SHOCKS FOR SLEEPERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17571, 23 June 1925, Page 11

SHOCKS FOR SLEEPERS.

BALLOON DROPS ON HOUSE CRYSTAL PALACE CAPTIVE ESCAPES IN HIGH WIND. LONDON. May I. The- Hon Sir Oornthwaito Bason, his wife and two daughters, who oeeupv a house in Crystal Palace Park Road, Sydenham, had a. rude awakening yesterday morning, when they w ere'roused from .sleep by a kite balloon descending on the bouse. The balloon was stationed in -I he grounds of the Crystal Palace, ami flights in her were one - of the holiday Yesterday morning, while a high wind was the balloon broke loose ancl took a flight on its own nc--4 The high chimneys of Valeria. Sir* Cornthwa.ite Bason’s house, caught it in its progress, and ripped the envelope. bringing it down on to tho roof, where it gradually subsided, draping itself gracefully over the hack of the house and trailing into the garden at the back. LOUD CRASH. Many bricks and tiles wore dislodged before tlio balloon settled down, some of them crashing through the holes made by (lie tumbling chimneys into the house- beneath. Miss Alary Bason related her experience to a “ .Daily Chronicle ' ? representative yesterday. I was awakened.” she said bv a loud crash, and could not- make im'mv mind if it was thunder or an earthquake. My bedroom was pitch black, far darker than it ought to have, been at that lime in the morning. There was a. most extraordinary smell in mv rooin. I jumped out of bed and called to mv father and mother, put on a for clothes, and opened my bedroom door, to find a policeman standing there, 110 explained that a captive balloon from the Crystal Palace had grit loose an I wrecked itself oil our house. CLEARING THE DEBRIS. •‘The impact was an extraordinary one. It was not exactly like an airraid, of which we have had plenty of experience since w e have lived in thi, house. The. ‘bang’ was duller, yet louder. AVo have had to make our homo with neighbours as a result.” The. balloon bad been to a large, extent deflated the night before., or the mishap might have had a more serious Soon after tlio accident, twenty men were at work with fiOf't ladders removing Ihe deflated balloon and clearing the. roof of Valeria of the displaced bricks and tiles. Sir Cornthwaite Bason was formerly Premier of ‘Western Australia. and later Agent-General in London for that State.