The San Francisco call. [volume], July 18, 1909, Page 6, Image 6

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
HRILLING LIVES
Copj-rlsbt. 1909. All Rifhtt Heserrrd
William Allen Johnston
WENTY ODD years ago this advertisV
znent was prominently displayed -in* the/
I San Francisco dailies: ;
ANKOUKCEJiIENT EXTEAOEOISABT!
I Tomorrow, at & o'clock sharp. Aeronaut '
I Thorn*.* S. Baldwin will drop 1,000 feet from a
balloon!
AT GOLDEN GATE PARK.
The announcement caused no end of amazement
and no little incredulity; even the officials of the
traction company which advertised the feat were
not wholly convinced of its possibility. They knew
the aeronaut and had reason to respect deeply his
daring. Two years before he had walked a tight -
wire stretched from the Cliff house to a point on the
high, precipitous coast. He was blindfolded, and
away beneath him were cresting and pounding the
breakers of the Pacific. No such aerial feat had ever—
been attempted' before; it evidenced daring supreme;
but to drop from the sky to the earth 1,000 feet!
That seemed beyond the pale of daring; it was sui
cidal. Few had ever attempted it; none had sur
vived it
"One thousand feet?" repeated the doubting of
ficials.
"Yes, or higher," . said Baldwin coolly.
"Why do you want to do. it?" asked one man.
Baldwin laughed. "It's my business," said be. "I'll
have to charge you a dollar a foot I'll drop more
than 1,000 feet or less, but no less than 500. I pre
fer at least 1,000 feet You see, I expect to survive
end collect"
And he did.
Thirty thousand persons flocked out to Golden
Gate park. They saw the preparations — a fire built
out of barrel staves and coal oil; a short, covered
trench leading to a heap of cloth, the dirty gray folds
of which began to unroll and distend with the hot
- . . .
air inrushing from the trench.
When the balloon was elevated from the ground
and held swaying from guy ropes in the hands of a
dozen men they saw suspended beneath it a long
collapsed fold of canvas and a tangle of ropes. The^
rcpes were arranged in sets of eight and numbered
32 in all. They were snap hdbked to a stout metal
ling and underneath hung a trapeze. .
There was a gasp of excitement when the aero
naut, attired in acrobatic costume, walked out of a .
tent. He seemed the least concerned of all, giving
orders coolly and watching everything with a crit
ical eye. To be a successful parachute jumper even
today requires a scientific knowledge of ballooning.
This pioneer aeronaut, however, had nothing what
*ever to guide him in the way of previous experience
of othefs. Moreover,, the responsibility of. having \u25a0
tvery single detail of the- ascent perfect lay. wholly
upon his shoulders. ; . ,
He paid most attention to those 32 ropes, seeing
that each hung straight and was in no danger of be
coming entangled. If the latter happened it meant :
thai the limp canvas sack would not open when it
was cut loose in midair from the balloon above it;
that it wouid not float him gently back to earth;.'
that instead his dangling " body would shoot down
like a meteor and bury itself in its own self-made
grave. . \^
Shooting High in Air
There was one other rope to be tested, a longer
rope than the others, that hung from the very top of
the parachute. It had a knife attachment at its
upper end which, whenthe aeronaut pulled it from
his perch on the trapeze below, severed the stout rope
that connected the parachute and balloon.
This the aeronaut tested and then walked swiftly^
to the trapeze and took a firm hold on the bar.
"Goodby," he said, and then, suddenly, "Everybody -'
let go!" MM ,'-. ',\u25a0 • :
They saw him shoot swiftly into the air with a
force that seemed to elongate his body" and make it
stiff and straight as a board. Then they saw him
laboriously muscle himself up and swing his legs
over the bar. He waved: back at them once, twice,
and then, as their last roar of applause. died away
in a vast silence of suspense,, he was seen only as
a dangling black speck beneath the balloon, shooting
higher, higher! . ~';. ' \ ,
Suddenly as the balloon poised for an instant and*
then seemed to drift an almost inaudible pistol shot
cracked forth from the heavens. A. frenzied yell
burst, from the crowd;. They saw the black speck
pitch suddenly downward, while the. balloon at the
same instant turned turtle, partly collapsed ; and
iioutcd away with the wind.
