"ILL TAKE THE RISK!"

North Otago Times, Volume CVII, Issue 17748, 14 March 1927, Page 5

"ILL TAKE THE RISK!"

■Press Afigociatlsn-

(Austr&li&n shd N.Z. Prega Association.)

^ | r" ANOTHER AIR TRAGEDY. V, iTUMPING BALLOONIST HITS ■; LIVE WIRES. * | TNSTANTLY ELECTROCUTED.

i (Gable —

-Copyrirht.)

1 Received Sunday. 5.5 p.co. J.ONDON, March 12. j Tragedy has overtaker. within a week, two of the Air Force's foremost parachutists, followiug closely i upon Mr Baldwin's slsiremcnJ in*tby Kouse of Commons rexyiding .the red roll of Air Foice ucuths. Captain East was regardcd aa one of the Force's mos: capable pa v*uchutists. It is estimated that hc feli through the air at the raie of 240 miles an hour. Coming on ;.op of this Is Captain Dobbs' electrocution while engiVged in balloon jumplng as the vcsult of private attempls to introduce a sport prominent in America. Captain Dohbs had concluded a private test in whicb, wfth a halloon attached to his shculders, he had hopped several tinies,' and being j anxious to experiment still further, he dispensed with a safety rope and proceeded to carrv on an experiment across counlry. He jumped a hedge and then trying to escape a tree which was standing in the way on the. other side, fell among some live electric wires. Captain Rlacker, who was the only witness, saw the danger and shouted to Dobbs: "For God's sake take care; they are -live wires 1" Dobbs replied: "I'll risk it," and proceeded to jump. He almost cleared the wires, but his legs became entangled. He struggled momentarily and threw out his hands in ari endeavour to disentangle his legs. A hand touched another wire i causing sparks and smoke. Blacker rushed to the aerodrome and summoned the aid of the police who turned off the current. When the l)ody was extricated it was badly burned. Death must have been in'"'anianeous. A few minutes before his death, f Dobbs, who was known as the "parachute king of the R.A.F.," havj ing made 239 - speetacular descents, said: "Parachute descent is wrongly I regarded ris a frightful risk; it is actually safer to descend by parachute than to ascend by aeroplane. People who- erash have only themselves to blame. It is largely a matter of temperament. Even when falling at the rate of two hundred miles an hour, I have never lost consciousness. I think balloon jumping is wonderful sport and hope to be able soon to go on a series of cross country jumps the same as they do in America. Earlier Miss O'Dell had carried out an experiment and succeeded in rising to a height of tyventy feet. The consens^is of opinion appears to be that the sport is lacking in thrill. Whatever pro^pects it had of success are sure to be affected by fhe result of this tragic opening. Dobbs had descended from an aeroplane 'from as high as fifteen thousand feet.