Evening star., 1938-10-23
THIS WEEK MAGAZINE
THIS WEEK MAGAZINE

basket hit the ground, the pilot leaped
and called upon Tupper to follow.
According to the pilots account,
young Upper refused because the
premature descent would hold his client
and himself up to ridicule. Before
Perley could do anything further, the
balloon, released of the pilots weight,
had again shot upward and away.
Upper, Perley said, knew nothing
about plotting a balloon and appar-
entity forgot the grave personal danger
involved in his effort to continue the
publicity stunt.
The young mans mother (Mr.
Beemer wet his lips) who had wit
messed the start of the race. the ac-
count continued, could not be reached
for a statement. According to en-
ployees of The Empire Hotel" Mrs.
Tupper had left the hotel hurriedly.
following the receipt of long distance
telephone call before the news of her
sons plight was known (Mr. Beemer
looked hurriedly over his shoulder
The story ended with the statement
that the owner of the balloons used in
the race, Mr.. Henry Beemer, had also
left the hotel shortly before the de-
parture of Mrs. Tupper. leaving no
forwarding address and that neither
The Dauntless Rubber Company nor
the agency employing Tupper, had
any statement to make to the public
MIR. Beemer's nerveless fingers
dropped the damp newsprlnt and he
twisted through the station traffic to
the nearest exit. Presently his strain
ing eyes found that for which they
we're eagerly seeking. He plunged
through doorway and spoke to the
white -garbed figure behind the pol
ished wood Rye and water" he
commanded hoarsely, land use an
eyedropper on the water"
1t was apparent to the mind of
the owner of Miss America and Miss
United States, sticking close to his
small hotel room and subsisting on
large quantities of grain in liquid
state, that newspaper editors saw
vast difference between a tire COM
pany, seeking publicity for its product
by means of balloon race. and an in
experienced young man adrlft in the
unknown. alone and ignorant of the
mechanism of his craft.
1t smacked of Jules Verne, some
said Balloon Mystery Deepens AS
No Word Comes From Novice" cried
other front page headlines. Cold rains
hung persistently over the region
where the pilot had jumped from the
balloon. For three days the general
public listened breathlessly, through
printers ink. to the roar of aeroplane
motors rushing through leaden skies.
to the hectic tramping of searching
feet in lonely sections
The President of the Dauntless
Rubber Company chewed up one
cigar after another and, beng at heart
a kindly man, was more concerned
with the fate of young Tupper than
with the unprecedented number of
times the name of his company and its
product were now getting into the
papers.
But his sales manager, while joining
in the general concern, was not un-
mindful of the growing public con-
sciousness of Dauntless products.
Sure it was an idiotic thing to do. he
conceded to his employer, but his
motives were right He took real
chance to prevent us from being let
down. And boy Is this doing things to
our sales! If he only comes through
safely we'll insist that the agency
put him in charge of our account"
And then, abruptly. on the fourth
day, came the first news, the first ray
of hope to waiting world. A farmer
near Cory. Pennsylvania, discovered
a small silk parachute near his front
door. There was message and dol
lar bill attached to it The finder was