Notable South Australians/Thomas Friend Gale
Thomas Friend Gale,
A NATIVE of the United States of America, where he was born in 1841. He early exhibited a taste for mechanical and scientific pursuits, and his talents were fostered by his father, the late Lieutenant Gale, of aerostation celebrity. He evidently inherited much of the enthusiasm and daring of his parent, as shown in some of the remarkable balloon ascensions he made in each of the Australian colonies. On more than one occasion, rather than disappoint the public, he quitted terra firma in a balloon minus the car, and with merely a couple of bags of ballast under each arm. His preservation from death was simply miraculous, and although he had many narrow escapes, never met any serious accident. He arrived in South Australia about thirteen years ago, and accomplished the first balloon ascent that ever took place in this colony. The last balloon he exhibited was destroyed through coming into contact with a gum tree while he was making an ascent with it on the Exhibition Grounds. Up to the date of his last illness he was always considering and working out schemes for fresh balloon ascents. Mr. Gale was of ardent temperament, simple-minded, and industrious. He died at Parkside, November 10, 1884, aged 43 years.