Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1912 — TUMBLES TO DEATH FROM PARACHUTE [ARTICLE]

TUMBLES TO DEATH FROM PARACHUTE

Aeronaut Moore Is Killed Following Thrilling Ascension. v .* ■ i WAS MAKING THREE CUT DIP six Thousand People, Including Victim’s Fiancee, See Balloonist Lose Hold of Craft 800 Feet In Air. Belleville, X. J., July 5. —Six thousand persons, including the fiancee of Thomas Moore, a professional aeto- ! aaut, saw him tumble to death from i I’arachute, after making a thrilling Walloon ascension from Hillside Pleasare park. He dropped 800 feet, falling i half mile from where he ascended. Moore, a resident of Jacksonville, Fla., was a daring air man. For the iast three seasons he had startled the patrons of Hillside park with his startling feats. When killed he was making what he had named his "three jut dip," using three parachutes, one after another, in his descent. In making the last dip he lost his grip an the trapeze. Passenger Lands Safely. Moore, who was twenty-seven years old. took with him a passenger, William D. Dillen. twenty-four years old, an amateur aeronaut. The balloon rose rapidly until it was more than 1,500 feet- high. At that point they decided to leave the balloon. "You get away first, youngster,” said Moore to Dillen. “I’ll see that you get started all right. Besides that I want to make that crowd down there gasp when I start.” Dillen jumped, his parachute opened quickly and he started down slowly and landed safely. Uses Three Parachutes. A few seconds later Moore started downward. He had three parachutes, one of which opened an instant after he jumped from the basket. He descended a short distance, when he let go of the giant umbrella and it floated away slowly. Immediately afterward the second parachute, which Moore had tied to his wrist, opened wide, stopping his rapid fall. After he had come down several hundred feet and the people in the park were cheering him, Moore prepared to abandon the second parachute. The crowd intently watched him. The red colored parachute that he had used first was floating at a considerable distance from him; the second one. white in color, was now just leaving his grasp, and the third, blue, was seen to flutter in the air and belly out as Moore shot down. Either a sudden jar as the blue cloth spread open, or a fainting spell caused Moore to let go his hold. Fiance Witnesses Fall. As he tumbled over and over the tense silence of the crowd was broken by the sharp cry of Moore’s fiancee, who had kissed him good-by as he had started on the upward trip. She was assisted to, one of the buildings in the grounds and later sent to her h6me in Newark. She and Moore had planned to wed next month.