BALLOON RACE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 253, 18 July 1908, Page 10

BALLOON RACE.

TWO BRITISH AERONAUTS CLAIM THE PRIZE. EXCITING INCIDENT. Society gathered in the grounds of Hur-lingham-Club 011 Saturday afternoon, May 30, in huge numbers to witness the great aerial ovent' of'the year, tho international balloon raco, tho first occasion on. which England has boen the venuo. That ballooning has already established itself as a fashionable sport was obvious; but it is also quite as obvious that it will nevor becomevtoo popular. Its cost' is tho chief reason, for there is a little matter of £20 or £25 to pay for gas before one is ablo' to' ascond. ! But May 30 was a great day for the sport. Especially was this so owing to the fact that Great Britsiin showed itself, much superior in aerial' navigation to its Continental rivals.. An announcement was made late at night that Mr. Pollpck had wen in Valkyrie, and that Mr. Brewer, in Lotus, was second.; Tho ; committoo of tho Aero Club, had not, however/mado their award. Both Mr. Pollock and Mr. Brewer claim to have descended'about a milo. from tho winning post-at Burchetts Green Inn, ;.near Maidenhead, -although they .touchcd' ground in 'opposito.directioais. ' It . wasi -' therefore,' necessary'fbr ,the l committee to have'measuremerits taken'of the. aptual'-distance of "each point of descent from'the winning post. Tho same difficulty arose in regard to awarding ,third "prize, as the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth; balloons to descend camo down in Waltliam' St. 'Lawreiico at. about equal distances from -tho winning post,- and it was also ro-' quisite to take measurements. 1 '. V Tlie .Starting Sccno. ". • Before the start Hurlingliam was a blaze of colour. Ladies in tho latest Parisian confections, including Anglicised versioris, of 'the famous Directoire gowns, wero' early in. the grounds,; and before tho race 'Started the spectacle was one of great animation. The thirty-ono balloons were all" inflated ready for the'ascent, and .were, swelling and swaying with the slight, breeze. At half-past two small pilot balloons were sent up, and it was found that the; wind was 'travelling in a south-easterly, direction. The \ Aero. -Club, thor'eforP, fixed npon- Burchetts. Greori,'-' three miles from-Maidenhead, and'about 30 miles from-.' London, fas the winning . point.': :. The .rule's governing the .race; were'that .'tho winlior was to be th6,;one, who descended nearest to -the ; selectetl "spot, spoed nct being: taken into, acooiint• at;all. , As 1 - soon ; as tho. goal was selected' Miss Dorothy: Levitt,, the lady motor car champion, drove, off along the Bath Road to place a Union Jack on the Green to niark tba winning post. • Only ono out of the 51 balloons failed to ascond.,:;This was tho Swiss competitor, Oognac,- which owing to a' slight' defect in the, envelope was deemed to ■bo unsafe for, ascension. Exactly at. three o'clock the French; representative, Lo Faune, pilotod by M. Ernest' Zons, soared into the air at l a .signal from , the. official startors, Lord Roberts Adm:'ral Sir Charles Csmpboll; Lord Montagu, and Mr. R. W. Wallace, K.C. :The band of the. Royal Horse Guards played :the "-Marseillaise" as tho balloon-rose graccr fully amid much' cheering. To 'each balloon .was its national flag, .and as each I'asCendod jat ..intervals of tlireo -or, four mini tites tbo national' anthem of tlie .country 'jwhiclv.tho balloon; represented, was played.' , Many of the' b'allooiis shot; straight up from ;the; r grou.hds;_' Others hovered close oyer tho' trees, , necessitating' the' throwing out !of ballast.-;' Sometimes l an undercurrent' ef wind wpuld catch a balloon and take it out in a contrary direction. Then soaring higher, the pilot would manoeuvre until. ho caught tho correct wind, when tho balloon would bo seen •to veor right round and follow in tho wake of the. earlier startors. Mr. Frank Butler, in the Icarus, was tho 1 flrst'Erigli.sli;aerohaut to ascend-. Ho was accompanied by threo_ bfficers of the Royal Engineers, Captain-King, Cantnin Candori, and Lieutenant C- 'Waterlow.: Shortly before four o'clock tho velocity of ,the wind increasod. ■and thooremainder of tho .balloons sailed off ■moro quickly. ' .' : ,; Balloon !n a Tree. : An exciting incident iiiarkod the last lascent. Tbio Belgian Emulation Du Nord, piloted by M. Albert Crombez, oxporiencod somo difficulty in clearing tho onolosure, and crashed into' the tops of the trees. Tho 'aeronauts cottld bo seen hastily throwing out ballast.; Several branches woro; caught in tho rope netting, and when at: last the balloon got freo,;part Si tho troo top'-was' attachod-'to the ■'.'rigging."'; • v •In .' the. vicinity of .-.the; winning-post, at Burchetts: GreoiVhuge.crowds of.' spectators gathered in tho Jiopo of-seeing tho balloons descend. It was, not until. just beforo_ six that any sign :whatever ,of 'the competitors could bo soon. Then two appeared just after each other", but .were' directly a,ffcor hiddon from view agaiin by tho lovr-hanginp; clouds. A'quarter of an hour lator tho;olouds broke, and a balloori emeirged,. and at 'onco-com-menced 'to'"descend:' It was the Valkyrio, which-fell gracefully ■•into a field about a milo from tho winning-post. The "Valkyrie had hardly' reached ,tho 'ground when a second balloon appeared, and thero was a second outburst of loud cheering when th.o Union Jack was observed attached to tho side of the balloon. It was the Lotus, piloted by Mr. Griffith Brewer, with Sir Claudo do Crnspigny on board. .' None of the other balloons came within less than - four 'miles of Burcljotts Gre'ou, Mr. Frank Butler, in the-Icarus, descorided.four mile's: away; Mr. E.'. Sueknall,'-in;the; Enchantress,'four and a half miles away;.' Mr. John Dunvillo, in "La Mascotto," seven and a' linlf :,niiles ; Cpurit H.; d'Outremont, in Simoun ; (France)i 'deseended ; at" Billiugham Park, Binfield;. Mr'., J. T., Mppre-Brabazon (Venus)'and Professor Milarch (Bonn); Germany, both at' Maidenhead; Count ', do Saint Victor '(Le Nephtys), . Franco; at ; F ; gham; Viscount Royston (Satellite); at Binfield; and Professor Huntingdon (Kokoro), at Windsor Park. ' ' : ■ ,