Down, down came the speck' of humanity,' and
then suddenly, the trailing, twisting, thing directly ;
above it spread out like a mushroom.
: "The parachute!", yelled an onlooker, and the cry;
witn an evioent.note of relief,, went r echoing over, the
grounds. They- saw it poised gracefully in midair
nearly a thousand feet overhead, and then slowly,,
descend with a gentle, oscillating motion. Mn a
moment tney' were rushing pell mell over gardens
and shrubbery and in another, moment they \ were
crowding a thousand - deep about* a man who l had
I stepped out of the clouds and now stood upright
upon his feet, unharmed and- smiling back at them
in his. /grim, confident way. 'And// turning to the
h eretof ore incredulous crowd, he said "\u25a0 coolly, . just as
Orville Wright to those whoV saw; his first success
ful airship flight at Fort 'Mycf^ "Why, I knew I
knew he could do-ifbecause hVhadbecu
iMe PA KAGH U T E JKWE^
experimenting with his new ; parachute - for v many \
weeks, sending it down first with a bag. off sand as : a '
weight, and then for short jumps from the rafters
of a lofty building, with himself hanging to the ring.
A century previous the French. aeronaut Fa'rnerun
had . perfected - a parachute, ribbed like an umbrella, -^
with -which , he. safely dropped a dog -from a captive
balloon. With human freight; however, it oscillated
too \nolently,-and some years later "an Englishman,;.
Cocking, decided to invert the umbrella. Hedropped*
from- a -balloon at a ; considerable; height and .was
found :in a stubble field, his body crushed into/a
shapeless mass and -half buried in the earth. •
Since Baldwin's / first successful jump, with >hiii
canvas-rope ; parachute there have been thousands 0/
descents, and ; the parachute jump has -become a com
mon "thriller" at county - fairs and amusement parks
Perhaps around hundred men'and some women have
engaged inthis most hazardous of all aerial 'feats. .'
'But that is the "show" side of the parachute. There
is another,. more important, side. In the. case of Cap
tain -. Baldwin and Leo . Stevens the-? parachute -has
been made 'the forerunner of aerial; navigation,, first,
by showing results .previously, believed* to- be un-^
attainable, and, second, by adding . valuable data
to aeronautical; science. - - '
Jump Always Thrills ,
Parachute jumping has. become common, ; butit»has
never ceased to be 'thrilling. : -To the onlooker /there's
a breathlcssness, a. wonderment, incited that no. -other :
daring, can call, forth. To see that tiny -speck- of ; a
man high: up: in the heavens; to, realize'that his sole
, hold on life i s a canvas ' umbrella ; that ; he* is \u25a0at the *
1 utter rner'cy . of .the unknown, ungovernable," capricious ;
air currents; .that; an accident means certain^ death;;
that- he has-nbthing. to fight .with, nothing to : cling to,'
no^ hope whatever— one^ ; grows to wonder,' just as. .that
San' Francisco -tractibn"rofficial wondered, why • and
how a man^does it : * : v\
• "It's alliin getting used to.it," the experienced aero
.naut- says.H That : : first . air cleaving ;rush % from Jhe
.ground is hardest on the novice. There's a roar in his
ears like the ; coming of; a" cyclone, a pulsing ; like •; the
.'booming: of monster, waves.. His body, straightening^
. like" an iron rod, seems to have enormous weights .
I upon ,* the \u25a0; feet, and his ; arms are , almost • dislocated. .
.- None v but v a, strong man could stand 'the muscular
; tension.
:*,; But this first strain is gone as the .balloon ste'adtes
". itself. The relief is felt in the way^ of a 'pleasant
: dreamy sensation. The blare ' of the band, v the 'swells
: ing applause, the strange exhilaration— all. bring hope/
back 1 to r the heart and a weird spirit .of reckless
\u25a0bravado.
