TOPIC:

“The War Balloon used in Ladysmith during the Siege. An object of interest at the Naval and Military Exhibition at the Crystal Palace”.

Original drawing by F.C. Dickinson, reproduced in The Graphic on 22nd June 1901.










Ticket and commemorative medallion for the 1901 Naval and Military Exhibition, held at the Crystal Palace from May to September 1901.


The Echo, 10th August 1901

CRYSTAL PALACE JUBILEE MEDAL.

It has been decided to commemorate the Jubilee of the Crystal Palace and the holding of the Naval and Military Exhibition by the striking of a special medal. On one side the new medal represents the Great Exhibition building, and bears medallions of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort, and on the reverse side the Crystal Palace as improved on its removal to Sydenham, with medallions of King Edward and Queen Alexandra. The new medals, which are excellent in design and finish, are to be sold at a shilling each, for the benefit of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Families’ Association. The entire proceeds go to this charity.

A Grand Patriotic Fete in aid of the same fund has been organised to take place at the Crystal Palace on Saturday, September 21st, and purchasers of the Crystal Palace Jubilee medal will not only be admitted free on this day, but, also by the kindness of the directors of the S.E. and C. Railway and L.B. and S.C. Railway, they can obtain return railway fares at single rates.


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Cover produced for the 200th Anniversary of the Royal Engineers, 1987, posted from the Falkland Islands.



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The war balloon makes ready
Orders have just been received for an aerial reconnaissance

Source www.angloboerwar.com/forum/19-ephemera/3...-jack?start=78#96445

For those who wanted a taste of what it was like to be a balloonist at the front, Robert W. Hudson, the soap baron, offered ascents in his advertising “War Balloons”.

The first reports of these appear in newspaper articles in early July 1900. At this time, Hudson operated two balloons, stationed at his factories in West Bromwich and Liverpool. Khaki in colour and emblazoned with the words “Hudson’s Soap” in 7ft high letters, they constituted a new advertising gimmick, which, unsurprisingly, successfully attracted the attention of the Great British public.

The number of balloons in the fleet was soon increased to four, and these began a tour of the British Isles in late July / early August.

Unlike the goldbeater’s skin balloons in use in South Africa, these 45ft diameter spheres were made from an oiled silk-cotton blend. The porosity of this cheaper membrane meant that they had to be inflated with coal gas instead of hydrogen. This the operators took directly from the residential gas main. Each balloon, when fully inflated, held 35,000 cubic feet of gas.





The majority of Hudson’s passengers appear to have been existing customers, who received tickets gratis. A small number of places were reserved for the general public, which could be secured on the day for ten shillings each. This equates to over £50 in 2024, so the less well off could only watch from a distance. Despite this, wherever they went, the inflatables attracted thousands of spectators of all classes.

The balloons were made and operated by Messrs C.G. Spencer & Sons, 56 Highbury Grove, London. Each was manned by a “captain” and a “lieutenant”, one accompanying the two passengers in the basket, the other remaining on the ground to supervise the operation of the winch. A 1,300ft 3/8-inch steel hawser on a 3ft drum tethered the balloon to the ground and was played out by a portable steam engine, allowing the “gas bag” to rise to a maximum of 1,000 feet. Each ascent lasted roughly 15 minutes, with reports that as many as sixty trips could be made in a day.

The advertising aspect of the balloons was enhanced by another gimmick: the release of miniature parachutes, each carrying a small bar of Hudson’s soap, which floated to earth. As they landed members of the crowd scrambled to pick up the little packages.

Although advertised as safe, the bold text on the tickets reading “NOTICE – ANYONE MAKING AN ASCENT DOES SO AT HIS, OR HER, OWN RISK” should have alerted folk to the possibility of mishaps. And mishaps there were. On one occasion the steel hawser came away from the balloon, allowing it to rise rapidly to 7,000 feet. The aeronaut had to climb into the rigging to open the valve, the balloon eventually alighting amongst saplings in a nearby nursery. Another more serious event was caused by a sudden squall, which resulted in the basket tipping onto his side. Miraculously, the captain of the balloon was able to cling on to both of his passengers, saving them from falling to their deaths. The balloon was eventually brought to rest by a group of 20 to 30 members of the public.








After September 1901 reports of ascents fizzle out, the last I have found covering the balloon’s appearance in Northern Ireland. This was at the tail end of the 1901 season. It seems the balloons continued to be available for fêtes, etc., as there is a report of one being booked for a lifeboat fund event in Wigan in June 1903.










