Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel], January 18, 1910, Page 3, Image 3

About Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
LEAK IN GAS
TANK SPOILS
PAULHAN'S TRIP
AVIATOR UNABLE TO LOWER
HIS RECORD
FORCED TO ALIGHT AFTER MAX.
ING FEW ROUNDS
Hamilton in Danger in Midair When
Rod in Biplane Breaks,, but
He Descends Safely.
Thousands Cheer
(Continued from Piur* One)
He sped through the. air 75 feet above i
the ground (long the back stretch of
the course, and around past the grand
stand. As lie passed the judges he
made a motion like grinding a coffee
mill with his hands, in token thai he
would go round and round the course.
The judges thought for a time that he.
meant he would try only for speed
for ton laps, but when he had com
pleted thai number ol circuits of, the
« ourse ho kept on flying. Then they
knew he meant to continue in the air
as long as ha could.
Prepared for Long Flight
In the big gasoline tank at i'aul
han's back there was enough fuel for
a Might of twelve hours at the rate of
forty miles an hour. Figure out for
yourself how far that (light would have
b ii had it not been for the tiny hole.
U would have made Henri Fartnan,
builder of the biplane which Paulhan
piloted, sick with disappointment, for
tienrl Farman was able to Hy only 144
miles in four hours, six minutes and
twenty live .seconds.
Paulhan had been in the air fifty
minutba when Hamilton decided, he
would make an attempt for the endur
ance record, following his announce
ment earlier in the day. Bo then began
a pretty .sight; two heavier-than-alr
I lachines driven by two of the most
daring drivers in the world, chasing
each other round and round the
i ours.' of 1.61 miles.
Hamilton rose from in front ol the
grandstand to the music of "Dixie, '
mingled with cheers from the specta
tors He was separated from Puulhan
i.y half a mile or more, but twice Paul-
Han passed him. Hamilton main
tained an even gait of 8:iiO for the
course, while Paulhan hit 11 up at a
; iO rate. Paulhan's ability I" pass
Hamilton was due to superior horse
power, nothing else. The Farman bi
plane has a Gnome engine with 75
---aepower. The CUrtISS biplane has
a Curtlss eiieine with -.:> horsepower.
Passed on Third Lap
It was on the third lap of Hamil
ton's journey that Paulhan began to
creep up closer and closer, closing the
gap between the two machines by hun
dred* Of feet every second. When
Paulhan was but a few feet to the
rear of the yellow bird he suddenly let
out his engine, tilted his control and
aiiot up into the air fifty feet. As lie
loundcu the fourth pylon he fairly
leaped like a greyhound over Hamil
ton and Phot ahead as though he
(earea he would, be overtaken. Down
>he home stretch he came with face
wreathed In smiles, brought there by
Hie cheers of the crowd 100 feet below
him.
Ac.air he took up the pursuit of the
yellow bird. He opened his throttle
wider and wider until the last bit of
power was being forced out of the en-
H'.-io with every explosion Of the cyl
inders. He cut down the distance bit
I v bit until after covering three laps
and a half he caught Hamilton just
1,, [ore tin- lust pylon was readied.
f Vgaln he raised Ids aeroplane a few
feet higher into the air and with a
yell passed over the little driver below.
The CurtUa machine rocked and
swayed and rolled like a channel boat
,i, a heavy sea. Had any but a master
aviator devoid of fear been in the lit
tle seat just in front of the engine he
would have been dashed to the earth.
Hut Hamilton weathered the windy
gale and passed safely around the
pylon.
Passage Is Dangerous
When one biplane passes over an
other, unless they be separated by
rreat space, the air current set in mo
tion by the engine of the higher ma
chine has a tendency to throw the
lower one out of equilibrium. It also
retards progress, for it makes the en
gine in the lower machine do almost
double work; first, in keeping the
lower craft afloat and second in dis
sipating the currents made by the
upper machine.
It was while Paulhan was passing
Hamilton that C. F. Willard noticed
something was wrong with the Curtiss
biplane. Ho leveled his binoculars
upon the machine and discovered that
one side of one of the planes was
warping rapidly. He called it to the
attention of others when Hamilton
passed again In front of the judges'
-land. Decision was mado in a hurry
and several men were sent out to flag
Hamilton to the ground. When Ham
ilton learned that he was In danger
of being dashed to pieces If he re
malned longer in the air he glided to
the earth. It was found on examina
tion that one of the ruts In a rear
upright rod had loosened and that the
rod had worked out of Its fastenings.