-Then 'comes the \u25a0' loose.;-' "Whishl".' .The'
., breath' leaves, again, the body is clamped : in, that
: yiselikc grip, a flash of unearthly] .light,- another cy
clonic .' roar, '- and ", then that dreamy," floating sensation
\u2666-again: as the parachute opens >after: . thit=. first ; swift
plunge of 100 odd feet^^ _ -- .; v c
' As^ in .ballooning, the parachute jumperfs sensation
\is;that "lof' being'stationary.;' When: he ascends {the"
.•earthjseems to be falling v from -.under ../'him. with
.breathless rapidity. When >he drifts the crowds* look
" as :if . they, were ; walking ;a\vay; ;when%he;drops ; the
% earth seerris darting up' at; v him; h '
VThe terror- of this last illusion may be judged, from
an. experience of -Leo Stevens in /Montreal. .
When I opened my . eyes,"- said '\u25a0- he, "after, the \ first
. ; swift \ drop, ; l i- saw^the city, surging vp \u25a0 at me,? and ' in
» : the-middleyand 'directly under -me .was>the~ tall,%*slen-
V; der> spire 'of* Notre" ; Darned V ; i "- -
"It ; seemed vltke a pivotal point, about which the
L city- grew^as.aV kaleidoscope J. does T frbrii3the center.
; *"*The ] sharp , point of.it "was , rushing at : pie ; as ; if I were
;va;magnct. ;For ; an>Jnstarit A I ; felt^as-;if : we (were ' the
I center of : 'asmair revolving being. drawrilirVe-
T[ sistibly .-.' togeth e r; \u25a0' and : j t h e j idea !o f \u25a0 s wi f t *; i . mpal e m en t
; -iupori ; that Jsharp i point i made my.: flesh? creep."
• The experienced "jumper 1 can: generally -guided his
, parachute by pulling?ori> the. ijopes -and; tilting it,; and
: in : this.way heiis'often enabled t tol land at ; the point
_, of ; ascent ' or to/ escape ' houses and fjt rees. , ,On '.". tht«joc-|
\u25a0 - casion," however, try as*hefwould,\the aeronaut glided
; straight Mown' toward. theVspife;'arid-witnta lastltiltMof
the* parachute he was \u25a0 thrown \u25a0 with '. a • jolt upon >\u25a0 the
very top of it;2Bo7feet above|the city/ . ,
."A"-, wild clamor -. filled the streets ; crowds . canie '-\u25a0
rushing - from every direction; > the \ fete-day was ; for- *
gotten, \ arid soon '„ the roofs ., of \u25a0"neighboring .houses':
were covered with excited, ; gesticulating groups '*. of
French' Canadians. ' .;. . '\u25a0'\u25a0-\u25a0:\u25a0, ... : - ,
; Stevens coolly set about making; his own ; rescue.
He; gathered in his collapsed^ parachute, cut the- cloth;
into long" strips \ and ; fashioried a -strong -rope, with ,:
which che'j suspended .himself ; ?; f arr enough f down. •the"
spire^.to;- clamber" into a: small window. TWithin^he 1
dropped from" crossbeam 'to v till '. he reached
the : bell -platform,' and \ thence ;made his way -by \u25a0 lad
ders^ to; the chapel ; below. : - : * r .
;He_ resisted the ovation • offered,; him and, drove hur
riedly . out in the : country in 'the ; direction his balloon
had taken.; Some miles out;' he; found': it in^the [pos
session '; of a ; gr^up- of habitantsrwho with < much ') jar- ' :
gon "and .-many -gestures gavel him^^; to"; understand -.that
they:' would i-not ( surrender^it,^At --length" fan" iriter-
Ipreter appeared. - ' ' ' - > • . ;,
- \u0084"W hat 'r-'do^: 'they-" /want?"> asked^thejexasperateid
r aeronaut* -.^'A-'brief colloquy :was ? ;h*eld;.with^tKe captors."
?m!"" said the^interpreter/ "THey ; say',a balloon '
does; not.^fail^every- day. .;^They.(want' ; 50 cents." ; ; ,
: ''Terrible !" : said 2 Stevens .7. /'Here^-rgive i them this."
He offered a., 52 : bi11.. - ,'
i/-''A^-9t-^li l ,|s.?"' gasped the; interpreter; and' then, amid .
