by John Chetwood
During the latter part of [1901]
a captive balloon owned by Messrs. Hudson and Baldwin made many successful
ascents from a large piece of waste ground in San Francisco. On Saturday,
November 2nd last, the balloon rose at about half-past four o'clock in the
afternoon for its last trip. It carried seven men and one woman as passengers,
beside the aeronaut in charge, Mr. Edward Dudley.
All went well on the way up, and on the descent also till the travellers were within four or five hundred feet of the ground. The balloon, it should be explained, was attached to a stout wire cable, which was wound in by a small engine. The balloon was coming steadily down when, without the least warning, the cable suddenly snapped with a loud report. The balloon instantly darted off into space, carrying with it nine surprised and very reluctant travellers. These were Aeronaut Dudley; Walter Leon, a trapeze performer; Albert Dodge, owner of a theatrical publication; Edward Foster, musician; C. P. Videcoc, a tailor; Mr. L Haworth, of the Southern Pacific Railroad Hospital; John Swift, a policeman; J. F. Leonard, pattern-maker; and Mrs. J. P. Gunsauls, whose husband owned a small candy factory.
As soon as the accident occurred the management explained to the alarmed and excited spectators, many of whom were friends or relatives of the hapless balloonists, that Mr. Dudley was an expert aeronaut and should be fully able to cope with the alarming situation. As a matter of fact, the broken cable had been tested and had borne a much greater strain than the balloon put on it. Perhaps a little of the sulphuric acid kept on hand for gas-making may have come in contact with it and so weakened it. But, whatever the cause of the catastrophe, the unprepared condition of the balloon caused no small part of the danger, as the sequel showed.
Fortunately the promptness, skill, and courage of the man in charge enabled him to rise to the emergency. The moment he realized what had happened he told his startled companions to keep perfectly quiet, promising that if they did so he would land them safe and sound, without fail, in an hour or so.
He then sprang up into the rigging and felt about for the valve-cord, which had for some reason been tucked away out of reach from below. Luckily it was soon found and uncoiled, and Mr. Dudley jumped back into the car. Then he gazed searchingly at the faces of the others, fearing to see sign of dizziness or panic, which so often impel people so situated to jump out, not only destroying themselves, but sending the balloon, deprived of their weight, to yet higher altitudes. Every ounce of weight is of value at such a time.
But these passengers were a braze
lot, and fortunately they did not seem to realize the full extent of the
danger. Mr. Leon had made several previous trips, and being a trapeze performer
and used to taking risks in the air he was able to second the efforts of
Dudley to calm the others.
Certainly the situation was far from reassuring. Already their friends below were out of sight. San Francisco looked like a distant etching, and the great fifteen-story "Speckles Building" appeared a slender stick on the ground. Just at the time the management far below were trying to calm the spectators, and secretly wondering why Dudley kept going higher and higher.
But he knew why. He was testing the currents in the upper air. At one level the wind would blow them towards the Pacific: at another to or along San Francisco Bay, which stretched away for forty miles to the south. They must find a current that would carry them away from both. And when finally that was found there came the delicate handling of the valve-cord on which all their lives depended.
When the party left the earth the ascending power of the balloon was sufficient to raise twenty persons easily. This power, it was evident, must be reduced till it merely kept suspended the weight of the nine people in the balloon. But, on the other hand, it was necessary to attain this equilibrium very carefully and then descend gradually to a safe landing place. For they were not prepared to avoid or rise above any sort of obstruction, as they had no drag-rope and no ballastboth articles of vital importance to the aeronaut.
As might be supposed, the course of the runaway under these adverse circumstances was a very fluctuating and uncertain one, as the accompanying map will make clear. The first wind carried the travellers to San Francisco Bay and nearly across it, when a side current at a higher level drove them south directly over the bay.
Mounting still higher, an easterly wind brought the balloon back over the bay and peninsula and then far out to sea. Here they descended in search of a lower current, which in turn bore them backcuriously enough, in the same direction as an express train far below, with which the balloon kept pace for several miles. Then a final change of direction brought the menace of fresh dangers to the hapless occupants of the drifting balloon in the shape of rugged mountain crests that reached to their level. Beyond these the ocean breakers again stared them in the faceand to go out to sea meant death.
At a speed of forty miles an hour the balloon whirled towards a rugged mountain-top. At this crisis, having no ballast to throw out, the aeronaut ordered all coats to be taken off. His own disappeared first, and this slight loss of weight proved sufficient. The car curved up and just cleared the summit. It then swept over several miles of rough wooded country where there was no opportunity to alight, although it was now rapidly growing dark and the ocean was not far away.
But finally they sighted a clearing which lay directly in their course. It proved to be the ranch of Mr. Beatty Thompson, some five miles from Pescadero Beach. Mr. Thompson was near a mill, known as Warr's Mill, when the shouts of the party overhead attracted his attention to them and the long rope which trailed from the car on to the ground. Catching hold of the rope, Mr. Thompson first steadied and then drew down the now scarce-resisting balloon. At last they were safe! They had traversed more than seventy miles in just one hour and a half!
The party were most kindly received
and entertained by Mr. Thompson and his family, and they were enabled to
communicate by telephone with their anxious friends in San Francisco, to
which place they returned next dayfollowed a little later by the balloon.
Mr. Albert Dodge, of the Theatrical Guide, said to the reporters on his return: "The people all behaved very well, but it was a terrible experience, especially when we were over the ocean. I would not undergo it again for any consideration."
In giving her version of the affair, Mrs. Gunsauls said: "The gentlemen congratulated me and said I behaved bravely. Perhaps I did, but there were times when I did not feel brave at all. When I got in the basket my daughter and friends outside said if I came down safely they would try it. But I very much doubt if they ever will! We were laughing heartily and shouting good-byes as the balloon went up, but when the rope parted it seemed as if the earth were leaving us for ever.
"We felt very helpless, but Mr. Dudley kept up a constant stream of jokes, and his repeated assurance that there was no danger encouraged us greatly. But I would not care to repeat the experiment. And it did feel so nice to have the ground under foot again!"
