Evening Star Newspaper, September 22, 1929, Page 51

‘THRILLS OF DROP THROUGH AIR “TOLD BY GIRL Made First Leap as Stunt for| " Real. Estate X Company. Once Bai-ely Escaped Falling .In Path of Speeding Passenger Train. * BY LURA BENNETT HESSE. It 18 my job to fall out of the sky | for & fee. Sounds crazy? Well, it's a fact. And the higher the sky I fall from the | higher the fee. +i-p! That's the “live drop,” be- fore the 'chute opens. It is made at| terrific speed—like a bullet. Breath? You can't breathe. Then— But to make everything clear, I'd | better tell the whole story of how and why a girl deemed rather pretty, rather clever and rather successful as a stage entertainer took up the curious profes- sion of plunging incredible distances {rom blue heaven to entertain the pub- lic and advance the art of aviation. Some . women * are school teachers, some stenographers, some cooks, some the wives of millionnaires. ~ Why shouldn't I be a parachute jumper? 1 like to do it and have been suc- cessful at it. I have dropped farther than any other woman, and before I lose my youth I shall drop farther than any- body else—man or woman—has ever dropped. - My first jump was made in a Chicago suburb three years ago, when I was 21. A real estate development wanted | to attract people to an auction sale. ‘The management had engaged a plane and aviator, but at the last minute an to wonder. Was a mere flight enough? The novelty perhaps had be- gun to wear off the sight of a plane in the air. Somebody suggested a parachute jumper, meaning a man. I asked for the job. I did not'mention that never in my life had I jumped. Always I aviation. I had been up in planes séveral times. And—well, I needed money. I knew about parachutes in a general way and being without fear I was not- worrled. 2 Daring Death for $350. 80, after having studied parachutes for an hour, having listened to instruc- tions on what to do, and thinking of the $350 which would pay all my debts and carry me until engagements at my regular work became plentiful in the Fall, I slipped into knickers, shirt- waist, leather jacket and gaiters and goggles, with a packed 'chute strapped to my back, and climbed into the plane. ‘The pilot, a splendid fellow, an ex- Army man, making sure I was safely in the cockpit and not dreaming that I was & raw amateur, “gave her the gun.” ‘We began to go up—and up—and up—the engine making a terrific roar, which hypnotized me. After every- thing on earth had undergone that curious shrinkage Wwhich all flyers know, the houses on the real estate ad- dition having diziinished to the pro- portions of villas for “doll babies, I climbed, crouching, out of the cockpit. to the place agreed upon on the lower wing, and, clinging, as best I could, watchéd for the pilot’s capped and goggled head to give the nod which was to be my signal for falling back- ward into thousands of feet of space. Back I went, just as had been plan- ned, and the terrible “live drop” began. «Now for the count! “One ... two .y three . .. four ... five!” I count- d "aloud, ‘probably really shouting as 1 whirled in that curious crouching attitude, meanwhile dropping at the rate of 118 miles an hour! Over and over I whizzed. As I said “five” my hand pulled steadily on the ring attached to_ the rope's end, and almost at once I had the conscious- ness that the folds of the parachute ‘were being released and that the can- vas was filling above me in the air as ml umbrella sometimes catches in a gale. “Now as it catches the air I shall in to go slow,” I told myself. First I felt the straps about my thighs re- spond to the pull—right thigh, then left—and very sharply. Then the strap across my chest caught it, and —presto!—I siopped whirling over and over—stopped in a split-second! 1t there is any part of parachute jun}rin[ 1 really dislike it is that, but real that. It is a thrilling part of evety Jump and each jump i a glorious ad- venture. The Plunge is Checked. ‘The checking of the falling speed ‘was sudden enough, but not really & shock, although in another drop I have had an illustration, since, of what it may do to one’s neck, snapping it painfully. 80, thus, T was checked in mid-air what, without the parachute, would have been a horrid plunge to physical annihilation. 