•great jubilation," the balloon was : packed and s loaded :
VwitH^'willing/: Hands:] -As"; the J aeronaut, drove; away
\u25a0. with; his , prize'- the'^doon^ ;^He I village * was
'\u25a0'. swinging with '- unusual -! rapidity, and many •; pails "} were;
jbemg earned ' out, V the i tops ; of .which were, foamy.
> \u25a0Many-hairbreadth ;-escapes V ;have bccen.rnadcby^the
v expert *; guidance, of^ tHe rparacjmte^wh^ejv^am^
.;.carth; ; ., ilt; is, at this stage of -the descent: that-'-the;
I jump^r^s^esu skill? is^allediin^'^y.^; "; ; ;r ;' '; :
"JUE DISTANCE; LEFT. WAS BARELY ENOUGH^ TO OPEN VTHE PARACHUTE."
. i During<Captain '•} Baldwin's ~ epchibition > trip abroad
in 1888 \ he Jmade ;; a , - jump . of ' 5,000 -feet *at •Alexandria
palace, London, > before"^ the > prince-: of Wales ; and the
Balloon; society v of; Great , ; - • - 1 \u25a0.;;
: - justj beforejhe; grasped the .bar 1 Baldwin ; turned! and
sho6kj;hands}with-T the i present King ; : Edward ls VII."
"I'll be •back>in-a^m6men>,'Vhe-said i laughingly. ;"
Englishmen ; have :'a ; way "'. of /'accepting '^literally,' such
statement's."* ;The:;group about \the^ prince? nodded
gravely. ;'* There jwasjust'a twinkle in; the flatter's eye,
butihefadded^'Ji'rshaJl^waitherje for^you.'';{ % j\>^*
'\u25a0: ' Baldwin ; "was,*. of; course,^in\no\way" serious I" in his
chance remarkV but the unexpected happened. .A -con
course of. shifting air currents carried- him down from
the /skyj'^ndt^ ;'drbppe'd " him/geriUyJ-almost- directly tat
the"; .'prince! . { 'of ') -Wales' \feet .The| latter; with; spbn-,
tarieous - : enthusiasrn,;Jpressed upon ;'• him 'a: diamond
ring/ 'while;;- the Balloon society, in tokenj of i their
admiration;ipres'erited;latef,a huge': gold medal'sorior
; ousjy' worded^"J V ->! • ' •-" '''\u25a0'- -^V ' \u25a0' : '"\u25a0 ; " : '- i '-•-
/.'.iWhile'abroad^Baldwin 'floated over. Mount Vesuvius,
! "made/ ; a;fpa'rachute.-leap i before the :king?of- Siam; arid
isome ;danng^descents '"jjn^Aus^trala^^'ln^Russja'/the'
were* called^out' to- quelj -the fijotousj enthusiasm
;b*ccasi6ned*byjhisfcxploits\before"'atband'of'-s^
inlTokyo he dropped. into, a morass and had sunk to
his ! neck' before a: rescuing party. arrived.
V His most miraculous 4 escape^ from death, however,
happened at his home" town of Quincy, 111. He^had
previously .made ardescent here of 5,000 feet. Later,
after; -'perfecting; His by halving the
vveightand doubling 'its -resistance area, he deter
mined -to f jump 'lo,ooo feet ,
V?^vCPMachme/F^s;tb--Work'
-ThV afternoon of Uhe- ascent a v wind of considerable
and increasing^ velocity^ sprang up : Howeva, he
passed through this and . was r; in- a comparaA* calm
wherihe cut- lbose,\tw_o',jmiles above the earth.-
Down he .shot, and; then that horror of the para
chute jumper happened. His .parachute ..would not
opehLvThVtw^^
That "midair : descent"? strahgled- him and all but de
»&oVed^his7conscibVMji^(; v_He remembers very little
except^it^e^pw into the semi^^ dark
ness^of a black cloud :'and -felt a new. force about him.
