New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

to part with their nickels, but who
nevertheless enjoy the sights that
the nickels produce; the same story
OF boys, and sometimes girls, who
refuse to believe that the city wa,
made for utilitarian purposes alone
and that it lacks the essentials for
having a jolly good time if one will
only go out and have it. Every.
where over this troubled metropo.
lis, with its traction problems and
every other kind Of problems, d
spread this network of tangled para.
chutes, testifying that boys will be
boys and that the little fairies
which stir up their lmaginations are
still busy.
Whence came this craze for
parachutes? Some calculating toy.
maker who wanted to make q for.
tune put them on the market, say
you? Not so. Fads in playthings
cannot be created so artifcially as
that. No, sir. The demand must
spring naturally from some childish
yearning. 1t happened this way:
Some wizard youngster came
across bundle Of tissue paper and
began to make parachutes Of bis
own. He was the wonder Of bis
neighborhood. His rivals watched
him enviously. Finally the rivals
discovered that there was no rea.
son why they shouldn't acquire tis-
sue paper. The demand on the
shops for this commodity increased
by leaps and bounds. The shop
keepers couldn't understand il.
They sent in orders for more tissue
paper. 1t was considered quite
strange. Then some inquisitive
manufacturer wanted to know the
reason for this unwonted consump.
ton coming from unexpected quar-.
ters. He found out. The result
was that he put out parachutes
ready for use. The manufactured
product proved quite acceptable to
the juvenile population. 1t saved
trouble and left more time for
actual aerial experimentation.
1t is fortunate that tissue pare
chutes are not sufficiently strong to
buoy up the weight of their owners.
Otherwise we should be hearing OF
many juvenile careers journeying on
into eternity by the parachute route
Except for such exploits as thai
of Sergeant Ensel Chambers, Of the
l95th Aerial Squadron, who recently
at Fort Sill, Ark, jumped from a.
altitude of $4,000 feet in a para-
chute, thus establishing a new rec
ord, the history of parachutes Is
largely list of broken necks. Simon
de la I.oubere, French writer OF
the seventeenth century, who hso
Travelled in Siam, relates that in tns
latter country one of the diversion
OF the King was to watch profes.
sional parachute jumper descend
from the clouds with little para
chutes attached to his girdle.
Dogs were first used in Europs
as parachute passengers. They wen
taken up in balloons and then pu'
overheard. When it was found :ns'
they landed safely men began to ~
It, In the early nineteenth century
many inquests we've held as a resuH
OF parachute descents. Robert CocA.
ing, an Englishman, made nc.
kind Of parachute, being sonaewn'
changed in form with view to pr
venting oscillation. He came doNp
in London from a great height. nD
funeral took place few days ia's''
Since then the practice Of COMING
down from dizzy heights has peeo'&
more common, and no old style couu
try fair is now complete without -
parachute jumper, who often isnss
with no audience more appreciatiw
than the cows in field or the cnlsR
ems in . back yard