bad. He
must have drifted far behind the Ger.
man lines.
Safe Home Again.
After a time the faint outlines OF
fields. houses. trees and haystacks be,
gan to loom up. and presently, with
a fairly hard bump. the basket struck
- the earth. bounding up again some
200 feet. After few OF these
bounds, the officer, calculating the
right moment as best he could in the
dark, pulled the rip cord to let out
the gas.
The rip cord broke at the point
where IL entered the balloon,
Suddenly the balloon came to a
halt just above the ground. There
were voices beneath. There was a
moment OF suspense. Then the major
heard, in good English:
Lively there! Get onto those
ropes, you blighters"
A squad of English Tommies soon
had the sausage anchored. 1t nao
been blown back over the lines into
a wide salient occupied by the Eng
lish.
The official report, OF course,
merely nsrrates the plain facts in a
plain way, just as the captain of a
fire company would tell how the blaze
his men had put out started. Ths
adventure, this game Of tag with
Death, was all part of the days
work. So II had to go down In the
records quite as IL II had been a
requisition paper to the commissary