SEE ALSO: Hudson's Soap War Balloon







Liverpool Journal of Commerce, 16th July 1900

BALLOONING IN LIVERPOOL.

The enterprise of Mr R.S. Hudson, of dry soap fame, has recently taken a novel turn in the direction of advertising by means of a captive balloon. This machine is no toy, but is a facsimile of the balloons sent out to South Africa with the field forces for inspection purposes. The material of which it is made is a mixture of silk and cotton, worked on special looms, and weighs 4 cwt, the net and cage weighing 2 ½ cwt. It takes 35,000 cubic feet of gas to inflate the balloon, which, by the way, measures from extreme top to the bottom of the car 95 feet. It is accommodated with an immense platform erected in a convenient place on the premises of Messrs Hudson, Bankhall, Liverpool, from which it makes frequent ascents, being held captive by a steel wire rope, which has a breaking strain of 12 tons. This is worked on the barrel of one of Messrs J.H. Wilson’s (Liverpool) famous steam winches, of the horizontal type, so there need be no fear as to its reliability. The balloon is manufactured by Messrs C.G. Spencer and Sons, and one of the firm’s expert aeronauts and balloonists, Mr G.C. Beckett, is in charge of the balloon, “Personally conducting” the upward flights of the air ship, of which he makes an excellent captain. Mr Beckett has 14 years’ experience at ballooning and parachuting, having made some remarkable ascents and descents during that time. A journey in the balloon well repays the time, and some think nerve required to make it, and our representative, who responded to the invitation of Mr R.S. Hudson, was rewarded for his temerity by a magnificent view of Liverpool, Lancashire, Cheshire, Wales, and surrounding country at an elevation of a few hundred feet. An inspection of the Hudson Dry Soap Works in company with the courteous secretary, Mr T. Leighton, is most interesting, and it is gratifying to notice the means that are adopted in these works for the convenience, health, comfort, recreation, and general welfare of the employees, male and female, of which there are about 700 in all. Mr Hudson has arranged for ascents in other parts of the country, a similar balloon to that in operation in Liverpool being now in use at the head works, West Bromwich.


Sheffield Independent, 9th August 1900

THE BALLOON ASCENTS AT SHEAF HOUSE.

Yesterday being fine, and there being practically no wind, several ascents were made by the war balloon which Mr Hudson, the soap merchant, is using as a novel means of advertising his cleansing goods. The ascents have been arranged by Messrs C.G. Spencer and Sons, the well-known London aeronauts, and the balloon is under the control of Captain Smallbones, who is well known at the Crystal Palace as a skilful and daring aeronaut. Mr R. Perrott is superintending the advertising part of the business on behalf of Mr Hudson. One of our representatives yesterday visited Sheaf House Grounds, and had the pleasure of a trip skywards in the balloon. The balloon itself is a large sphere of oiled silk, some 40 feet in diameter, and with a capacity for 35,000 cubic feet of coal gas. It has a lifting power of 15 cwt. It is a type of the war balloons which are at present being used in South Africa, and is “captive”, being attached to a strong steel cable, which is wound and unwound as the balloon rises and descends. The elevation attained is about 1,000 feet from the ground. Ascents will be made, if the weather is favourable, during the remainder of this week, after which the balloon proceeds to Barnsley. Customers of Mr Hudson’s will be taken up free of charge on presentation of the tickets which have been forwarded to them, and a limited number of the public may make the ascent if they wish to on payment of a fee of 10s. About 30 persons were taken up by Captain Smallbones, or his chief assistant, Mr Bengifield, yesterday. To anyone not naturally nervous the ascent is both novel and enjoyable. It is carried out quite smoothly, the sensation being much the same as that experienced in travelling in a lift; a stretch of country some seven miles in radius being observable when the balloon reaches its highest elevation. The advertising is effected by means of the words “Hudson’s Soap” being painted in great letters, 5ft 6in in length, on the sides of the balloon, and also through the sending forth of a large number of miniature parachutes, weighted by a small packet of dry soap, when the balloon is up in the air. Some thousands of people witnessed the frequent ascents made during the afternoon.


Sheffield Independent, 9th August 1900

FALL FROM A BUILDING.

A boy named Harry Gillott, aged 11, of 39 St Ronan’s Road, was standing on a building yesterday afternoon in Bramall Lane, watching the ascent of Messrs Hudson’s war balloon from Sheaf House Grounds, when he fell to the ground, injuring his head and spraining his ankle. He was taken to the Royal Hospital in a cab, where his injuries were attended to, and he was afterwards able to go home.


