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the last item when he discovered that I was looking at him. He refused to give me the book so I paid him off and discharged him. He then sold his plans to Horace B. Wild of White City, Chicago and together they constructed a ship which appeared the following season.

Another man who started exhibition ballooning was George Bumbaugh of Indianapolis. He had considerable ability and produced an outfit which was a credit to him as the workmanship was excellent.

The following day there was a strong wind again but I was determined to satisfy the crowd and, therefore, at five o'clock I attempted to make a flight. Word had been passed around about the possible ascent. A tremendous crowd gathered outside the tent and it was with difficulty that the start was made. On getting above the trees and buildings the airship pitched and tossed and then started to move backward even though all the power was used and the propeller was whirling around at top speed. My men tried to keep under the ship, calling back to me for instructions. Just as a landing was to be made the motor stopped and the ship was dashed onto a building ripping a hole in the balloon which deflated it. Everyone was excited and we had difficulty in keeping souvenir hunters from ripping the balloon to pieces for small samples. However, this damage was repaired and by hard work we were ready again by the following afternoon. Needless to say, there was a big crowd. It seemed impossible to crowd any more people onto the grounds. They all tried to get where it would be possible to see the performance from start to finish.

A good breeze was blowing, not too much, but enough to make it interesting. The start was made and on getting up and above