Chapter 5 - 1910

{Special Dispatch to the Herald] St. Louis, Mo., Monday (October 17, 1910). - Fifth balloon competition started with favoring weather. Winds stronger and more northerly than in 1907. CORTLANDT BISHOP.

Ready for International Balloon Race - Ten Huge Gas Bags Will Start from St Louis This Afternoon. -CASH PRIZES OFFERED - Promoting Club Meets Objections Offered by German entrants - Will give $1,750. - [SDH] St. Louis, Sunday - [October 16, 1910] Anthony Von Phul, of St Louis, was chosen at ten o'clock to-night to represent the United States in the balloon Million Population in the International Cup balloon race which starts at Taylor and Chouteau avenues at half-past four o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Mr. Von Phul will take the place of J. H. Wade, Jr. of Cincinnati, who has withdrawn from the race.

The selection of Mr. Von Phul, whose aid will be Joseph M. O'Reilly of St. Louis, eliminates J. H. Morgan from the race. Mr. Morgan was named by Mr. Wade as the pilot of the balloon Buckey in which Mr. Wade was to sail, and A. Leo Stevens, of New York was to act as aid. Both men are in St. Louis to take part in the flight, but declared to-night that they had reasons for not caring to start.

Mr. Von Phul's selection came as the direct result of the finding by A. B. Lambert, president of the Aero Club of St. Louis, of a circular letter issued by the Aero Club of America, in which it was stated that should a pilot withdraw from the international race after successfully competing in the elimination race at Indianapolis, the man making the next greatest distance in this elimination race should be chosen in his place. This fixed the selection upon Mr. Von Phul.

In addition to the international trophy, which goes to the winner of the race, three cash prizes were announced to-day by the Aero Club of St. Louis, which has charge of the local arrangements. The first prize will be $1,000, the second $500, and the third $250. On the announcement of these prizes the German entrants reconsidered their decision to withdraw from the contest.

The ten balloons were laid out at the aerodrome this afternoon and the task of inflating them will begin to-morrow morning at four o'clock. It had been intended to start the inflation of the gasbags this afternoon, but the group of foreign pilots protested that there was danger of the gas weakening if it stood in the envelope overnight.

The entries for the International Cup race, with their pilots and aids, in the order of starting, are as follows: - Condor, Jacques Faure and E. G. Schmolck, France; Million Population, A. Von Puhl and J. M. O'Reilly; Azurea, E. Messner and Leon Giraudan Switzerland; Hamburg III, Lieutenant Vogt and W. G. Assman, Germany; Isle de France, A. Leblanc and Walther de Mumm, France; St. Louis No 4, H. E. Honeywell and J. W. Tulland, United States; Helvetia, Colonel Schaek and A. Armbruster, Switzerland; Dusseldorf, Lieutenant Gericke and S. F. Perkins, Germany; America II, Alan R. Hawley and Augustus Post, United States; and Germania, Captain Abercrom and Blanckerz, Germany.

Aviation Meet Ends

With sensational spiral glides from high altitudes and dizzy exhibition flights, the Aero Club of St. Louis this afternoon closed a successful aviation meet at Kinloch Field. To-night the machines, including M. Alfred Leblanc's Bleriot and the Wright Brothers' five biplanes, were shipped to New York and Dayton, Ohio. [The early airplanes traveled by train!]

The Wright flyers had the field all to themselves this afternoon. M. Leblanc declined to fly, as he was getting his machine started for New York in order to be free for his flight in the international balloon race to-morrow.

BRILLIANT START IN INTERNATIONAL BALLOON CONTEST - Ten Great Gas Bags Ascend at St. Louis Under Ideal Conditions. -THOUSANDS CHEER PILOTS OF RACERS - A Mishap Marks the Beginning of the Fifth Race for the Trophy. - PRIZES REACH $4,750 - France, Germany, Switzerland and the United States Represented in the Competition for Distance. [Special Despatch to the Herald] St. Louis, MO., Monday. [October 17, 1910] - Ten monsters of the air, representing four different nations, each carrying two men, pilot and aid, rose gracefully and majestically from the aero grounds this afternoon between twenty minutes to five and six minutes to six o'clock and sailed quietly out of sight in a northeasterly direction.

They were the entrants in the fifth International balloon distance race for the Coupe Internationale des Aeronautes and a cash prize of $3,000, to which the Aero Club of St. Louis added $1,750, the money being consolidated and divided in a first prize of $2,000 second $1,500, third $1,250.

The starting of the race could not have been better. Wind and weather conditions were ideal, and there was not a hitch in the arrangements. Thousands of spectators were assembled and cheered each giant racer as it rose from the ground.