He l&d :into^the;-wind strata and was being
whirled \u25a0diagonally/ along ; with terrific force. Tha t
wind' which chad caused; Ws undoing might prove hi.*
savior-of^its transverse , force would only buoy him
up, enough-^and if t that •• force * would continue all the
way 4 down to ; earth. ?^~' V
He/had no hope,' hQwever. Like other aeronauts
in similar^. predicaments; < he accepted death— even
calmly ', voiced ;thatr" acceptance . to himself.
, As he^was -swept overi the city! he was conscious of
his "= townspeople' below,;; arid -a strange thought en
tered hislmind v could -see Him and were aware
of ; his ffate.v .Theytknew that* he was clinging blindly
toVn instrument of jcertairi death. Would, they judge
him'a coward if he continued to" hold on? They knew
and:hefd^hinvhighly as a brave man.* Would it not be
better to 'perpetuate that reputation? If he were to
Idi c : any « way/' ought 'he not to make a fitting ending
to his -career' by -i deliberately droppyig just over the
city of^ his "own free jvill ? *
- - Something . checked the resolve almost the moment
he'made it; it was that grim determination to live so
fundamentally : strong -in - all -of us. In another mo
ment he was watc|img the facing earth beneath him— -^
a wood, a 'river.^an open field— speculating on his
chances if that wind^stratum lasted, eyes wide open,
muscles tense and ready ; for some extreme effort
\u25a0- They 'found; him .in that open field/ stunned and
bleeding, but alive and whole. Today he laughs over
the. episode — if a* fall of . 10,000 feet . may from any
standpoint be styled an "episode." Baldwin's career
bf;"fighting the air," as. he calls it, is a most remark
able one. ,He has never suffered an injury as serious
as 'the breaking ofa'bone.*. r.
. Thebig'feees \u25a0> received by the pioneer parachute
jumpers—^-Baldwin got ; nearly $3,000 and a medal i
..worth several hundreds for a single descent at Quincy,
and^Stevens often* made $2,500 for one day's work-— •
attracted many daring and irresponsible persons into
the ? field. ' ' Some were : roving . spirits to whom chance
misfortune made^ ready money seem more to be de-
than .life. rThey had courage, but no aeronaut
ical and many. .were killed— 7SO many, in
" fact; . that ;, several - states hastened -to pass laws pro
hibitingjlie dangerous: ascent In New York state
the ; statute, still holds.; -
-There are dangers enough-in the- air, it \vould seem,
for. the. experienced; aeronaut'; alone". Stevens tell 36f
a perilous \u25a0 Niagara: When at a consider- .
able \u25a0> height two. adverse .: currents \u25a0of air caught his
balloon and exploded', it as j3ne' : Would' burst an in
flated paper bag in Ltbe- hands. -^ ' :^
;He was dangling, from the bar^whrea.he heard the
sharp report, and Tin ah instant 1 the 'balloon, para«
chute and -aeronaut -were .whirling swiftly down to
a > point -dangerously' near the great gorge. •
' .He 4 was -little more {than i,OOO feet* in the air, and
- st: .9 h ;. a l^f sc^. nt > (hough i -it seems an eternity to the
hapless j.umper, is^realfy^ accomplished in a fraction
of;a;minute. f- There :; : ?s little- time to act -The one
move 'that 'can be made mtjst.be the right one.
/Almost simultaneously with the explosion Stevens
swung himself to.an- upright. eosition on the bar. He
could ; cut 'loose^hbl rigging, was not befouled — but
in that . act *he saw swiftly i that he must also "swing
clear. of the collapsed 'balloon above him. 'Otherwise
it would 'catch arid: sweep! him down in its precipitous
descent. , V v
; -He/cut lobseiand pulled desperately upon his para
chute-ropes at' the -same instant. For an infinitesi
rrial - ; moment/ his life , hung by a thread. He felt a
clutch; at^his'Jh.eart^ajnd •then, the heavier baiiodn*"shot
by him.'brushirig^his-cheek.
- The ."distance? lefty was; barely enough to open the
parachute, barely _" enough, too, for the. aeronaut to
tilt . it . away :f rom the -sheer-cliff of the gorge. "But I
\u25a0^y-^'f^K, 546^" 5*5 * and he*. too,- laughed ;over' the
.memory strikes alandsmanas little lesa than