Barnsley Chronicle, 18th August 1900

HUDSON’S WAR BALLOON.

During the week Hudson’s War Balloon has been ascending at 2 p.m. & 7-30 from Queen’s Road, Barnsley, and has attracted thousands of people, to say nothing of the large numbers who have inspected the balloon itself and the various fittings. Through the courtesy of Captain Smallbone, the aeronaut in charge, we are able to give a few particulars about this very novel and entertaining form of advertising. The balloon is 128 feet in circumference and 24 [sic – 45] feet in diameter, and holds 35,000 cubic feet of gas. It has a lifting power of 15 cwt. It is made of oiled silk. It is held captive by a 3/8-inch cable worked on a 3 feet drum attached to a portable steam engine, and may be taken to a height of 1,300 feet, the average ascent, however, been 1,000 feet. The balloon is a facsimile of those used in South Africa for war purposes, and was made on the same pattern by Messrs C.G. Spencer and Sons, London. It may not be generally known that Mr Percival Spencer is the most famous balloonist in the world. He accompanied his father for the first time when 8 years old, and has since made over 1,000 ascents in various parts of the world. India, Sumatra, China, Japan, and Egypt, included in the list. The longest time he has been in the air was seven hours. Mr Hudson is running three of the balloons in various parts of the country, at a cost of over £50 per week each, and solely for advertising purposes. His agents are invited from the surrounding districts to where the balloon is being worked, and are entertained to a trip free of cost. Captain Smallbone accompanies each party of two, and makes as many as 60 journeys per day. He has a good reputation with his firm, and possesses a medal for record ballooning at one of the recent Earl’s Court Exhibitions. It will be at once recognised that this undertaking of Mr Hudson is a splendid advertisement, excelling all his previous schemes, which have always been of a novel and costly order. Captain Smallbone is assisted in chief by Lieutenant Bengifield and Mr Morris. The words “Hudson’s Soap” are printed on the sides of the balloons in letters 5ft 6in in length, and miniature parachutes are sent out from the balloon weighted by a small packet of dry soap. The balloon will be released from its captivity on Saturday, and will be worked by Captain Smallbone to Dewesbury.


Newcastle Chronicle, 15th September 1900

BALLOONING AT BYKER.

Considerable popular interest was aroused on Tuesday in the township of Byker by the arrival and ascents of Mr R.S. Hudson’s “war balloon”. The history of this enterprise seems to be simply that Mr Hudson, of soap manufacturing renown, desired to kill two birds with one stone by advertising his soap and also obliging any customer of his who might wish to make a personal and practical acquaintance with a captive balloon precisely similar to those used by the British army in South Africa for the purposes of reconnoitring the movements and positions of the enemy. There can be little doubt that the employment of war balloons in the campaign against the Boers has been a great assistance to our officers, and there can be little doubt, also, that great curiosity has been felt at home in regard to these adjuncts to warfare. It was a happy idea, therefore, on the part of Mr Hudson to send a balloon round on tour in charge of the eminent aeronauts Messrs C.G. Spencer and Sons, of London, not only as an advertisement, but as an object lesson.

For reasons connected, we suppose, with the difficulty of obtaining an open space handy for inflating and sending aloft a captive balloon, choice was made of a field off Union Road, Byker. The selection was, perhaps, not a very happy one in all senses, for the neighbourhood of the Union Road is sacred to the aristocracy of Byker, and possibly quite unfamiliar to many of the democracy of Jesmond and Westmorland Road. For the benefit of the uninitiated it may be mentioned that the Union Road shoots off to the right from the tram-car terminus of the Shields Road; and that the field from which the ascents took place is just a short distance away. It is an unlovely spot; and when the present writer reached it on Tuesday afternoon, close upon four o’clock, it was crowded by inhabitants of both sexes and all ages eagerly gazing at the great swollen sphere bearing writ large upon it the legend of “Hudson’s Soap”. It must have struck the reflective that if a captive war balloon was an instructive and desirable object lesson, the remainder that there is such a thing as soap was also useful in regard to some of those present to witness the ascents. A member of the firm, assisted by his staff, had made all the preparations necessary to ensure a number of enjoyable and wholly safe ascents, and ticket-holders privileged to avail themselves of the opportunity, trooped in in batches during the afternoon and early part of the evening, and kept the balloonists busy.

