19. The Long Road Home

RETURNING TO THE air in August 1892, Park Van Tassel made a balloon ascension at Queen’s Garden in Delhi in the presence of the deputy commissioner of Delhi and a large crowd. The balloon ascended and drifted slowly to the east, with “the aeronaut” making a parachute descent from 3,000 feet to a landing at the Lahori gate of the fort, with the balloon landing inside the fort.¹ Never far from the comfort of companionship, at some time between the summer and fall of 1892, Park (age thirty-nine) fell in love with Edith Ann Nowlan (age eighteen). They were married on November 28, 1892, at Dinapur (now Danapur).²

In Vietnam, an exhibitionist named Victor Valazie provided a balloon ascension and parachute drop at Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) on Christmas Day 1892. However, owing to considerable difficulty with the balloon inflation, the parachute drop was made in the dark of night and not well observed. Valazie attempted another jump on January 8, 1893, in front of a large crowd at an altitude of 2,000 feet. His parachute failed to open for the first 800 feet of his fall and then opened so suddenly that he was left barely holding on with one arm. Without control, he went through the roof of a brewery with such impact that he died when hitting the floor.³ While it is believed that Van Tassel was not associated with this tragedy, others have reported that Van Tassel was the one who made the jump on January 8, 1893.⁴ However, there are no reports of any flights by Van Tassel in 1893, as he was likely in India with Nowlan at this time.

It should be noted that during the mid-1860s and into the 1890s, the increased daring of aeronauts led to an increasing rate of accidents and fatalities. Those who were engaged in a careful and rather safe use of balloons in the first half of the nineteenth century were replaced by exhibitionists who raced to make increasingly difficult stunts. Whether through the use of older equipment that would fail at altitude, balloons that would catch on fire during an improper inflation, or issues with parachutes, the risks were real and life-threatening. As historian Tom Crouch noted, “The smoke balloonists, who were already plummeting out of the sky at an alarming rate, began to perform an even more dangerous stunt after Thomas S. Baldwin reintroduced the parachute in 1887 . . . . Suddenly, during the late 1880s and early 1890s, semisuicidal daredevils seems to be leaping over every small town in America, often with disastrous results.”⁵ The same was true for aeronauts around the world.

Additionally, the economies of the world began to suffer in the economic depression of 1893. British investment abroad decreased considerably, and the economy of the United States would take several years to recover. However, by the summer of 1894, Van Tassel was off once again, making balloon ascensions and parachute descents for new crowds. It is likely that his bourgeoning relationship with Nowlan had soured, although no records of divorce can be found. On August 6, 1894, near Tower Hall at Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Van Tassel ascended to 7,000 feet in front of a large crowd and descended with a successful parachute jump. This flight is credited as the first balloon flight and first parachute jump in Sri Lanka’s history.⁶

Park continued on from Sri Lanka to Africa. In East Africa he providing an exhibition for Sayyid Ali bin Said Al-Busaid, the fourth sultan of Zanzibar, “while 200 Mrs. Sultans looked on through grated windows.”⁷ He traveled to South Africa, stopping in Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth, and East London for exhibitions. Details of these events are quite sketchy, but it is clear that former acquaintance James Price had already spent considerable time giving balloon ascensions and parachute jumps in South Africa, so it is likely that the crowds were thin.

Leaving Africa, he continued to Persia (now Iran), stopping in Shiraz, Isfahan, and Tehran. According to Park’s own accounting in 1901, “We had to travel by horseback and muleback. There are only four miles of railway track in the whole country. After the Shah came back from England, filled with ideas of civilization, he started to build a railroad, but after the track had been laid for four miles the people objected, and as many of them camped on the right of way, blocking the work of the builders, the line went no farther.”⁸

On June 7, 1895, Park Van Tassel provided an ascension and parachute jump in the presence of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, the shah of Persia. The shah was so pleased with the exhibition that he decorated Van Tassel with the five-pointed star of the Third Order of the Lion and the Sun. This was the highest honor possible without making the recipient a prince. The recognition also carried the honorary rank of general in the Persian army. The shah also provided “General Van Tassel” with a gem-studded sword. Van Tassel departed Tehran for Tabriz with an American passport made out by Minister Resident Alexander McDonald and bearing the name General Park Albert Van Tassel.⁹ While at Tabriz he provided an exhibition for the governor of Tabriz, but during the exhibition, someone stole the gem-laden sword. No trace of the sword was ever found. After forty-five days on horseback in Persia, Van Tassel left for Russia. He first gave an exhibition at Tiflis (now Tbilisi) and then at Odessa. Traveling on to Europe, he is believed to have made ascensions at Warsaw, then Berlin, Aachen, Paris, and finally London.

While Park was quite capable of coloring the truth, as part of his recollections in 1901, he noted that after his first arrival in India in 1891, he traveled eight times back and forth between London and India, but the details of only one or two of these trips can be confirmed. What is known, however, is that having taken the better part of a year between 1894 and 1895 to travel from India and Sri Lanka to Africa, Persia, Russia, and then London, Park rather quickly returned yet again to India.

On Saturday, December 7, 1895, Van Tassel arranged for a balloon ascension and parachute jump at the Government House at Parel, a neighborhood in Bombay. This was a difficult arrangement to make, as only four years previously, an exhibitionist called Lieutenant Mansfield had died at the nearby Victoria Gardens making a similar attempt, and the local police were steadfastly against another performance of this type. Newspaper reporters began questioning the value of parachute exhibitions except for their possible use by the military.¹⁰ The commissioner of police, R. H. Vincent, remained vigilant in not providing the permission required to Van Tassel. However, when Van Tassel went directly to the governor, he approved, overruled the local commissioner, and offered the use of the Government House and its grounds.