The official measurements of the balloons were made at two o'clock this morning, prior to the filling of gas. Each of the bags came within the limit of the rules of 78,000 cubic feet. The Germania is the most brilliant. It is covered with a coating of aluminum dust and glistens like silver. The surface is supposed to deflect the sun's rays, thus minimizing their effect. All the bags are made of silk or rubber.

At noon the watches of all the contestants were set at the same second by Mr. Eugen Cuendet, secretary of the St. Louis Aero Club, and at four o'clock, forty minutes and twenty-five seconds the first balloon rose from the field and floated away. There was not the slightest mishap, though the Harburg, of Germany, Lieutenant Vogt, pilot, got a false start, and the Million Population Club of St. Louis, Mr. Anthony Von Phul, pilot, narrowly missed colliding with a grand stand.

Starters and Their Pilots

The first to start was the Condor and the last was the Germania. The starters and the time they ascended follow: -

[list]

Rise to Patriotic Airs

It was half-past four when M. Faure, pilot of the Condor announced that he was ready. The extra sand bags were removed and the contents of the basket were rearranged for balancing purposes. Then the pilot and his aid took their places and the balloon was moved to the front of the grand stand.

M. Faure got away with only ten bags of ballast. He tried to lift with more sand, but seeing that this was impossible he cut loose from the sacks, shouted farewell to his friends, with a request that the band play the "Marseillaise," and gave the signal to let go.

The balloon rose almost perpendicularly and flowed gently toward the northwest while the audience cheered. M. Faure and M. Schmolck spoke to those below through a megaphone until out of hearing.

Mr. Von Phul, pilot of the Million Population Club, was ready for his start when the starters were through with the Condor. As soon as the St Louis balloon ascended it veered toward a grand stand, and for a moment it looked as if a collision were certain. Mr. Von Phul and his aid worked rapidly dumping out sand until the grand stand was cleared. The band played "Yankee Doodle."

M. Alfred Leblanc, Mr. H. E. Honeywell and Lieutenant Gericke got away in quick succession. Mr. A. R. Hawley had considerable difficulty in getting a sufficient quantity of gas, delaying the start of the America II and of the Germania.

Mr. Cortlandt Field Bishop, of the Aero Club of America was in direct charge of the contest.

Landing Rules Established

Members of the Contest Committee met this morning to establish rules as to landing. The following were adopted: -

If the basket touches the ground, a landing is made.

If the drag rope becomes entangled in trees or trails along the ground for fifteen minutes a landing is constituted.

If a balloon alights in a lake or a river a landing is made.

If a balloon descends in salt water, it is disqualified.

The wind, when the race started, was blowing eight miles an hour. While some of the balloons started in a westerly and northerly direction, the upper air currents move in a northeasterly direction.

All of the balloons were well equipped for remaining in the air forty-eight hours or more. Oxygen tanks were in each basket for use in high altitudes. M. Leblanc and Mr. Hawley carried blowers with which they can force air into the balloon bags and husband gas. This enables the balloonists to keep from ascending under the expansion of the sun's rays without letting out gas.

The French entrant took champagne and whiskey in their supplies of drinks. The Germans placed beer and sausage in their baskets. They also took wine and  ???   . Most of the balloonists took fruit with them. Apples, oranges, and grapefruit were prominent in the food boxes.

Captain Messner, of Switzerland, will depend on cold tea to quench his thirst. His basket contains two wicker seats and a small lounge filled with a feather pillow and mattress. The aeronaut while  on the lounge puts his feet through an opening in the side of the basket. A net is spread over the opening to support his feet and prevent his slipping out of the basket.

Mr. Honeywell will cook his meals by slaking lime. He has been able heretofore to boil coffee and fry eggs in this manner. His stove consists of a bucket with a pan on top. If necessary he can throw the stove overboard to lighten the balloon. His balloon will be electric lighted by the use of batteries.

Lieutenant Gericke took a revolver with him. He said he expected to shoot game if he landed in a wooded part of the country. Mr. Honeywell carried a rifle in his basket to be used, he said, to scare persons who attempted to hold his drag rope and thus force him to make a landing.

The Million Population Club carried a cage full of homing pigeons.

Mr. Hawley protested against the name Million Population Club on the Von Phut balloon, declaring it was an advertisement. The rules of the international contest prohibit the use by any contestant of an advertisement. Mr. Bishop, president of the Aero Club of America, over the vigorous objections of Mr. Hawley, ruled the balloon should be permitted to start.