1 was dizzy and breathless. These discomforts decreased. Presently I ‘was absolutely comfortable, floating down , . . down . .. No sense of speed, now. A feeling that all goes well. Naturally the real estate people who were to pay me $350 for the jump e sager to have me land upon their subdivision, and the winds permitted. I landed beautifully, almost in the mid- die of the subdivision. It took my legs a few moments to get over the strain of those tight straps, and then I was able to enjoy the con- gratulations of the thrilled people who crowded about to congratulate me. Falling 16 feet a second seems very perilous, but nothing of a fatal nature can happen to you in the upper air, though you may there get so tangled uj the shrouds and silkk of your ‘chute as to make it impossible for it to open and support you properly later | on. Then, perhaps, & dead jumper | after & swift plunge like a bullet to the | hard earth. But the higher reaches are | safest for a jumper. i Keeping Clear of the Plane. Ordinarily the ‘chute temains r&m ‘when ohe jumps and until one is well cléar of the plane, elsé it may become entangled in the wings or landing gear and tear, or create othérwise a disas- trous situation. To my knowledje that has occurred severdl times with Jumpers. terrific thrill comes if, a“live drop,” the pins fail to come ot when I pull on the rip-cord. That m“k’:d the ’chute has been badly ! p‘f jumped near New York one day | from only about 1,800 feet. The higher the jump the more stcure I feel, but this jump was not that kind. I had taken the necessary “live drop,” fall curled like a kitten, face up and almost chin to knees, when ed the rip= It should have given about.-an in the t umbrella néceéssary to bre: the force of my sheer fall. “Bad Busifiess.” . Again . . . no result. By that tie I was falling af the rate of 118 milés an hour. For| the fourth time I pulled . . . and for the fourth time u? pins failed to re- lease the ‘chute. -I safd a prayer. learned afterward.' that quadruple “safety threads,” . instéad of single strands, as would have been proper, been used. ‘When I pulled the fifth time I used both Nands—and—what a relief! I could feel that the tiny ‘chute -, which would catch in thé wind and by ‘At yesistance pull out the folds of the ly I do not very much dislike even |, | meckties, or two or three ‘CHUTE JUMPER LURA BENNETT HESSE. great 'chute proper at last had been released. I had fallen like a stone at least 1,200 .of my 1,800 feet when the strap across my chest brought me upright with a jerk. I felt the strain of the two straps looped about my thighs, and looking over my shoulder I could see the 'chute had mflt It had been a thing; but I was still four or five hundred feet above the ground. I made a perfect landing. In one jump at Chicago, early in 1928, I had & curious and nerve-wrack- ing experience which might have taken my name out of the roster. That day 1 was using & type of ‘chute unfamiliar. to me. I began going down in the “live drop” all curled up, as usual, but without whirling. 1 knew, was bad; but I didn’t know at t might be. Not until & few seconds after I had pulled the rip-cord ¢id I fully under- stand for the first time that the whirl- ing motion is necessary to the right and quick opening of the 'chute. The 'chute was released mfi‘z"fi‘:’ i me, almost smothering me 0] of silk, and with the shrouds (thin ropes) winding about me, binding me | into a wnuo mummy falling swiftly from the skies. The situation was astounding; it was thrilling; it was full of very peril. Of course I yed. My le were bound. My head was motheringly enveloped, Never shall I forget the smell of "’,’" silk wound suffocatingly about my face. I dlan'yi lose ullwum‘ but for & few seconds 1 was rately busy un- tangling myself. 1 absolutely couldn't breathe, and that made my hands wish to fly to clear my face, but my feet and legs had to be cleared first, and 1 was falling on my back with my knees higher than my head. 1 finally got clear, and then, presently, came the pull—oh, how welcome—of the straps across my chest and around my thighs. Near Death Under Train. Another time, when I had dropped over Roosevelt Field, Long Island, 1 saw that & high wind was driving me straight toward & landing on the rail- road tracks. 