FAR ABOVE THE CLOUDS.

Lake County Press, Issue 2117, 10 May 1906, Page 7

FAR ABOVE THE CLOUDS.

"Oh, it was bully to go so high" up in the air," :*aid Floyd Wallace, fifteen years old, the boy who was carried 20,000 feet above the earth t tin inch the breaking of the guy '" rope of a captive balloon at the Uneonl.ii Fair. Young Wallace way seen at the fair grounds, where he had been installed in a lent., and an admission fee was charged to see the "Buy wonder of the Clouds" and part, of . t ; his wrecked balloon. Thousands of . ' | visitors gazed open-inouthed at the ; lad ;is he irravely told of his marvel--11 i_r ■ , r , - lons experience. be SHOT ll' AT TERRIFIC RATE. at I ~,! | "I. tried to persuade Aeronaut. I 1 (, ! Burke to let me make a descent witii .J,. I him on his parachute," said Wallace Vt , lin describing his voyage. "Burke nI fused, saying that it was too dangei | otis, and when we hod reached a i* _ i height, of 1,20(1 feet he leaped from j the ba'loon and made a successfrl j descent. 1 was hoping that the rope would break and set the balloon fretas I felt the balloon being hurled a " j downward. Then there was a sud- "• den snapping of the guy rope and n " ! the great gas bag shot upward at a }\ J terrific rate with a lurch that nearly *' I shot me out of the basket. "1 heard a great shout from thoii- . I sands of people below me on the fair 1S grounds. Suddenly, as I looked over l" the top of the basket, the grounds j and the people seemed to be rapidly 1 ' I moving away from uie. When I ful*n ly realized what had happened 1 got cc . I a little scared and wondered if I 01 ; should ever get safely back to the ~ ; world that was sinking so fast away ' j from me. I soon passed a heavy j mist that I knew was the clouds land it was about this time that I ig ' knew that I must, do something to id try and reach the earth again. liio FEARED FREEZING TO DEATH. "The balloon was now travelling !y upward at great speed and Y was of afraid that I would reach art altitude il- where it would be so cold that I ol could not breathe and J would freeze to death. ~l "I soon passed the clouds and was a in the bright sunlight again, al- - though if grew' very cold. I pressed i n the valve cord, but, it did not seem to open the valve to let the pas out, ul and I finally climbed out of the nas:j_ kef into the rigging and with my n _ big hunting knife cut a gash In the balloon as big as a stove pipe. „ "The balloon still kept going up, however, and I sat down in the basket and. pulling my collar up, waited for the balloon to settle towards the a the earth. ''' "The clouds scorned to have floated away and 1 could see the earth far '° beneath me. 1 must have, caoily | c reached a height of 20.000 feet. " , Burke tells me I did. 1 looked for Pencil Cliff and some other familiar 1,1 j points, but they were not. in sight. ' s I ] was so high up that I could not iv j see the Catskills and the earth look--1 • jed level. T could even sec the curvaw ture of the earth and it secroert to ie I rn» that it was oval. x- I "Finally I cut. another gash «■» the ii- balloon and soon 1 began to rie*»«n4 slowly and after a long: time 1 fiaalie l,v landed near summit. New ..Jersey, lc very hungry and tired. It. was funny id though, that when 1. got to Oneo.ua 1 could only drink a cup of weak Ks tea."