Ogden Evening Standard | 1912-12-16 | Page 4 | Boatmen Save Balloonists

BOATMEN SAVE BALLOONISTS Los Angeles, Cal., Dec. 1C A cap- j tive balloon at Ocean Park yesterday I afternoon broke away from its moor- j in?s and after an exciting ride of more I j than an hour, in which the big gas bag j was driven by changing winds over the sea and land, the occupants, two men nnd a boy of S years were rescued res-cued three miles off Lons Benr-h aft- I cr they had been thrown into the wa- j ter when the balloon struck the sur-j ' face of the ocean. . j The resque was seemingly miraculous, miracu-lous, as all three were swimming and almost exhausted when they wer nicked up by boats which happened to bo near by. Only the close proximity proxim-ity of the boats, which headed after the bal'oon as it ncqred the surface of :. the sea. averted a water tragedy i The tvo men who made the remarkable re-markable Journey were .7, G. Wacrgon- I cr and Neal Hampden, both of Ocean ! I Park. The latter, who was the aero-I aero-I unit in char?e of the balloon, had ' almost exhausted his physical strength trying to keep the boy from drown- ; ing and had to be sent to the hospi- j tal at San Pedro. oo