1 “slipped the chute” in an effort to go swiftly above and across the tracks at an elevation of 10.or 12 feet, and then I heard and saw something which made my blood fun cold. A Jamaica express was dashing toward the spot where it seemed inevitable I must be in the air barely above the tracks as it came. ‘There seemed no doubt I had started myself going in such a mafiner that I would be dashed against the side of one of the swiftly moving cars. I pulled up as far as I could into the shroud lines and curled my feet tighter than any flying bird ever did. - Thus I barely slid over the top of that mile-a- minute catapult of death without dan- gerously touching it. My feet scraped the roofs of two of the coaches. I landed a dozen yards beyond. the track. Only inches saved me. because, I was not whirling; had been interested in|gieaq of inflating it came What you pay for two good i pairs of silk stockings week- ly, will buy this charming | little J. & C. Fischer Grand. l Convenient - terms Liberal allowanee on your old piano, no matter whatits make. Small down payment of 50 KITT Co. 1330 G ST.. Knabe and Fischer Pianos Music and Band Instruments . THE -SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. I have to avold barbed wire in landing, so far, but in the old days it was the horror of my life, Those su‘rl spikes can torture 4nd disfigure you. ~ Many Dangers. Almost every field has its dangers Monma: airpert ot Los” Antores, Bigh of s es, tension: wires are all about. At Roosevelt and other 'Long Island fields the parachute jumper runs the risks of being cavried out to sea, of landing on one of* very busy Long Island highways and being struck by a motor car or of coming down on rail- way tracks and being struck by a train, Nearly all fields are closely encircled by houses, trees and fences, which are likely to be deadly in high winds. “Holes in the air” are disconcerting. I don’t know what they are, but they seem to be vacuums. Suddenly it is as if the 'chute had no air to fill it, and you, "chute and all, drop like it ning for a few feet—the empty ‘chute { flapping ominously, Planes have had ex es, some- times, in “holes in alr.” never have bothered me seriously, al- though I have heard ‘tales. (Copyrieht, 1929, Copy 20, by North American News- GERMANS PLAN TO GIVE MASTER CLASS YEARLY BERLIN (#)—Thé experiment by the German Institute of Music for Poreylen- ers of conducting master classes of six to eight weeks' duration this Summer has proven such a success that'the classés are to become an annual affaif. | peg Among the artists of international fame who conducted master classes this Summer were Walter Gieseking, Eugene @'Albert, Willy Hess and Edwin Fischer. Also in eo—oipermon with the College of PFine Arts in New York University, a series of lecturés was given on musical subjects, both in English and German. ‘The students were either young con- cert artists or teachers of music. en- ty-niné of the total of 42 were Ameri- HAS MELON SURPLUS. Budapest Gets S8even Pounds Daily for Each Inhabitant. BUDAPEST. (NANA)—So great has been the melon harvest, more than four pounds of the fruit hav- ing been h (babies and all), to prevent waste. » A "?n':" ‘I;I‘t:l: melo:m '.heht?n. no igger than ange, green, but the finest lr:“t'he Tumhn the pineapple and the cantaloupe. e moreover, more tomatoes than there hiave been for 18 years, and Iately they have been available at about ge:?)unu for & penny (3 pounds for & (Coprisht, i926. by Nortn American News- lone'y Made by Being Ill NEW YORK (NANA)—A Wall Street man had & nervous breakdown and went to & sanitarium, The first day f | he read in his nsnpt‘?:; of & crash in the market, and figured that he was bound to lose & lot of money unless he did some selling right away. He appeal- ed to the doctors for permission to wire or telephone, but was refused. His loss was $60,000. Next day things had changed. He was $80,000 to the (Copyright, y North American News- r Allisnce.) JAPANESE WOMEN DARE TABOO ON SACRED HILL Ban Will Be Lifted Partly in 1930 and Feminine Worshipers to Climb Slopes. TOKIO (#).—A taboo- against the presence of women on Mount Omine, enforced more than 1,100 years, is to be iy iifted in 1030, partial By tradition of the monastéry which crowns the peak, ng" woman has profanied the place nce sipce the Buddhist monks founded. it in the year corresponding to 805 A.D., but when the 1,125th anniversary is cele- brated next year feminine worshipers l'\'l.ll beupernl:l."fid mmt m:l of the lesser mpl on ’ ithough the peak will be kept lnmflu. ‘Women, however, have siready begun to elimb the mountain and a big furor was caused when two dames of Osaka claimed that they had gone all the way to the top. The monks expended sev- eral hundred yen for new: to advertise that the pair only part way up. K NICE FOR THE SCRIBES! Ohio U. Gridiron Press Box to Be Electrically Heated. COLUMBUS, Ohio (#).