BALLOONISTS

BALLOONISTS (early). On August 21, a Mr. Brooks ascended in the balloon Comet from the hill near General Jones' house; crossed the river into Illinois and landed safely far down the stream. A large crowd saw the ascension. An old lady present exclaimed, "What a happy man he is to get so near heaven; bless the Lord!" (1)

On October 8, 1863, a "Professor" Steiner ascended in a balloon on Main street, between Seventh and Eighth; reached an altitude of 10,000 feet, passed southeastward down the river, was visible for forty minutes, and landed safely near Bellevue; he used city gas to carry him aloft. (2)

On July 18, 1889, a crowd estimated at two hundred people paid admission to the baseball park and another five thousand flocked to the bluffs and housetops to observe a balloon flight. When F. L. Thompson, the advertised balloonist, refused to make the ascent because the paying audience was too small, a local enthusiast, named Streif, sat on a trapeze beneath the balloon. He rose one thousand feet into the air before parachuting into an alley.

On September 30, 1906, over two thousand onlookers witnessed a Mrs. Elew Dockstader, a Dubuque resident, stylishly dressed in a green suit reach an altitude of nearly five thousand feet before parachuting to the ground.

See: Elsie LAVARE

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Source:

1. Oldt, Franklin T., History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1880. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/franklin-t-oldt/history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl/page-12-history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl.shtml

2. Ibid., p. 17