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Balloon Jumping-A New Sport For Parks, Fairs, Etc.-By HAROLD S. KAHM
(ProQuest Information and Learning: ... denotes obscured text omitted.)
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(Most of the technical information used in this article was obtained thru the courtesy of Thompson Brothers' Balloon Company, Minneapolis.)
THE park men of America cannot fail to be interested in the new sport of balloon jumping, which, having originated a few years ago in Canada, is now enjoying constantly increasing popularity in this country. Balloon jumping is not by any means to be confused with balloon ascensions, parachute drops, or any other form of aerial exhibition. Balloon jumping is distinctly a sport in which the patron himself participates, and who controls the device himself. To those who may never have heard of this new sensational pastime a description here would be in order:
Picture yourself standing in an open space with a balloon, about 20 feet in diameter, floating over your head and securely attached to your person by an arrangement of straps. The balloon, which contains 4,200 cubic feet of hydrogen gas, has a lifting power of 187 pounds. If you weigh, say 150 pounds, small sandbags have been attached to your belt, increasing your weight to about 192 pounds, so that you are now slightly heavier than the upward pull of the balloon. Then everything is ready. You have merely to give a light upward spring and up you go into the air while your whole body tingles to the thrill. Twenty-five feet, 50 feet (you begin to hold your breath at this point), then if you have jumped hard enough, 75, then 100 feet. That is not a height to be lightly sneezed at. If you are brave enough you may look down at the earth so far beneath you and glory in your superiority to the law of gravity. If you are not so brave it is your privilege to clutch madly at all the ropes and straps you can get hold of and wish you had taken a ride on the merry-go-round. A hundred feet, however, is your limit; a light manila rope tethers you to terra firma.
Then slowly, slowly, as your slightly heavier weight asserts itself, you begin to descend. Perhaps, on your way...