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103

The Sun New York
23 Apr 1907

DRIVEN SEAWARD IN BALLOON
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AERONAUTS FROM PHILADELPHIA COME DOWN AT MATAWAN.
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Descend Suddenly Into a Creek After a Ride in a Gale 7,000 Feet Up-Alan R. Hawley's Sixth Ascension of a Preparatory Course of Ten-Got Badly Sunburned

First shooting up to a height of 7,000 feet at Philadelphia and rushing north at a terrific rate, the balloon Initial, belonging to A.N. Chandler, Philadelphia and New York broker, and Arthur T. Atherholt of Philadelphia, landed yesterday afternoon at Matawan, N.J., less than two hours afterward, having come about eighty-five miles.

At times the balloon, which has a capacity of 35,000 cubic feet, went at the rate of almost a mile a minute. Once it got up 12,000 feet and it was only by luck that the aeronauts escaped being carried out to sea. As it was, they landed in a creek and both of them were badly bruised.

Hawley is qualifying for the international balloon races to be held at St. Louis next October. In order to do this he has to make ten ascensions, of which this is the sixth.

With Atherholt, who got interested in ballooning in Paris, he started from the grounds of the United Gas Improvement Company at Point Breeze, Philadelphia, at 12:37 P.M. yesterday. It was 2:31 when the balloon dipped into the creek at Matawan close to Raritan Bay. Mr. Atherholt said after the trip:

"It was the most sensational ascension Hawley and I ever made. First we went up to a prodigious height and then found that the wind was blowing a gale up there. It was bearing us straight to New York at the rate of forty or fifty miles an hour, and we decided to stay in it and break the record. It was perfectly clear and we went rushing along at express speed at 7,000 feet height. Suddenly something atmospheric occurred, because we went shooting up to a higher level. Less than two hours had passed, when we saw the sea off to the east. Up to then we had not known where we were. Then we dropped into the creek. Wet and a few bruises and that's all."

Mr. Hawley was at the Aero Club here last night telling the club members about it. At the start, he said, the balloon was banged against the sides of the gas tank with such force that she threatened to go to pieces or throw Hawley and Atherholt out. Seeing the danger Hawley cut the rope without warning. The balloon shot up over a mile before the men in the car gained control. Hawley suffered no trouble with his breathing and noticed no crackling of the outer envelope of the balloon.

The big has bag struck its gait above the mile level and started north under a 50 mile an hour breeze. Later the course changed to northeast. The highest altitude attained was over New Brunswick, N.J., where the instruments recorded about 8,612 feet.

At 2:10 the balloonists found themselves over Matawan. The wind was increasing and the sun beat down so strongly that both men suffered severely from sunburn.

They decided to try for a landing, but as the balloon descended they found that they were directly over the village and fearing a wreck among the houses they threw out ballast and sailed over to the west side of the town, where they descended. The anchor failed to take hold and the balloon dragged into a shallow creek which was so crooked in its course that Hawley and his friend got ducked several times before they were rescued by a party of villagers who had run out to see the fun. Hawley lost his barometer in the mixup.

Mr. Hawley told the Aero Club that they must be careful in making balloon trips near the coast or the ocean would get them. He had observed, he said, that all the upper currents near the coast tend to carry the balloon out to sea. He thought that the balloonists who are to make ascensions at the Jamestown Exposition should be warned.

Hawley and Atherholt, in Peril of Flying Out to Sea, Drop in Matawan Creek,
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START AT PHILADELPHIA
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Caught in a Gale at Height of 8,000 feet, They Have a Thrilling Ride.

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Shooting up to a height of 8,000 feet over the city of Philadelphia and rushing northeast at a terrific rate, A.N. Chandler's balloon "Initial," containing Allan R. Hawley, of New York, and Arthur T. Atherholt, of Philadelphia, landed at Matawan, N.J., yesterday, after making the sixty-five miles in less than an hour and a half.

At times the balloon went at a rate of almost a mile a minute. Once it shot up to a height of 12,000 feet, and it was only by chance that the aeronauts escaped being carried out to sea. As it was, they landed in a creek and both of them were bruised.

Mr. Hawley, a New York broker, is qualifying for the international balloon races to be held in St. Louis next October. In order to do this, he has to make ten ascensions, of which yesterday's was his sixth.

With Atherholt he started from the athletic grounds of the United Gas Improvement Company, at Point Breeze, exactly 23 minutes before 1 o'clock. It was 2:31 o'clock when the balloon dipped into the creek at Matawan, twenty-nine miles south of New York City and close to the ocean.

Atherholt's Story of Trip.

Mr. Atherholt, telling of the trip, said: "It was the most sensational flight Hawley and I ever had. First we went up to a prodigious height, and then found that the wind was blowing a gale. It was bearing us straight toward New York at the rate of forty to fifty miles an hour, and we decided to stay up and break the record. It was perfectly clear, and we went rushing along at express train speed 7,000 feet in the air. Once we reached a height of 12,000 feet.

"A little more than an hour had passed, when suddenly we saw the sea far out to the east. We must have been rushing along at a fifty-mile-an-hour gait. Until then we had no idea of our nearness to the ocean. It was necessary to drop and drop quick.

"Well, we dropped right down into Matawan. The wind was blowing all kinds of ways, apparently, and the landing was difficult. We bounced off a field and went plump into a creek. Result - a good wetting and a few bruises, but it was better than sailing out over the ocean. If we had stayed up, we should have gone right over Statten Island into the Atlantic.."

Mr. Hawley will go to St. Louis next week to look over the ground. He must make one night ascension alone and will do this from Philadelphia within a fortnight.

The balloon was rescued by a crowd of men and boys and was shipped back to Philadelphia. The records made during the ascension were lost, but search is being made for them.

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