Professor Baldwin at Dunedin.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 4912, 22 January 1889, Page 2

Professor Baldwin at Dunedin.

SUCCESSFUL SENSATIONAL DESCENT.

(By Telegraph.)

DUNEDIN. Jan. 21,

Punctually to lime, Professor Baldwin, the American aeronaut, made his balloon ascent and parachute descent, A few minutes after seven the balloon was released, the professor sitting on a trapeze. There was no car, no ballast, noranchor. Although there appeared to bo only a gentle breeze, it was enough to carry the balloon clear of the ground in a southerly direction. Before it had obtained a height of 2000 feet, when ho bad reached from 800 to 1000 feet, the professor seized his parachute, and for a brief space dropped like a stone from the clouds, the parachute being a shapeless mass. It gradually unfolded, and the descent was checked, although it appeared fast. As he approached the ground, opposite the Carisbrook cricket ground, a little over a quarter of a mile from the starting point, the aeronaut appeared to bo just floating down. As soon as bo reached the ground, he made at once for the spot from which ho had started where ho made a short speech. Although the valves of the balloon were pulled it probably went up more than double the height it was when Baldwin left it. When it was empty, it tumbled down not far from where he had landed. The suspense for a few seconds before the parachute opened was intense, and many were on the point of fainting.