A captive balloon does not offer the attractions of one that parts completely company from the earth, and sails gloriously free in the ambient. When you are in a balloon which goes “right away”, you feel no sense of motion. You are conscious that the territorial world is receding from you, and you do not realise that it is the balloon carrying you that is really in active progress. But a captive aerostat held fast to the soil by a cable, and straining for impossible independence has something of a rocking motion, and it is not nearly so pleasant as the free gas bag floating with the breeze in the illimitable space. On the other hand, the captive balloon as managed by one of the firm of Messrs Spencer offers not the slightest risk, and is eminently adapted for timid persons who want to know what going up in a balloon is like, but wish also to feel certain that they will come down again all right. So far as Tuesday’s ascents were concerned, they were undertaken in somewhat disadvantageous conditions. The atmosphere was hazy, and the view to be obtained at an altitude of about 1,000 feet – the full length of the cable worked up and down by a steam engine – was not so extensive and clear as it might have been. The present writer, however, from the fairly dizzy height at which he surveyed the surrounding country, was able to make out all the most important landmarks; and to reconnoitre not only Byker and Heaton, but Newcastle and the Durham side. If there had been any Boer forces about, pitching their laager in the vicinity of Sheriff’s Hill, or prowling around the verdant groves of Gosforth, he would have been able to copy them and report thereon to his commanding officer.


Sunderland Daily Echo, 28th September 1900

THE BALLOON AT HENDON.

The great centre of attraction at Hendon just now is the war balloon, which Messrs Hudson are using for the purposes of advertising their wares. It is claimed to be an exact facsimile of those used by Sir George White at Ladysmith and Lord Methuen at Magersfontein. It has a cubic capacity of 35,000 feet of gas, is 128 feet from the main valve to the safety valve. It is used as a captive balloon, and is pulled down at will by a steel hawser wound by a steam winch. The balloon is in charge of Captain G.A. Smallbone, representing the firm of C.G. Spencer and Sons, of London, the well-known aeronauts. The weather has been very unpropitious, for when it was not raining the wind was exceedingly strong, and this to some extent has prevented ascents, several of which, however, have been successfully carried out.


Burnley Express, 6th July 1901

HUDSON’S WAR BALLOON.
ARRIVAL IN BURNLEY.

The “war balloon” of Hudson’s Soap advertising fame arrived in Burnley yesterday, and will make a stay of exactly a week from today. The essence of advertising is novelty, and we cannot conceive anything more striking than a balloon, which everyone for miles round must see, willy nilly. As these four balloons (one of which is now at the football ground) display in letters seven feet deep “Hudson’s Soap”, vast populations have continually before their eyes a reminder of what enterprise is. Captain W.H. Shipley, an aeronaut and parachutist of 28 years’ unsullied reputation, is in charge, and Mr Baldwin is the representative for Hudson’s. Inflating the balloon was commenced yesterday afternoon. The air-ship is captive to a traction engine which pays out to a distance of 600 to 1,000 feet, and hauls the balloon down again. The car takes two passengers beside the captain. Some idea can be gauged of the size of the balloon by the fact that it is 45 feet in diameter, and holds 35,000 cubic feet of gas. It is khaki-coloured. Ascents occupy about a quarter of an hour, and some days, according to the wind, a hundred “ups and downs” are made daily. During next week the balloon will be a permanent eye-mark. We hope to give a more practical account on Wednesday.


Stockton Herald, 10th August 1901

EXCITEMENT AT THORNABY.
CAPTIVE BALLOON BREAKS AWAY.

Hudson’s war balloon, which has during the past week been making ascents and carrying passengers from the Cycling Track, Thornaby, broke away on Sunday morning. It seems that in the evening the thick steel rope by which it is hauled down, is drawn tight, and the balloon made fast to a circle of sandbags. On Saturday night it was fastened in this way, but the strong wind loosened it in different parts. This caused it to whirl round, and the netting over the balloon giving way, it swiftly shot up in the air, and, carried by a south-west wind, it was soon out of sight. The balloon was nearly full of gas at the time, and it will not, therefore, drop for a few days unless it meets with an accident. Fortunately no one was hurt. There was a rumour afloat that two of the six men in charge of the balloon had been carried away, but that was not so. As a matter of fact the basket was not attached.


Perthshire Advertiser, 14th August 1901

LOOKING DOWN ON PERTH.
FROM HUDSON’S WAR BALLOON.

