Tragic Fall at the Pomeroy Stock Fair
A novice assistant was dragged into the sky by a tethered balloon, falling fifty feet to the earth in front of a crowd.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
POMEROY, Wash.—Five hundred people witnessed a shocking accident at the stock fair Saturday. While a balloonist was making a balloon ascent, Tom Andress, his assistant, got tangled in the guy ropes and was lifted 50 feet from the ground. He fell to the earth with a sickening crash, breaking both arms and being horribly bruised about the face and body. Physicians say he will live if not injured internally. Andress is a novice at the business. He was helping to inflate the balloon and was caught by the feet as the aeronaut gave the order to go up. The balloonist, seeing his own danger, told Andress to drop, but the balloon had reached a perilous height, and he could not set himself loose. After Andress fell, the balloonist ascended and safely parachuted down.
“The balloonist, seeing his own danger, told Andress to drop, but the balloon had reached a perilous height, and he could not set himself loose.”
Public spectacles at small-town fairs were common, high-risk entertainment in the early 20th century. Today, ballooning is heavily regulated under aviation laws, but the fascination with 'death-defying' stunts remains a staple of county fair culture.
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