AIRSHIP ACCIDENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11771, 28 September 1901, Page 2 (Supplement)

AIRSHIP ACCIDENT.

INVENTOR'S PERILOUS ADVENTTm» '• IN PARIS. - *' M. Santos Dumost, the young Brazilian ■ who has jumped into fame through bis, in. vention of a navigable balloon, plu'ckily>] newed his attempt to encircle the Eiffel" Tower in his airship within the time pre. ; - scribed by the conditions for the Deutsche ■ Prize. He succeeded hi.rounding the tower without difficulty, but his balloon was then unable to make headway against the strain, wind which was blowing, and it fell on onl ; of the new houses near the Trocadero' and close to the Seine, remaining suspended on - the building. M. Santos Dumont was. abld to reach the ground in safety, haying o rt u nately escaped injury. M. Santos Duma,,* left the Pare de St. Cloud at ten minuS past, six in the morning, amid hearty cheers from a crowd of spectators. Everything ' went well at the start, and the balloon rounded the tower, and was proceeding m, v its return journey to St. Cloud, when just '-'' above the Avenue Henri Martin a mm* gust of -wind struck the aerostat, which veered violently to one side, at the sarae time bounding, back a distance or at least; 50 yards, and the gas was forced from the front to the back part of the balloon. Owing to the sudden expansion of this portion of the balloon the machine dipped, and tho screw touched the steel cords, causing them to break. M. Santos Dumont immediately stopped working the screw and the motor and the balloon began ti descend of its own accord. Unfortunately the cover of the aerostat struck against the cornet of 'a building six storeys in height, which had recently been erected. A report likt that of a camionshot was heard, and the balloon then tell rapidly. Luckily the frame caught in one of the walls, where it remained suspended. But for this M. Santos Pnimpnfc would probably have, been killed. As it wag he was in a most dangerous position for over half an hour, hanging in mid-air in the small wicker basket which forms the car. 'Ho succeeded by a great effort in catching hold of an iron bar in one of the windows of the house, and he clung to the support until rescued by a carpenter, who clambered oyer the roofs of the adjoining houses and hA down the guide-rope, which had fallen pa the roof of the building struck by the balloon. M. Santos Dumont fastened the rope round his body, and was with some difficulty hauled up to a place of safety by the workmen.. The report made by the explosion of the balloon was so loud that a considerable crowd soon assembled in the Quai de Passy, and when M. Santos Dumont reached tho street he was received with rapturous enthusiasm, many ladies kissing him. . M.Santos Dumont, who had escaped without a scratch, was wonderfully cool, and calmly superintended the work of~ removing the aerostat. The envelope of the balloon, care- ' iully wrapped in. canvas, was placed in, the - courtyard 01 the. house above which the ac.-' , cident happened, side by side with tire par.; Interviewed by a press representative immediately after the accident, M. Santos Du- ! Mont said: "I am quite ready to begin again. Here is M. Lachambre, who will . take the reconstruction of my aerostat, in. hand immediately. Ido not know -howl;' long the repairs will take; but as soon as ! they are finished I will renew my attempt." 1 M. Henry Deutsch was among the first to reach the Quai de Passy. He wartnlj congratulated M. Santos Dumont on his escape and was deeply moved, telling the intrepid aeronaut that he would rather'hand him the prize at once than see him killed. M, Santos Dumont replied that as he had only taken nine minutes to perform the outward ■ journey to the Tower Eiffel he considered' this re'sult too satisfactory for him to abandon his experiments.