Might Have Meant Death
It would have meant death to Ham
ilton had he remained in the air an
other ten minutes, for the biplane
would have been torn to bits by the
wind and the aviator hurled to the
ground had he been under Paulhan
when the Farman biplane passed over
him. Aviation is not without Its dan
gers at nil times.
It is barely possible that the air
currents set in motion by Paulhan
when ho passed over Hamilton had
something to do with the accident.
However that may be, Hamilton did
ihe wise thing In coming to the ground.
lie had covered 19.33 miles and had
been in the air thirty-nine minutes.
Ib whs prepared to stay up six hours.
Had he done so lie would have won
$.•5000.
Soon after Hamilton rame to earth
Paulban signaled to some of his
mechanicians that all was not right.
A faint odor of gasoline had been no
ticed each time he passed. He soared
low past the grandstand once or twice
and the odor was easily noticeable to
I hose in the. press boxes.
A hole had developed in the tube
leading from the gasoline tank to th«
engine. When once Paulhan learned
ol the (rouble and know that be could
not remain in the air very much longer
because of the- constant drain on his
fuel supply, he made a few more cir
cuits and then came to earth a few
feet wesi of the starting line. He was
cheered to the echo as he jumped out
of his machine and examined the
leaky part.' 1..
Forty.seven Laps for Paulhan
Paulhan made 47 laps, a distance of
>63 miles, In one hour, 58 minutes and
Daring Cloud Chasers Play Tag in the Air
with Strange Sky Craft in Perfect Control
" ? • —«—^— . - v l
■ ■ i ■.
i ■ ' ' ft
fc-j
• \ I
The upper picture shows Paulhan
above, passing Curtiss at one of the
turns of the course. Paulhan's daring
is shown by the dangerous tilt of his
machine as he rounds the curve. Be
low is a map showing speed and en.
durance courses at Dominguez Avia.
tion field.
27 2-.~> seconds. His average rate of
B| il was 88 miles an hour. Had he
not been forced,to earth bj- the leaky
tube he was equipped to remain in the
air twelve hours. He even had a sand
wich in his pocket to sustain him dur
ing the long Ilight. Today, he says, he
will go up at noon and remain up till
all his fuel gives out —just to play a
little joke on Henri Farman, his "bon
ami."
It was up to Curtiss again to win thr
g] l honors yesterday. He did it most
successfully, cutting more than a min
ute off his ten-lap record. He covered
the 16.11 miles in 23:43 3-5, as against
his old record of 24:54 2-5. Curtiss 1
Ilight was the last regular event on
the program, although half a dozen
other flights were made. Masson,
pupil or Paulhan. made his first com
plete circuit of the course In a biplane.
Paulhan attempted to operate a Curtiss
machine, but could not get it off the
ground.
Lincoln Beachy and Roy Kmibenshu"
in their dirigibles made several ascents.
Knabenshue maneuvered around a cap
tive balloon in the center of the Held.
to the delight of the spectators. Once
he raced against time around the
course, but failed to lower his record.
He made the 1.61 miles in 5:23 4-5.
Harmon Makes Flight
Fearless Clifford Harmon, the rpal
est sportsman to be found in a long
journey, jumped into the seat of his
Curtiss biplane and, with a pull of his
cap, said: "I'm going to lly now ot
I'll make somebody a widow." He was
referring to Airs. Clifford B. Harmon,
the social leader of New fork,
And fly Harmon did. He started
his engine well down the course run
ning up grade to the west. Three or
tour times ho repeated the stunt,
each time getting off the ground for
a [ew feet. On the last trial he
raised his machine eight feet Into the
air and soared along for 100 feet or
more. That satisfied him greatly for
he said: "Thank heavens. I've done it
and there is no need of flowers and
slow music."
The Gill-Dosh machine of Baltimore
is the original trouble-finder. Every
time a Ilight in it is attempted, s ■
thing goes wrong. Hlllery Beachy,
who is not-very well experienced in
the ways of flying, took the beautiful
nickel-plated affair out of the hanger
late yeßterday afternoon. He made
two short flights. As he landed the
second time he broke the running or
ground frame ol' his machine. It will
be in the shop for several days. Ex
perts say the Gill-DOSh machine has 1
too small a wheel base for safety In
coming to earth and that it is nol
exactly balanced. Whether this be
true or not, it is a fact that Urn (lill-
Dosh has many accidents in coming
to earth and has not made a success
ful Bight SO tar during the meet.
Harrison Is Game
C-eorge B. Harrison ami Clifford B.
Harmon will be in the basket of the
New York a week from Sunday, when
the big round gas bag starts from San
Antonio, Texas, tn lift the Lahm tro-
I by. The trophy is now held by A.
