A THRILLING ESCAPE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 1407, 1 June 1916, Page 6

A THRILLING ESCAPE.

TERRIBLE DROP FROM BALLOON.

The Paris correspondent of the Lon- ; don Daily News writes: — j One of tho most thrilling adventures of this- war Avas the escape from cap- -. ture or death of a young lieutenant^ who, while iu a caiitive balloon, above . the roar of the battle of Verdun, sud- : denly rejilised that the (steel hawser I connecting him -with i the earth had \ been severed by a shell, and that he 'was \ drifting , te \vards the enemy's lines. | . Yesterday x afternoon a report ran '. through the French/ lines that the 'sausage was off."/^^ /^Thousands -of irxiouseyes were directed, towards the ittlo speck which „ grew fainter and tainter as the southerly wi^d^wafted it towards '.th©. German positibns. Four icvoplanea at once started 'in th© vain hope of rendering . assistance, but everyan© felt that the lieutenant was doomed. Minutes passed. The balloon kept rising, and only the car could now be discerned. The soldiers forgot to fire, thp 'uspense was so terrible. | Then suddenly a tiny greyish speck We* se^n to part from the balloon, which diot up a thousand ' feat, but instead of tailing' to earth the speck seemed to be pulled up sharp in midair. At lastj' witli Ihe aid- of glasses, observers saw that ;{he speck \yas' a human body suspended from •i parachute. A mighty cheer rose as tlie, truth was realised, but a full ten minutes pf suspense lasted as the para- : chute with its human freight slowly , descended, and finally landed close to the French lines.

M. Paul Erio, who tells the story in the Journal, came upon the hero of this miraculous adventure in a hut in a wood near Verdun. The young' officer described liis* experience thus :~

' "Th«" 'first, intimation that something had gone wrong was when I felt a sliglit shock. I thought the telephone cable had parted. All at once I became aware j that the other balloons were growing ! smaller, and I grasped the fact that I j was adrift.^. A glance at my barometer told me that. l was already 5000 feet up. J I tried to pull the cord working thehydrogen automatic control, but it had become entangled and refused to work, j I tried to climb up to it, but failed. ' I "Then I feared I was" lost. My -first-' thought was to destroy my papers, then I thought of blowing out ipy brains to avoid falling- into tlie hands of tho Bodies. Then, however, came, inspiration. Why not try tho parachute? I had to bo.quick, for I was row 11,000ft up. The cord which was tied round my body was 65 feet long, so I. had to jump that distance into the void before the box contjvining the parachute could open and set it free. / "For a few seconds I 'held on to the car' by my hands. Then I let go. I must have dropped over a hundred feet before the parachute unfurled, and it was not ntn agreeable sensation. But after that I did not mind, and was able to look about me. After a time I felt the sensatioi*. of complete security. When I was only two thousand five hundred fcrat from the earth I became aware' that tho winoV was carrying me towards the German lines. 'Then I seemed to lose consciousness. I rebounded three times before I finally landed and discovered I was 300 yards tfrom the enemy. I had been twenty minutes falling. lam only slightly bruised."

Hie officer obstinately refuses to allow hh name to be published. "Just think," ho protested, "what' a shock it would bo ot my mother, who fancies I am in a safe billet."