Everyone knows the value of Hudson’s soap, but everyone is not aware that the proprietor of that familiar aid to cleanliness is also the owner of war balloons. Many ingenious things have been done by the manufacturer and the salesman, but we confess this idea of Hudson’s eclipses them all. This week the appearance of the graceful “thing in silk” soaring high above the city has been wondered at and admired by thousands. One of our representatives paid a visit to the St Johnstone Recreation Grounds the other night in order to learn something about ballooning. He reached there while yet the inflating progress was going forward, and thus had leisure to observe that already the fame of the balloon had been noised abroad. The whole female and juvenile population of the eighth city of Scotland seemed to be present and everyone was more wonder struck than another. Having been introduced by the agent (Mr J. Yates) to Captain Moseley, the aeronaut, our representative was invited to take a seat in the car. The Captain is experienced in ballooning, just as the guard knows how to run a train, and he inspires confidence. Everything being in order, the commander gave a signal and we were off. There was a jerk and the ground quickly fell away from us, and we mounted higher and higher. The whole thin was so simple and so safe. In a very short time we had a look round and things below began to lose much of their magnitude. The great General Prison seemed like a speck and the South Inch looked like some small garden green used for drying clothes, that should have been washed with Hudson’s. When the balloon reached 1,000 feet, the Captain gave a signal and we came to a standstill, if the term can be used in mid-air. It was now the grandest view could be had. A bird’s-eye view of Perth lying in the hollow is how the sight is best described. One sees far down the River Tay, past several of the bends, and had the evening been brighter the arches of the Tay Bridge should have been seen. Then we began to drop gently downwards and our brief voyage to the clouds was at an end, and one man at any rate sorry. When we had alighted a few particulars were got concerning the balloons. The balloon with its car weighs 4 cwt., the diameter is 45 feet, and the height from the top to the bottom of the car is 95 feet. It has a capacity of 35,000 cubic feet. Gas is taken in from pipes specially laid to the mains. The length of the steel hawser, by which the balloon is controlled, is over a quarter of a mile. The balloon is of the same type as those used at the front and Captain Moseley, who is in charge, was for two years in the service of the Government in South Africa. During the week many of Mr Hudson’s customers have made ascents and all speak highly of the great soap maker’s “latest”.


Belfast Morning News, 13th September 1901

BALLOONING OVER BELFAST.

Hanging Without the Basket.

“Don’t go up; you’ll be killed”, quoth the Gloomy One, confidently.
“But the danger is simply nil”, I persisted.
“What do you know? Up in a balloon, Great Scott! Hanging on to ropes! Why, man, look at the papers – full of balloon accidents every day”.
“Right enough, but not captive balloons”.
The Gloomy One was nailed.
But no; the fellow is an ardent collector of newspaper cuttings, and like a shot he was off to his album, returning triumphantly with a couple of long slips from English newspapers.
“Listen to this, then”.
I listened.

“The Aberdeen ‘Express’, August 21st, 1901. Hudson’s Balloon adrift – Police Sergeant aboard – Exciting experiences.

“Intense excitement was caused in Aberdeen yesterday afternoon when it became known that Hudson’s ‘captive’ war balloon, which has for the past week or so been making ascents from Central Park, Kittybrewster, had broken adrift. About 3.15 Captain Beckett had as his passenger, Sergeant Robertson, of the city police. The journey started as usual, but before the car had got 50 feet up a very exciting incident occurred. The large crowd was startled to see the steel cable fall to the ground, and the balloon shoot upwards almost out of sight.

“When the balloon broke adrift it sped upwards at a great rate, and was soon at an altitude of 1,000 feet. Captain Beckett, immediately on the balloon breaking away, took into account the direction in which the wind was blowing, and with great presence of mind climbed into the rigging and returned to the car with the valve line. Sergeant Robertson, up to this time, was unaware that anything unusual had happened, and was enjoying the splendid view of the city. Nor were his suspicions aroused by the aeronaut’s climbing into the rigging for the valve rope. Meanwhile the balloon had been rising very rapidly, and now at a height of about 7,000 feet, was sailing over the town in a south-westerly direction. Captain Beckett informed his passenger of the occurrence, and told him not to be alarmed. The sergeant, however, kept quite cool, and thus rendered Captain Beckett’s arduous task much easier. By this time the balloon was above the outskirts of the city, and the captain thought he might now descend with some degree of safety. He opened the valve, letting the gas escape, and the aerial ship began its downward journey. When the balloon had descended a certain distance, Captain Beckett cut the neck line with the large knife he always carries with him on his voyages. This neck line holds the lower part of the balloon down, and on the rope being cut, the bottom of the balloon turned upwards, thus forming the balloon into a kind of parachute. If the journey up had been quick, the descent was still more rapid, and the car was not long in touching terra firma. The shock on the car striking the ground was severe, and both occupants got a good shaking. The car landed in the nurseries at Burnside, Westburn Road, occupied by Messrs William Smith & Son. Unlike Captain Beckett’s usual hurried descents, he landed among young trees, instead of potatoes, as had been the case in his previous similar experiences. The officials at Central Park, immediately on the balloon breaking away, followed the direction it took, and were at the nurseries a few minutes after the captain and Sergeant Robertson got out of the car. The officials heartily congratulated the aerial adventurers on their safe return to earth, and then made arrangements for the removal of the breakaway to Central Park. The large crowd that had followed the balloon and witnessed the descent cheered the two adventurers as they made their way back with the balloon in a lorry to Central Park”.

