A tragic event at the Colonad

A tragic event at the Colonade - accounts:
Logansport Pharos Tribune Monday July 3, 1899:

BALLOON ACCIDENT

MARRED THE PLEASURES OF SUNDAY AT LAKE MAXINKUCKEE

Negro Ballonist Dashed to the Earth and Severely Injured.

The pleasures of a day at Lake Maxinkuckee were somewhat marred yesterday afternoon by an accident at that popular place which is expected to cost the life of a colored balloonist.

He had started on a trip to the clouds near the residence of Mrs. Beaber and when in the air about 40 feet, the movements of the balloon made him swing against the upper porch of the Colonade hotel. So strong was the manner in which he was forced against the porch that a 2x4 piece of timber was broken in two, while the body of the man shot down to the ground with frightful rapidity.

He was picked up in an unconscious condition and taken to a building near by, where medical aid was rendered. He was found to have suffered a broken arm and also a fracture of both the bones in each leg. The crash when he was swung into the Colonade could be heard a quarter of a mile away.

He was injured internally and was taken to South Bend last night

Logansport Journal Tuesday July 4, 1899

THE DEADLY BALLOON

Another Victim Claimed at Maxinkuckee on Sunday

Lake Maxinkuckee was the scene of A very disastrous balloon ascension Sunday. For the amusement of the many excursionists who had taken advantage of the extremely low rates to visit the lake an ascension had been prepared.

A colored aeronaut from South Bend had been secured and a vacant lot between Beaber's sample rooms and the Colonade Hotel was secured upon which to prepare the apparatus.

As the balloon left the earth on its upward soaring the wind forced it toward the Colonade and the man who was hanging to a trapeze attached to the parachute struck the cornice of the building with much force.

Coming in contact with the structure must have broken the aeronaut's arm for he released his grip on the trapeze and fell over fifty feet to the ground.

He was unconscious when picked up and was taken to a physician who, upon examination, found that both his legs were broken; also his arm. Many minor injuries were inflicted.

The man was taken to his home in South Bend on the first train.

7 Jul 1899 Culver Herald:

Horrible Accindent Prof. M R . Phillips Collides With the Colonade Hotel and Falls 30 Feet. Last Sunday will be a memorable day for Culver , as it was an exciting one from more than one incident of an unusual character.

The fact that there would be a balloon ascension as advertised in the Herald brought a large crowd of country people to the city. The balloon was stationed between the Beeber saloon and the Colonade Hotel.

Scores of men informed the aeronaut that with the wind blowing from the south-west he could not clear the hotel, but that distinguished gentleman assured them that he could sail over that hotel all right.

In the meantime the hour drew near when the aeronaut should depart for a short time from mother earth. The vast crowd held its breath in expectancy, as every one predicted that an accident was inevitable.

Finally at about 4:00 o’clock the word was given and like a rocket the balloon shot heavenward with the aeronaut hanging by the hands to the trapeze. The balloon majestically cleared the hotel, but when the aeronaut had nearly reached the cornice of the hotel, he saw that he could not clear it and threw out his feet in an effort to push himself away from the building, he struck with such velocity, however, that he shattered the cornice edge.

The Sh_ three feet along the it tore his hands lose from the bar and he returned to the ground a distance of about thirty feet, striking with awful force upon his hands, face and one hip.

He was picked up and carried into the hotel, where Dr. Hollister and Wiseman and a doctor from Plymouth examined the injured man and found that his right thigh bone was broken and both wrists dislocated. He was otherwise bruised but not very seriously.

He was placed upon the South Bend excursion train and taken as far as Plymouth, where he was placed in charge of Dr. Stevens of that place. Monday he was taken to the Epworth Hospital in South Bend.

This accident was exceedingly bad for the aeronaut, as he was to have made one ascension in Plymouth Monday and two on Tuesday.

It seems to us that it was a gross piece of carelessness on the part of a man who claims to have had years of experience in the balloon ascension business, as a half-witted individual would have known better than to have attempted to ascend from between the narrow confines of two buildings.

However, the physicians have reasons to believe that the man will recover, but it will be some time before he will perform upon a trapese hanging from a balloon.

There were two excursion trains in Culver Sunday but they were not overloaded, hence the crowd was not. so large as it was the Sunday previous.

The visitors in general were very orderly, but as usual there was a tough gang present, whose delight is to create a disturbance, and one or two brutal scraps was the result, one man being fined $5.00 for dislocating a man's eye.

By the way, we have not been in the habit of expressing our opinion of such disgraceful proceedings as were enacted here Sunday, consequently we say that when it comes to pass that