On Monday, Mr. Simmons, one of the professional aeronauts who
has lately been making balloon ascents from different places of amusement in and near London, was killed while descending, always the most dangerous operation of the whole business. The ascent, which took place in the grounds of Olympia, w•as conducted under perfectly normal conditions. Mr. Simmons, who was accompanied by two companions, announced before starting his intention of going, if possible, to Vienna. This plan was, however, abandoned, and Mr. Simmons seems to have decided to descend at a place called Lilting, a mile from Witham Station, on the Great Eastern Railway. His attempt was unsuccessful, for the balloon, after bumping three times against the ground and rebounding, burst while fifty feet in the air, and the car fell like a stone. At first it was believed that the silk had been pricked by the branches of an elm near which the balloon struck. It seems now, however, that the balloon did not touch the tree, but that the force of the wind " tore the netting or some of the gear in such a manner as to cause the balloon partially to jump out of the net," and that this occasioned its bursting. Mr. Simmons was killed on the spot, and both his companions were badly injured, though, it is hoped, not injured for life. It seems that if the car had been made of wicker-work instead of meshes of steel netting, which, Of course, offered no resistance to the blow, the accident would have been far less serious. One of the wit- nesses describes the unfortunate men lying enveloped in the network " like a lot of birds in a cage." The work of extricating them must have been most difficult.
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