Alarming Parachunte Adventures.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 424, 30 November 1889, Page 6

Alarm ing Par ac hu nt e Adventures.

An alarming; incident took place recently in connection with a parachute, performance at North Shields Cycling Ground by Mis's Beaumont, an Amciican lady. After going up in a balloon to an altitude of several thousand feet, she was descending, when her parachute hangings causrht the lightning conductor of Billy Mill Watei works chimney, over sixty-five leet high. Sho held on to the lightning conductor, suspended with one hand, until rescued bj' means of ladders. The affair caused great excitement among the spectators. An exciting adventure hnppened to a parachutist, named M. Dorie, at Luton. Hs had made a very successful ascent and descent in the previous week, and had announced his intention of surpassing his former achievement by dropping from a height of two miles, using the same balloon as Baldwin employed when he ascended before the Prince and Princess of Wales, at the Alexandra Palace last year. A large concourse of poople had assembled, both in the meadow and on the surrounding heights, and the ioronaub's upward course was watcheJ with much interest. As the balloon passed through different currents of air it was blown in various directions, sailing over the heads of the spectators and passing and repassing over a portion of the town, above which it appealed for some time to be almost stationary. The expected descent not taking place, a teeling of anxiety crept over the multitude, which grew into one of alarm for the young man's safety as time woio on. It was then realL-ed that something had gone wrong, and that Dorie was unable to descend. The balloon was meanwhile steadily rising, and at one period it had reached such an altitude that the aeronaut was scarcely visible. After he had been nearly half an hour in tho clouds the balloon; ib was perceived, was beginning to fall, owing to the condensation of the gas, but still the parachutist gave no sign of leaving it, and on reaching a lower level another current took him away rapidly to the westward. As he passed over the ridge of a hill and disappeared from view, the utmost consternation prevailed among the onlookers in all parts of the town as bo his fate. Eventually he fell in a field of barley near the village of Caddington, about two miles from the place of ascent. He aHghted on his ieet, fortunately without injury. He afterwards explained that he had found it impossiple to get his parachute detached, as he discovered while going up that one of its cords had by mistake been passed underneath one of the ropes of the balloon. Dorie, who was loudly cheered on his return, had been up exactly 37 minutes.