BALLOONISTS UNDER FROZEN LAKE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 72, 7 March 1911, Page 11

BALLOONISTS UNDER FROZEN LAKE

• FISHERMEN SEE BODIES THROUGH THE ICE.

The German balloon Hildebrandt which has been missing since December 23rd, was found on January i 10th in the frozen Lake Joehreu. The envelope of the balloon was | seen through the ice, and the bodies of the two aeronauts were found beneath it. They will be taken out as soon as official regulations have been complitd with. The balloon, which was of the old-fashioned gas-bag type, ascended from Berlin, carrying Dr. Kohrs, a prominent lawyer of the city, and Herr Keidel, the managing director of a large machine works. Lake Joehren, where it was found, lies between Bahn and Wildenbruch, near Greifenhagen, in Pomerania, seventy miles from Berlin. The car was partially embedded in soft mud, and the whole balloon was covered by ice. The corpses of the two aeronauts were visible through the ice in the car, one standing upright, and the other bending over the side. Although the bodies must have been there nearly three weeks, both appeared in excellent preservation in consequence of their being partially encased in ice.

The first traces of the missing balloon were found by fishermen, who noticed something unusual just under the*ice. On closer examination this proved to be the silk bag of a balloon. The ice was immediately broken, and a score of men began dragging out the wreckage- When, however, the two corpses became visible, the operations ceased. The authorities were informed, and no > further steps will be taken until an official minute investigation has taken place on the spot. Meanwhile peasants from the districts for many miles round are pouring towards Lake Joehren to gaze with morbid cariosity at the horrible spectacle of the two bodies beneath the ice. Experts in Berlin, after receiving news of the discovery of the balloon were able to reconstruct the terrible final scene which ended the lives of the two aeronauts. It is certain that the two balloonists, finding themselves drifting towards the Baltic Sea at night time, desired to land, and the large open space which they observed among the forests must have seemed to them an excellent place to descend.

At that time Lake Joehren was not only frozen over, but the ice was covered with snow, so there was nothing to indicate to the aeronauts that it was not ordinary land. On the contrary, seen in the darkness, it must have struck Dr. Kohn, who was an experienced balloonist, as an ideal land-ing-place especially as the extensive surrounding forests offered no other opportunity. Experts, therefore, believe that when above this surface Dr. Kohrs pulled the ripping cord, and the balloon came down rapidly. The car struck the ice, which at that date was very thin, and went right through, dragging with it the balloon, which by this time was entirely devoid of buoyancy. Instead of finding land beneath them, Dr. Kohrs and Herr Keidel suddenly plunged into the ice-cold water, while the remains of the gas-bag closed over them and held them in a trap from which there was no possible escape.