Holland Forbes, who sailed in the New
York from St. Louis to Richmond, a
distance of 603 miles. Harrison, who
will pilot the New York, said yesterday
he would go at least 1000 miles if gas
and vitality hold out.
Harmon has purchased a Farman bi
plane and is now taking lessons from
Paulhan In operation. He expects to
have his biplane in three months. If it
does not arrive lie is to take paulhan's
machine, the one with which he broke
the altitude record of the world.. 1
Chairman Courtlandi Field bishop
announced yesterday that he had re
ceived cable entries from Paris and
Berlin for the International aeronautic
al meeting. Germany and France will
compete with America in the balloon
events, each of the old countries having
cut,.re.l three balloons. France will en
t,.|i Hire" aeroplanes as well. The con
testS v ill occur next October. St. Louts
is working hard to be the meeting place.
There are eleven countries in the ted
oration,
Endurance contest* win be held over
a new course today. The old one will be
for speed and preliminary tests, wliilo
LOS ANGELES HERALD: TUESDAY MORXTXC, JANUARY 18. 1910.
! ''• \ ; /
;. :— v :::...! /c /
• /' \ ! field ;
V A -.-■ ««-«-.-„*.*.- -...A.. -'
the new one will be only >"r sustained
Might. The new course rovers a part
Of the old one, and is U.TS miles lung:.
The old coune is 1.81 miles. Instead of
being hexagonal, the new courie will
be ;i triangle, Four pjrloni will mark
the oornere. BYom the top of each pylon
will float an American (lag.
Su BUCCSMfU] lias the aviation meet
been that it now is likely it will be
extended ovi r Sunday, with llishts Fri
day, Saturday ami Sunday. The ques
tion will be deoided at a meeting to be
held this morning.
Dick Ferris lias offered to take the
extra days' meeting- off the committee's
bands and assume all risk himself. The
met has paid all expense!, and the
„ mlttee novs has a comfortable bal
ance in the treasury. At present the
total receipts amount to somethingl like
$l"o oon. The total expenses will be $sn.
--000 when the sates close next Thursday
night I' is expecti d that the »48, >
subscribed by the eltUena or i.os Ange
la* will be returned to them with in
terest. '
COUNT IS SUED
BY HIS ATTORNEY
Count Robert <le Kersuuson do IVnnen
di'fV m yesterday made defendant in a
suit for *:n».oi» filed la Justice Stephens'
court by Attorney E. 1.. Hutchison. The
money, It In claimed by the attorney, Ih
clue him for lee»l services In collecting
116,000 left to the pount anil his mother
by ■ relative li" had filed In France.
The money, It Is added, ha» been re
ceived in Ins Angeles, and by the pro
vision of the estate should have been
Riven to the count'! mother, hut. m re
tained by the count. The latter is an
intimate friend of I.oul» I'anlhiin, the
•Viator, and a deputy conntahle wan Bent
to Aviation Held to serve uollre of Iho
mill. V-V:'
Welcome, Ye
fflL^,^ Gentlemen, All!
111
fj) ill' N " y^i" Welcome to the new hat store; a most unique place,
sX ' . ' . ' \ r/W where gentlemen can purchase original and ex-
ZlI, ' , ' 1 ' I* i\ a J'l|. elusive headwear of all kinds at most moderate
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—I' J I ——>^ 1^ r-L-p-r' 1' ■ '■ pi svtrictly original in design and plan of operation. A
'-* ■ I / "^M"r~f.' /'1 ii ' 1 '~i factory is to be operated in connection. Gentle
*/ / , Z_y^fr' »' ' i . rl^-' ' men's hats will be cared for as well as sold. It is
"*^J, -jLTTZmIiJ^ I~LtJT*~L!7'1 ~L tJT*~ L!7' '. to be a shop of luality and service-
S§Sli|i|| Formal Opening ;v
B w I 111 H lllrrn' TODAY
Hiffi today
.ippelmtteru
I {•-^B v//j=>'^'J^h'^ />•» f 11 T a. nni • J Oj. ..i Between Broadway
J^ £M^^ .216 West Third Street andspnng
SAIL OUT OF DAY
INTO MOONLIGHT
BALLOONISTS FLOAT THROUGH
SUNSET GLORIES
MEMBER OF HERALD STAFF
TELLS OF ADVENTURE
Pilot J. C. Mars of Oakland Proves
More Than Master of Big
Gas Bag in Perfect
Ascension
BY ONE OF TIIK PAMENQBBS
The glories of a sunny Southern Cal
ifornia afternoon, with all the world
spread below us; then a magnificent
prospect at sunset, with its warmth of
color, as the big, warm disk disap
peared behind the western ocean and a
coast line that was visible from Santa
Barbara to San Juan Caplstrano as we
hovered over the outskirts of Hedondo;
the twilight, with the deepening pur- |
pies on the waters and the hills, with |
only a faint outline to the east and I
north of the snow-clad peaks of the
Sierra Madre and San Bernardino
ranges, and after that a sail home in
the liveliest moonlight imaginable, with
all the world so far away that it |
seemed almost as unbelievable as a |
dim dream.
