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  A brisk wind was blowing which made the take off rather difficult.  However, I managed to get off quickly and ascended to four thousand feet, then pulled on a rope running up through the balloon to a valve located in the top.  This allowed a portion of the gas to escape and I started down.  The landing equipment consisted of a half inch trail rope 300 feet long and a three pronged grapnel at the end of a fifty foot rope.  As I neared the ground, the trail rope trailed over the field and relieved the balloon of some of its weight.  It slackened the descent so that when the basket finally touched the ground, it did so without a jar.
  During the time required to make the ascent and descent, I had traveled, due to the wind, a distance of about eighteen miles.  A farm hand hitched up a team of horses and drove me back to the grounds with my equipment.
  Again without rest, I worked hard to be ready for the next day.  At noon I was able to secure a little sleep and was somewhat refreshed at the time of ascent.  A stiff wind was blowing, making it difficult to rise without hitting one of the buildings.  As I did not want to land so far away, I started down from 1000 feet elevation instead of 4000 feet as on the previous day.  On approaching the ground I lowered the trail rope and prepared to throw out the grapnel.  A farm house, barn, and apple orchard were below.  I was travelling at a high rate of speed.  The basket struck hard, with such force that I was nearly pitched out.  Then the grapnel caught, the balloon surged and tugged at the rope holding it.  I was driven down to the tree tops and then tossed up again with a rush.  Suddenly something gave way and I made a wild dive straight for the barn!
  I have never been able to learn why it was necessary to place