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1907. June 13. See [[?]] New York 23 Apr - 1907. FAST BALLOON TRIP. Philadelphia Aeronauts Nearly Went Out to Sea. Recovered to-day from their thrilling experience in a balloon that came near going out to sea before landing at Matawan, N. J., Alan R. Hawley, of this city, and Arthur T. Atherholt went back to Philadelphia. The balloon, called the Initial, is owned by A. N. Chandler, a broker, and when it started from Philadelphia yesterday it shot up a height of 7,000 feet and rushed north at a terrific rate, at times as fast as a mile a minute. The balloon has a capacity of 35,000 cubic feet, and when it once reached an altitude of 12,000 feet it came near carrying the aeronauts out to sea. As it was, they landed in a creek and both were more or less bruised. This is the sixth ascension for Hawley, who is qualifying for the international balloon races to be held at St. Louis next October. 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 found that the wind was blowing a gale. It was bearing us straight to New York at the rate of forty or fifty miles an hour and we decided to try to break the record. We went rushing along at express speed until suddenly something atmospheric occurred and we went shooting up to a higher level. Soon we saw the sea off to the east. Then we dropped into the creek." Call Paterson 23 Apr - 1907. N.J. AERONAUT HAD TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE Parachute Failed to Open Until He Was Near Earth Newark, April 22–John Mack, a balloonist, is suffering today from the result of an experience he had yesterday at Hillside park where he made an ascension before about 1,500 persons. Because the parachute did not work properly he nearly lost his life. He had gone up fully 2,000 feet in the air, when he prepared to descend. Grasping his parachute, which was one he had never tried before, he let himself go, expecting his parachute to open by the time he had dropped 100 feet. It failed to open, however, and the balloonist came down toward the earth like a shot. The crowd did not at first realize that something had gone wrong. Then, when they saw what had happened, everyone expected that Mack would be dashed to death, but when he was about 600 feet from the ground the parachute falred open, and with the aeronaut hardly retaining his hold after the sudden stop, it swung back and forth and with gradually lessening speed descended to the ground, landing on the Erie tracks at Washington avenue. When aid came Mack was found lying where he had fallen and trembling from the effects of his flight. He tried to get up, but he was too weak, and he had to be taken back to the park in a wagon. When able to talk all he said was: "That was my first experience of that kind and I hope I'll never have another." A girl, who is said to be under sixteen years old, was to have made an ascent from the park, but the management decided not to let her go up, as her father had sent word from Camden that she had run away from her home there last Saturday and that she was not sixteen years old. Thursday at Baddeck 104 [[?]] World New York 23 Apr - 1907. MILE-A-MINUTE RIDE IN BALLOON PLEASED BROKER Amateur Aeronaut Hawley Declares He Enjoyed Terrible Trip. ...five minutes we got our bearings and started off in a northerly direction. In about forty-five minutes we were sailing over Trenton and from there we drifted northeast to New Brunswick, which we reached about 1.50 o'clock. "The wind at this time became very sharp, blowing about eighty-five miles an hour. It was driving us toward the coast. We debated whether we should keep at it and run the risk of being blown out to sea or make a descent. We decided on the landing. When we finally hit ground, and we were some time getting there, we struck about half a mile west of Matawar, N.J. at 2.10 P.M. Had to Dodge Buildings. "Coming down we had to fight our way to clear trees and buildings, and to dodge some of the obstacles we had to dump out ballast at different times. In all we threw over about seventy-five pounds of sand. "When we got over the place at which we decided to land we saw there was a creek about six feet wide. We figured the water was three feet deep and we determined to dodge that creek at all hazards, but it got us good in the end. I waited until we passed over the creek and threw out the anchor but the ground wasn't the right kind and the anchor didn't get a good hold. Gusts of wind caused us to zigzag back and forth over the creek. When I thought we were surely clear of it I opened the valve and we came down with a rush. The anchor had finally taken hold, but as we were descending a gust of wind upset my calculations and the basket, after bumping us about, dumped use very neatly into the water."
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[[Image cartoon with caption "Fight Nelson" and figure saying "And there's more where this came from" At bottom: Charlie Harvey put up $1000. cash to back Summers' challenge to Nelson]]