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feet each time. I knew this would break our legs if it kept up and decided to rip the balloon open when we came to a wide strip of land. I waited until we reached dry land again and then pulled the rip panel. We struck the ground with great force and stopped against a barbed wire fence with no greater damage than some bruises. The landing was made at Brant Rock, Massachusetts on Cape Cod Bay. Had we delayed even a few seconds longer we would have been compelled to land in the water and would have lost the balloon if not our lives. I, for one, was thankful it was over but the doctor would have liked to have made a much longer trip.

As soon as we reached Boston newspaper men wanted details of the trip as the public was anxious over our possible loss. We loaned our films but they were never returned.

I was now anxious to get on to Ft. Wayne as I had another experiment in mind. Also, the opening day was but two days off. I took the night train to New York, paid my bill at the hotel, and just before leaving called at the Aero Club.

[[underscore]]BALLOONING AS A SPORT[[/underscore]]

In the early days anyone who made, or contemplated making, a balloon acension was considered, more or less, out of his head and classed with the mildly insane; harmless, but nevertheless insane. 

The French were the first to make ballooning a sport and some very prominent Frenchmen, even the nobility, indulged in this new and fascinating pastime. Count Henri De la Vaux was one of the best known of the modern balloonists. He made a record long distance flight of over 1,000 miles landing in Russia and creating at the time great excitement. Aero clubs