Page:The Fun of It.pdf/235

Rh fore the take off. Madame Blanchard had an extra large framework hung on the outside of her basket to hold her assortment. Inside her basket she had a special lighted taper and bomb which she was to set off when she reached a predetermined altitude.

Apparently there was a leak in the gas-bag over her head, for as she picked up the taper a flame shot from it and up the side of the ballonballoon [sic]. A mo­ment afterward her craft began to descend, blazing, to earth. Chronicles of the day agree she landed on a house, but differ as to whether she died from burns or because of a fall from the roof to the street.

La Blanchard is often spoken of as a martyr in the advancement of lighter than air achievements. Her death ended a specific military office in France until balloons found use for observation purposes in the siege of Paris in 1871.

The next important name the nineteenth century gives us among women balloonists is not a new one. The family of Garnerin again comes to the fore in the person of Elisa, a niece of the original André Jacques. She stands out from the other aeronauts of the day because she undertook to make para­chute descents. She went aloft sitting in a little basket attached to a parachute which in turn hung from one balloon. When the moment came to cut off, she released a rope and settled earthward, where she willed.

Possessed of a good deal of energy, she toured Europe extensively, giving her special exhibitions.