The Winslow mail. (Winslow, Ariz.) 1893-1926, 1925-05-22
Who 1t Is That Gets
Biggest Thrill
By MARGI HOPKINS.

who gets the biggest thrill I
asked, the person who watches
man make parachute jump or the
one who makes it?'
Well" answered Ted o. Penney,
who is no less than the man who
was that picturesque clad-in-white
figure which caused the throng of
spectators at Barrigen Field Sun
day to hold their breath in dread
full suspense while he hung from
his white parachute as it slowly
at least, its progress seemed slow
to those who watched descended
to the ground, well, 1 don't know,
, but if the ones who watch don't get
any more thrill out of it than the
man who jumps, they wouldn't go
very far to see a drop"
do you mean to say you don't
get any thrill out of it?" 1 asked
in complete surprise.
mot particularly, was his an
swer.
But don't you kind of hold
your breath when you first cut
loose until you know that your
parachute is going to open?"
"Oh,, | know it will open all
right" he replied. 81 don't have
to worry about that"
"But really, don't you think para
chute jumping is rather a danger
Gus occupation?' | persisted.
well, no; l can't say that do"
was his answer, and as he seemed
to dismiss the subject with that I
wondered how in the world l was
going to write a story on the
thrills and dangers of parachute
jumping when there weren't any.
Then | asked him about his first
jump.
II imagine that gave you thrill,
didn't it?' 1 suggested.
Il made my first jump in 1913"
he said, "and, although it was my
second time up in plane, l flew
every night for two weeks before
| made i'll mean I flew in my
sleep. got up every morning more
fatigued than when l went to bed,
just trying to figure out what the
sensation of making that first
jump would be. And after it was
all over, | was never more disap-
pointed in my life. | didn't get
any sensation at all. In fact, l
don't remember much about that
first jump. r was just sort of I'M
conscious and it was all over be-
fore | realized what was happen
ing
Il really believe, though" he con-
tinued, that a person gets more
out of the second jump he makes
than any of the rest. Then he
knows what to expect and yet the
experience is new, but after that
he can take jump every day
without any trouble and, aside from
it's being hard work, it is a lot of
fun, but it isn't particularly thrill
ing"
Then you like to do it, 1 COM
mented, and from his reply I gath
cred that he did like it and liked
it very much lin fact, if he hadn't
liked it he would have gone back
to barbering, for, like our illustri-
GUS w. w. Franklin, Mr.. Penney
began his work in life as a barber.
But what do you mean about its
being hard work" asked, and then
he explained that to make the para
chute fall as he wanted and to keep
it from capsizing, it was necessary
to keep on the job every minute
during the drop, pulling first one
rope and then another, until the
ground is reached. ct makes you
feel like you have done a days
work." he concluded.
Mr. Penney has made between 700
and 800 jumps, he says, averaging
more than 100 a year. AT some
fairs he has made seven jumps
day, and he usually makes from
! two to four a week. Often he falls
as far as 400 feet before his chute
opens, but he says that the wind
is bound to catch flap of the
Chute somewhere, and when it
does, the chute will open in spite
of everything. The one he used
Sunday he has had five years. It
is made of muslin and is twenty
six feet in diameter.
According to Mr.. Penney, the
only accident he ever had in MAX
ing drop was several years ago
when he broke his foot in lighting
on the ground.
Folding the chute correctly is
the whole thing" he said, "if that
is done, you don't need to worry
about anything else"
Mr.. Penney also does wing-walk-
ing and trapeze work in the air,
changing from one plane to another
and standing on the center section
of the wing while the plane does
a tailspin.
"The thing you want to be most
concerned about in that case" he
said, sis your pilot. He has to
work with you,t and if you have
perfect confidence in him you can
perform these stunts as easily in
the air as if you were on the
ground"
In this connection he praised
very highly Mr. Mayse, his present