Winners of Previous Races

Messrs. Leblanc, Faure, Messner, Abercrom, Hawley, Post, and Schaeck have competed for the cup in other years. Colonel Schaeck was the winner of the 1908 race from Berlin by landing in northern Norway after being in the air seventy (sic) hours. He traveled 750 miles.

Winners of other years were:- Lieutenant Frank P. Lahm, of the United States Army, who in 1906 traveled from Paris to Fylingdales, England, 415 miles; Herr Oscar Erbsloh, who sailed in the balloon Pommern from St. Louis in 1907 to Asbury Park, N.J. 873 miles in thirty-nine hours and fifty-five minutes, and Mr. Edgar W Mix, of Columbus, Ohio, who drifted from Zurich, Switzerland in 1909 to Ostrolenka, Russian Poland, 695 miles in thirty-five hours.

The Helvetia, the Condor and the Isle de France were used in former races for the Bennett Cup.

[THIS ARTICLE AND THE NEXT FIVE ARE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE OF THE HERALD]

Messrs. Hawley and Post, Down Near Chicoutimi, Quebec, Win      Tell Herald They Went 1,460 miles, Then Battled 8 Days in Wilderness -   Landed Wednesday, Week Safely in Forests Fifty Miles from the Nearest Railroad Station. - TRAVELED AT SPEED OF EXPRESS TRAIN - Aeronauts, Last Heard Of in Michigan, Fairly Hurled Before Fierce Gale. - BROTHER HAS DISPATCH - William Hawley and S. .F Perkins, Rival Balloonist, Hear of Victory from Village of St. Ambroise. -NEWS ENDS WIDE SEARCH - Friends and Associates, Alarmed by Territory's Rough Character, Had Set ?0,000 Men Scouring Region. -

Aeronauts Tell of Flight and Trials - by Alan R. Hawley and Augustus Post. We were forty-six hours in our balloon and traveled 1,460 miles. We landed at eight o'clock on the evening of the 19th at Lake Blanc Sable, a small outspread sheet of water which empties by a short stream five miles easterly from Lake Triesamon, on the Peribonka River, fifty miles east of Chicoutimi.

For three days and nights we plodded on, resting wherever shelter was found. An empty hunter's hut gave us cover for a few hours. We were short of provisions and carefully husbanded our resources.

On the fourth day we encountered some trappers, who aided us to St. Ambroise, whence we were able to wire. After resting at St. Ambroise we were brought on to Chicoutimi. Though very tired, we are well.

Driven onward by storm winds which blew them at the rate of nearly a mile a minute for twenty-four hours over the great lakes, unnavigable rivers and impassable forests of Canada, Mr. Alan R. Hawley and Mr. Augustus Post, pilot and aid of the balloon America II, came to earth Wednesday of last week in the woods of the Chicoutimi district, Quebec, approximately 1,355 miles from St. Louis, Mo., whence they started on Monday, October 17, in an endeavor to lift the international cup.

The aeronauts themselves, in a statement to the HERALD last evening, state they traveled 1,460 miles and were in the air 46 hours.

Word came last night to a waiting world that the endeavor of the daring New York aeronauts had been successful. But mingled with the shout of joy for the safety of the men were acknowledgements from other competitors for the coveted cup that they were defeated.

The spot where the America II came to earth is, according to a message from the aeronauts received in New York last night by William Hawley, a brother of the pilot, and by Samuel F. Perkins, one of the rivals of the balloonists, fifty miles to the north of the town of Chicoutimi, at the junction of the famous Saguenay River and the Lake St John.

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FIRST WORD THRILLS OTTAWA SEARCHERS - HERALD BUREAU, NO 130 WELLINGTON STREET - OTTAWA, Ont., Wednesday – (October 19, 1910) With a joyful shout the search which Edmond Stratton of the Aero Club of America

NEWS IS GREAT RELIEF, SAYS WILLIAM HAWLEY

BALLOONISTS TO HAVE A ROUSING WELCOME

Mr. Post Describes Flight Until Storm Forces Descent of the America II. - Mr. Hawley's Companion in Balloon Tells of Landing on Mountain Fifty-Eight Miles North of Chicoutimi and Their Four Days' Tramp Through Falling Snow to Trapper's Camp, Whence They Journey by Canoe to St. Ambroise.  Chicoutimi, Quebec, Wednesday. (October 26, 1910) - Thoroughly fatigued and showing many marks of an arduous week of struggling through the dense wilderness of northern Canada, Messrs. Hawley and Post, the aeronauts who, according to available data, sailed the America II nearly seventy miles further than any other contestants in the international balloon race, arrived here this evening.

