THRILLING ADVENTURE

Evening Star, Issue 21785, 30 July 1934, Page 9

THRILLING ADVENTURE

SCIENTISTS IN THE AIR PERILOUS PARACHUTE DESCENTS Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. NEW YORK, July 28. A message from Loomis, Nebraska, states that three army balloonists made safe parachute descents to-night from a plunging stratosphere balloon, the bag of which was ripped by a cross wind after the balloon had ascended 11 1-3 miles above the earth in quest of scientific data and a new altitude record. Hydrogen poured rapidly through the rents, the balloon falling at' the rate of 500 ft a minute, and the scientific mission of the trio—Major William Kepner and Captains C. Anderson and A. Stevens— developed into a dramatic and desperate battle with death in the metal gondola 60,000 ft above the earth. Terse tireless messages from the balloon reported for several hours a series of grave circumstances. The last message stated that the balloonists were prepared to leap with parachutes. Anderson jumped from 2,000 ft, and Steyens followed, while Kepner (who commanded the expedition) leaped last when the careering balloon was only 500 ft from the ground. The balloon, which had a' gas capacity of 3,000,000 cubic feet, was the World’s largest. It was damaged beyond repair by the crash, and it is feared that ths scientific instruments have also been destroyed.