A portion of the large grounds were roped off as a paid spectator area. And by the time the day arrived for the event, these grounds were full of three thousand to four thousand people. However, many more thousands of local citizens arrived hours before the event along the main roads leading to Parel, crowding the roads, climbing trees, hills, walls, and the roofs of houses to obtain their vantage points for free. The railway stations were packed, beyond what anyone had expected, but the local authorities made sure there were no incidents.

Inflation of the balloon was to begin at 4:15 p.m., but in light of a strong northerly breeze, Van Tassel delayed the inflation as long as possible. But the longer he waited, the stronger the winds became. At 4:45 p.m. the process of inflation started; it lasted for thirty minutes. The large City of London¹¹ measured 78 feet high, with a diameter of 58 feet, and was a “dirty vermillion color.”¹² Roughly seventy soldiers, sailors, and laborers helped maintain the balloon during its inflation. Just as the balloon was nearly completely inflated, one of the guide poles fell in an unexpected direction toward the spectators, who had just enough time to get out of the way before it landed. The scene was eerily similar to the unfortunate incident in Queensland. Adding to the chaos, during the last parts of the inflation, the large crowd outside the enclosure rushed in to get a better view, easily mixing with those who had paid for the opportunity. It seemed that on this one attempted flight, in his return to India, all the different problems that had at one time or another been issues were conspiring make the flight as difficult as possible.

With increasing winds and sunset approaching, and before any other calamities could take place, Van Tassel took his place on the trapeze and yelled “Let go!” The balloon immediately rose quickly, with the large crowd cheering it higher. Van Tassel’s hat fell off at an altitude of about 300 feet, landing near a refreshment stand in the grounds. He climbed to 3,600 feet in a strong breeze, which took him south toward the sea. Rather than climb any higher, he pulled the collapsing cord on the balloon and jumped, falling about 150 feet before the parachute opened. In the strong winds, the parachute rocked back and forth and without much control. He came to a hard landing near Lowjee Castle, about half a mile from the Government House. The parachute became entangled in the leaves of a nearby palm tree but without much damage. Meanwhile, the balloon came to Earth near the town of Ohinohpoogley, about another half mile farther downwind from where Van Tassel had landed. Van Tassel returned to the Government House grounds at about 7:00 p.m., trying to make his way back through the crowds. Those who remained near the enclosure received him with loud cheers.¹³

At one point during his Indian travels, Van Tassel made an exhibition for Sayyid Hamid Ali Khan Bahadur, the nawab of Rampur. Van Tassel later recalled,

I was going to give an ascension and parachute drop before thousands of the Nawah’s [sic] people, and the Nawah made me promise that I wouldn’t come down inside the harem. I always had to promise that, but this time—well, I promised but the parachute didn’t open until I was too far down to steer well, and in spite of all I could do I sailed over the palace and dropped right into a mulberry tree in the middle of the harem. I could hear the ladies inside shrieking as I came down. They all ran in out of sight. If the Nawah had not come into the inner court of the harem himself, together with the British resident, I guess the guards would have chopped me up when I came down out of that tree.¹⁴

In late February or early March 1897, a female parachutist by the name of Beaumont provided a balloon ascension and parachute jump during a horse show at Jacobabad in Beluchistan, in what is now Pakistan. It was reported that Park Van Tassel provided direction and assistance for her exhibition. She rose perfectly to an altitude of 7,000 feet and parachuted down to a perfect landing. A newspaper reported, “The [locals] scampered on horses, camels, and on foot to the spot where the parachutist landed, and cheered her lustily. At the conclusion of the exhibition Miss Beaumont was called to the Collector’s bungalow, where she was presented with a gold medal from the Sirdars as a token of their appreciation of the wonderful feat.”¹⁵

At least one “Miss Van Tassell” (likely Valerie, but perhaps either Gladys Freitas or Beaumont) continued making balloon ascensions in India into 1898. At Jacobabad on January 13, 1898, William Mansfield, first Viscount Sandhurst (Lord Sandhurst), was afforded a special exhibition of horse and camel races at the local racecourse. Between the races, “Miss Van Tassel” made a successful balloon ascension to about 5,000 feet. It is assumed that she descended with a parachute, and given there was hardly any wind, “the descent was a point not more than a hundred yards or so from the point of ascension.”¹⁶

Deseret Evening News coverage of a balloon ascension in India by Park Van Tassel (date unknown) for George Nathaniel Curzon (Lord Curzon) and his wife, Mary Victoria Leiter (Lady Curzon). Lord Curzon later served as viceroy of India. Library of Congress.

Van Tassel kept providing his own exhibitions but at a decreasing pace. At Darjeeling, his efforts provided inspiration to youngsters, who began to fashion balloons of their own as toys.¹⁷ On March 14, 1900, Van Tassel arranged for a balloon ascension and parachute jump at Jhind (now Jind). The filling of the balloon was aided by sepoys¹⁸ from Jhind State, who helped stabilize the balloon with ropes. But at the time of launch, three of the men became entangled with the ropes of the balloon and parachute and were carried up into the air. One of the three fell right away, but the other two were tangled so tightly that they could not easily free themselves. As the balloon rose higher, one of these men fell but miraculously was caught once again in the ropes that dangled below the balloon. Van Tassel could have released himself by parachute but did not. He instead told the two men to hold on tightly. The balloon ascended to its maximum height, began to cool, and descended. During the descent, the parachute opened, and the ever-relaxing balloon formed its own parachute. The three men descended safely to Earth, much to the thrill of the large crowd that had assembled to watch the ascent.¹⁹

In October 1900, it was reported that in Lucknow, Park Van Tassel suffered a stroke, causing paralysis on his left side. He underwent initial treatment in Lucknow but in early 1901 decided to return to California, without young Edith Ann.