—Foot ball reporters will find things lovely at Ohio State University this Fall. The new press coop atop the horse- shoe is glass inclosed and electrically ited. There is a lounging room, nice and warm, where the writers may re- tire after the gamg to meditate on their night classics. Oh, yes. There will be sandwiches and tea between halves. phadistenE Y Palestine Has Resort. TEL-AVIV (N.AN.A) —This strange little place, to which the recent fighting is likely to be & most unfortunate set- back, constitutes what may be called Palestine’s Deauville or ‘Touquet. There are open-air restaurants, brilliant- colored bathing tents and a little plage. Jascha Heifets gave a recital in its con- cert hall not long since, and the :‘-'munnc dances are regularly crowded (Copyright, 1929, by North American News- paper Alliance.) ——— Soviet Russia exported more :m,m.ooo worth of products over n frontiers in the six months from October 1, 1928, to March 1, 1929. Conneeticnt at Cathedral .SIl‘ly Tuesdays & Dinner Thursdays Chicken Halt Spring Chicken Reast L. 1. Duek Broiled Lamd Choms $1.00 1 te 7:30 ». Wednes- days & Fridays Sea Food 88c 5 te 7:30 p.m. Our own delicious hot © Bread and pastries datly COL. 10118, ANN TABER m<y —=HCA~-OM2200 FORMAL FALL OPENING Presenting the Newest Exclusive Footwear Styles Y Cousins A beantiful ex- ample of custom craftsmanship in black or brown snede and brown kid with lizard and lustre kid trim, $25. Shown in black of brown suede with calf trim to mateh, $15. Also in bronze or gun- metal water- snake, $16.50. —————— The new ad- justable loop fastener is the feature of this graceful slipper of brown kid or patent leather. $13.50. Serge blue kid and blue lustre kid combine in this chic sabot pump in Cousing’ original fashion. $18. Shoe Salon, Second Floor. W. B TMoses & Sons P.ublié Confidence Since 1861 F Street at Elev PP DI 9 AM. to0 6 P.M. space climbed 1929~PART 3, W. B, Moses & Sons SINCE 1861--SIXTY-EIGHT YEARS OF PUBLIC CONFIDENCE 9 AM. to 6 P.M. F Street at Eleventh You Will See Brown . « « every way you look at our new Fashions for Fall This store thinks so well of the new Autumn Browns that you will find them lavishly repre- sented in our Fall fashion collec- tion. New, fashion-chosen browns! Dark, dusky browns. Browns that glow red. Cafe au lait brown. Warm browns for sun-tanned skins, Youthful browns. Flattering to the blonde and brunette. Brown for tailored wear, for afternoon, for formal occasions . . . we present the new browns in dresses, coats and ensembles, each one playing a definite part in the Autumn mode. BROWN ensemble of lightweight wool crepe with the longer skirt and shorter jacket, $29.75. $29.75. (Sketched) - - (Skeiched) ‘The Apparel Shop, Second Floor BROWN flat crepe dress with higher waistline and molded hipline, The Hat BROWN, of course, in a rich shade that is flat- tering to most every woman. It is to this fact that Brown owes its great popularity. The hat is a soft soleil that reveals the forehead yet forms a flattering frame for the face. $12.50. The Hat Salon, Pirst Floor The Shoes BROWN suede with kid trim. A smart oxford style in a Cousins shoe. Every line is classic, giving an aristocratic appearance to the foot. Here is the shoe that is correct for this ensemble if you would follow Fall fashions. Moderately priced at $15. ‘The Shoe Salon, Second Floor The Bag ‘ BROWN suede, to match the shoes. Shoe and - handbag stylists are working hand in hand this year thdt theré may be no difficulty in finding a perfect match.: Priced at $5. Mandbag Section, First Ploor The Gloves and Hosiery Both in sable, that lovely shade of BROWN. The Allen-A hose are the lovely chiffon in the 4100 style. Priced at $1.95, The gloves are a washable kid suede in slip-on style. $3.95. Olove Section, Pirst Floor Hostery Section, Pirst Ploor The Necklace and Handkerchief This choker is a new interpretation of wood and lalith beads. Gold beads are combined with brown in a most unique fashion, $2.95. A 'kerchief of fig- ured crepe chiffon in gay colors furnishes just enough contrast to relieve the brown, $1. Tewelrs, Pirst Ploor _Handkerchiefs, First Floor National 3770