They had landed at forty-five minutes after three o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, October 19, 1,500 feet up the face of an unnamed mountain, which, as near as they could reckon, lies about fifty-eight miles north of Chicoutimi and about eight miles north of Lake Tshistigam. They had been involved in a snowstorm which was accompanied by a change in the wind to a more northerly direction from that which until then gave promise of carrying them to the Labrador coast. The adverse conditions compelled them to land much against their wishes. Landing was effected easily and the balloon was left in good condition. Sanguinely they started to get to the nearest settlement. They were uncomfortably near the end of their provisions, but, recounting the story of their experiences to-night, they made light of that feature. They had confidence, they said, in their ability to kill sufficient game to prevent starvation.

For three nights they were obliged to sleep in the open air. It was a stiff fight through snowy forests. The weather was exceedingly cold. Then the camp of a trapper was struck on the river Alours. A day's rest was enjoyed there in the deserted hut. Four trappers appeared on Monday and took them down the streams in their canoes to St. Ambroise, a little settlement forty miles from here. A six hours drive brought them here to-night. To-morrow night they expect to be in Quebec.

Mr. Post the Spokesman - According to their reckoning they covered 1,460 miles in the air during forty-six hours. Mr. Post, acting as spokesman, told the story of the trip to-night.

"We had a beautiful trip," said Mr. Post. "We crossed Lake Michigan and Lake Huron and followed what I should judge to be the route of the proposed Georgian Bay Canal, and if you ask me, there is water enough in that section of the country not only to fill the canal but to float all the ships of the world.

"Then we crossed the Ottawa and floated over the forest of Northern Quebec, passing over innumerable lakes and rivers. The country below us always was densely wooded. Finally on Wednesday morning we found that we were north of Lake St. John and going well and we had hopes that we would be able to continue the trip until we struck the Labrador coast.

"Unfortunately, about three o'clock last Wednesday afternoon, a storm came up and it became necessary to make a landing. We picked out a mountain and came down upon it and made an easy landing on the mountainside at an elevation of about 1,500 feet.

"This was at a quarter to four p.m. It was near nightfall and we knew that we were a considerable distance from any settlement, so we decided to pass the night in the basket of the balloon. The next morning we started for civilization, heading south. We had three days of severe exercise, with no more to eat than was absolutely necessary, as we had to carry all our food, as well as the blankets to cover us at night. And we needed those blankets badly, for we had two snowstorms on the way.

"On the fourth day we found the camp of Jack Matthias, a trapper. Unfortunately he was away from home. We, however, stayed there and enjoyed the hospitality of his hut for a day of much needed rest. Then four French Canadian trappers turned up and, like good fellows, brought us out by canoe to St. Ambroise, where we arrived this afternoon.

"As near as we can figure, our landing place was about fifty-eight miles north of Chicoutimi. There is rather a large lake near where we landed, Lake Piscocama, and we landed between five and eight miles north. Two smaller lakes were also passed by us as we made our way through the woods. The country there is very rough and our travel was necessarily slow and arduous in the extreme as there were no trails that we could follow.

"The bush was very dense and we had a hard time fighting our way through, but did not suffer any very severe hardships."

The sky voyagers did not see any of the other balloons in the drift eastward across Northern Quebec, as they passed further north than either the Dusseldorf or Germania. Mr. Post did not appear to be greatly excited over his experiences and showed much more interest in the fate of Walter Wellman, inquiring eagerly as to how he had got on in his attempt to cross the Atlantic. He was disappointed but not surprised that the attempt had proven a failure.

Post and Hawley will leave for Quebec to-morrow morning. -

WIRELESS SEARCH FOR DIRIGIBLE AT SEA PROVES VAIN - Seven Steamships Sound Constant Calls for Walter Wellman and Party. - ENCOUNTERED STORM ON SUNDAY EVENING - The Finland reports Severe Electrical Display, but with Fine Weather Following. - MAY BE RESERVING POWER - The America's Operator in Last Message Said He Would Be Sparing in Using Sending Sparks. Siasconsett, Mass. Monday. - Inquiry through the Marconi wireless station here to-night regarding the America, the dirigible balloon in which Walter Wellman and a crew of five are endeavoring to cross the Atlantic Ocean, brought responses from many incoming steamships, but not one had been in communication with the airship...

All hands were lost over the Atlantic Ocean.

AMERICA II DECLARED WINNER OFFICIALLY – St. Louis, Mo., Wednesday.(October 26, 1910) Following the announcement that Alan R. Hawley and Augustus Post had landed safely in the balloon America II north of Lake St. John, Quebec, the two St. Louis members of the International Race Committee, A. B. Lambert and L. D. Dozier, to-night gave out the official distances made by the balloons. They are: [list follows]