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Show ino parachute Jumper In a comparatively compar-atively rrwnl product In tha profca-alun profca-alun of billoonlng. The flrat parachute Jumper, tits first mau literally to make lha lap from tht eloude. waa Ham Baldwin, now a successful manufacturer manufac-turer of balloons at qutnoy. III. Baldwin, Bald-win, bla brothar and Prof. Van Taaaal. three gas balloon men, happened to meat In a Loa Angolas bntal In Ilia ummer of lss7. Kaob had a hardtack hard-tack story to It'll and It wu unanimously unani-mously sgreed that the biutnHaa bad, (one to the dona. As a meaue of re-eusi re-eusi Hating It and rescuing It from tha canine grasp luldwtn sus tested tha parachute leap. Tba otbora did not belua II possible for a man to nua tha Jump and live. Out of Iba i hurting rani a determination determin-ation to make the experiment. None of tbatu waa willing to offi-r hlmaelf up aa a eucriflce. to a bag of eniid waa substituted. Tha balloon waa sent up from the commons with a long string attached to the parachute rope. When tha bag had risen In a height of three-quarters three-quarters of a mile the cord was pulled and the chute cut looso. It dropped lika a log for a hundred feet, then opened and came slowly down to anrth. Related cxperlmcnte convinced each that It was a safe trick with a man In plate of I ho bug of a.nid. Van Tassel then wont to 'KrUco to Interview tha newspapers and get then to send specials spe-cials to I-os Angeles, but while ha was away the Impatient HaMwIna expert-mentrd expert-mentrd themselves and Sam made tho flrat Jump In history safely and easily. Tho Ualdwlns were quick to realize tha money value of being first In tha Held and they started east to Instigur-ate Instigur-ate the sport there. The greatly Incensed In-censed Van Tassel broke with them and getting an outfit begun making aa-eenla aa-eenla himself, Asl llrew Immense Crowds, The new act leaped Into popular fa-Tor fa-Tor at onca. The Incredible daring of tba performance and tba seeming fact that It was mora than an equal chance that tba aeronaut would be dashed to plecea drew Immense crowds everywhere every-where the lecp was advertised to take place. The man who "rode the bug" could command almost any price ha asked. For aoma time the three hal-loonlats hal-loonlats who told each other hard-luck stories In Loa Angeles had the field A) themselves. Most of the othor aeronauts aero-nauts were afraid of It. With four assistants as-sistants and a pushing manager tha Baldwins made a tour around tha world. In a year and a half they netted net-ted a cool $100,000 In cosh. To this they added big money secured from the managers of many oastnrn resorts. J?1ve hundred dollars was the fixed charge, for one performance, "' With tha advent of other "Yiders of . tha bog," aa (he technical term of tha profession la, prices begun to drop. Many Jumpers tiring 1'rloes Down, From II. 000 that was onca paid for Fourth of July performances at tha big resorts, prices went steadily downward, down-ward, until I'JM was reached. Still mora recruits came, and nowadaya tha ru.lng price la from to H0. due largely to tha presence of many farmers" In tha business, men who use It aa a means of making a little side money during the summer. No one has ever compiled an accurate list of tha number of men who depend upon up-on the parachute Jumping as a means of livelihood, but estimates range from 100 to 600, with no hauls of guessing how many local performers there are. Startling Novelties IMtIo4. The public crate for novelty, combines com-bines with the desire to excel, caused a number of startling Innovations. VTrat came the man and a womau, then later tha dog waa added. Flrat tba man and women rods un the same bar. Later tbry had separata parachutes, tied to the same bar. When tha dog blank cartil,luc i he hi, I h. on released re-leased In the ordinary nmnner. and When It resrhed a proper helsht the aeronaut eiploded hi cartridge ami "the hiimun cannon ball" dropped Into view. Down in ,, imn.n. llM,n , aeronaut with a gas halloon surcess-fully surcess-fully made nil ascension with a his farm wagon attached. To add to the realism, the performer sat on Ihe front seat and piled a long whip. Then came Ihe "gang chute." Knur men. each with a little chute of his own. went tip with the balloon. A big bar Ilka a whlflletree, was attached to the balloon. To this the chutes were tied was necessary was to unloose It. Then came the man riding a bicycle In midair. mid-air. When he left the ground be waa pedaling at a greut rate. This he kept up as long aa he waa In eight. It looked very risky, but It wasn't. The machine was tied stoutly to the parachute, para-chute, with the cut-off rope dangling down within reach, while Ihe rider himself was secured hy hidden safety appliances to the wheel. The Cnmniiin Aet. Ijiter came the man who bred himself him-self out of a cannon In midair. Tbls 7tv&&t PWvStv' Jv$? r fete MORE SPECTACULAR THAN DANOtnoiIS. i, t I In a row. One by one they wars dropped drop-ped safely to tha earth. Anluiuls Sent Pp. Baboous. rniwurs, cats and other domestic snlmais have bean among those harnessed to lltte parachutes and set free to rlda down to earth. Others have taken pigeons, ducks, doves and other good fliers and let them looaa In midair. Advertising matter waa set adrift In the sums manner. the spectacular part of the aacenalon Is to be found In the scrobatic feats while the outfit la mounting heavenward. heaven-ward. Thla is nerve-racking to tbe spectator, but not disconcerting to tha performer. It must be remembered tat be feels no sensation of the rush tbrough the sir. To hlra everything appears stationary, aave tbe earth wblcb Is dropping sway from him. If ba bolds by one hand be knows, though tha crowd doesn't, that tha web bandage which grips him by tba wrist will bold blm secure, and If be bangs bead downward be knows that a pair of horses could not pull him awsy from a trapete Into tha cornels of which he baa planted bis toes. to another ascent. They lie, nine crippled crip-pled or frightened Into something that promises longer life, even though the price is a humdrum youth II. T. DOliHINH. |