“Alarming enough”, I commented.
“But there is something more”.

He read with reluctance: – “The cause of the accident was the giving way through chafing of the hemp rope by which the balloon was attached to the cable, and not through the snapping of the cable, as was at first supposed. The attachment which gave way was a new invention of Messrs Spencer Brothers, aeronauts, London, and was only being tried experimentally. The idea of this new invention, which Captain Beckett thoroughly approves of, is to keep the car always horizontal when the balloon is carried away at an angle from the starting point. No sign of chafing was apparent on the rope which gave way. Only one rope held the balloon to the cable, and Captain Beckett thought it desirable to have a second line attached in case of emergency. He accordingly ordered a second one, which had arrived that day, but had not been adjusted”.

“The most accidental of accidents. That won’t occur again. I’ll go”.

“Well, if that won’t convince you, listen to this: A Walsall paper this time. – Hudson’s war balloon. Caught in a squall. Lady and gent’s narrow escape. The balloon sailed gracefully, and as straight as a rocket, and attained its full altitude. By and bye the engine began winding in the cable again. Everything went smoothly until Mother Earth was yet 200 feet away. Then, according to the descriptive account given to our representative by Captain Beckett, a tremendous squall struck the balloon broadside, carrying her with a huge swing to the left. The situation became at once alarming. Bump went the balloon on to the boards round the ground, and in a moment bounded up again to the full length of the cable into mid-air. The sudden leap threw the balloon on to its side and the cage to an almost perpendicular position. Meanwhile the engine continued its winding process, and Captain Beckett shouted to his lieutenant (Maddox) to hold on to his passengers. How they all three escaped falling out was nothing short of a marvel. Gradually the balloon was drawn nearer the ground, but it continued its backward and forward motions until it seemed that a flagstaff had received it on its pointed head. It was fully believed for the moment that the staff had gone clean through the balloon, but instead of this the latter rolled down the pole on to some wire stays, which cut a hole in her and otherwise damaged her net. Captain Beckett made repeated attempts to enter the cage as the balloon bumped the ground, and bruised himself in so doing, but immediately the opportunity presented itself about 20 or 30 people on the ground clutched to the balloon after it had alighted on the football goal posts, and held it down until the passengers disembarked. Asked how he thought the lady felt after the perilous ride, Captain Beckett said he thought she stood it well. The captain added – ‘It was about the most exciting time I have had during the sixteen years of ballooning. It was the roughest; it came on suddenly’. Lieutenant Maddox explained that immediately the balloon was struck his only thought was for the lady and gentleman with him. The gentleman he got to the bottom of the basket, whilst with one arm he held the lady and with the other arm he hung on to the ropes. When the car assumed a standing position he had great difficulty in preventing what must have been a terrible accident. The lady, he said, wanted to jump out, but when safe of terra firma she sat down for a few moments, returned her thanks, and walked home. Praise is due to Lieutenant Maddox for the manner in which he acted in the balloon – his legs were sore through having had to hold on so sightly – and Captain Beckett and the man at the engine for the work they performed on the ground. There were a number of people in the locality at the time, and the occurrence naturally aroused the greatest possible excitement”.

“Exciting, surely; but with such men as Captain Beckett and Lieutenant Maddox in charge, where’s the danger!”
“Dah, you’re a fool”. Which was unanswerable.


Wigan Observer, 30th May 1903

LIFEBOAT SATURDAY.

The Wigan Lifeboat Saturday Fund Committee meeting, held in the Old Council Chamber, on Thursday evening, was a most enthusiastic one. …….
Springfield Park was the Ground decided on for the entertainments, etc., after the procession on July 18th. It is expected to get Hudson’s war balloon down for the occasion, and captive ascents will be made, a nominal sum for the same being charged.








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