That was the panorama of beauty
shown yesterday afternoon and even- I
ing by i'ilot .1. C. Mars of the Oakland
Aero club and his charming wife, who
accompanied and assisted him, in the
big balloon "Los Angeles."
The ascent was made from Hunting
ton Park balloon field at 4 o'clock yes
terday afternoon. The descent was
made in a plowed Held near Manches
ter avenue between -Main street and
South Park avenue at «::!.■> o'clock last
evening, and was made so gently that
when the basket struck the ground
there was less jar experienced by the
six passengers, which included the pi- j
lot and his wile and a party from Los ,
Angeles Herald, than often is experi
enced in the start of a street car in
Los Angeles.
Pass the Mile Mark
The highest altitude reached by the
•'Los Angeles" was 6300 feet- jus: a
tiny bit more than a mile from sea
level. This was the height recorded by
tin' aneroid barometer when the big
gas bag was near* si to the avition li. Id
at Domlnguez, which was the goal Pilot
Mars was striving to reach. The dis
tance covered in the two hours and
twenty-five minutes was about thirty
miles.
When the start was made at 1 o'clock
the afternoon was as glorious as any
winter afternoon ever enjoyed In the
southland. The earth dropped away
according to the aneroid —about 2000
feet. Pilot Mars was busy arrang
ing his ropes and sand bags in the
basket so that each might be handy
to his touch in case of need. No one
spoke, l>ut each pai i enger in the bas
ket seemed to be drinking In the glorj
of the scene below.
"Two thousand," s;i i<l the pilot,
"and we're going toward Boyle
Heights. What I want to do is t.i gel
down to the Aviation ii<-M and land
there, If the wind will let us," and he
Sit busy with one ">' the bags of sand.
Below ua the farms w. re marked
out like squares and triangles and
other geometrical Asrures on a «or
geous but strangely variegated carpet.
To the left, far below, was the city,
its growth and prosperity shown more
convincingly i<- the human eye from
this "height than any table of figures
can show. To the ea«t, stretching out
In a long climb of successive peaks,
were the snow-clad Sierras, ending
abruptly with tin- thin, sharp point of
Sau Bernardino mountain. A little to
the south was San JacintO, a Riant
saddle of white, and. croui hlng close
beside it. was the glittering summit
nf Temecula.
Long Line of Shore
Look the other way and there was
the long line of the surf on tfie shore
of the Pacific and the blue waves of
the ocean (lashing now and then as
the sunlight caujrht them at the right
angle.
This was the picture of a lifetime
to the passengers, but it was an old
■tory t" 'Pilot Mars, and, besides
that, he was lieurinir.
"Still K'linK toward Boyle Heights
slowly," he said softly, after the drag
„,,,,, h*d been let out and the anchor
lixed to the edge of the basket whore,
it would I" 1 und«T the pilot's hand if
it should he needed In a hurry. There
w-is no scare or noise about bis prep
arations, bul ii gave to the passengers
an added sense of seourlty to see how
he wan getting his air craft Into ship
shape hi fore he stopped t" say "Hello"
„r admire the scenery.
■ vii B et," i»is the nexl ■ he< ry rewmi k
as the big balloon hovered over the Los
Angeles river bed about duo oust of
KSIHK AXTK ( ONTBBT
I'aulhan By taps, Total.
i 2:25 I-". 5:;.-. I-.",
- 2:28 4:33 4-5
2 2:34 1-5 m
! 2:27 2-5 9:55 2-5
2 •■■■■•'» 13:24 2-5
i 2:29 4-5 14:83 3-5
' -•■'■" '-■"> 17:23 2-5
? '■'■'> 4-5 19:53 1-5
,»■ 2:38 1-5 22:31 2-5
I* 2:33 4-5 25:05 1-5
'.' 2:31 1-5 27:30 3-5
}" 8:88 1-5 30:13 1-5
'■J 2:33 8-8 33:45 3-5
" 8:81 4-5 35:14 2-5
■* 2:32 1-5 31:45 3-5
J<! 8:29 1-9 40:15 I-.",
" • 2:30 1-5 42:45 2-5
J" 2:314-5 43:17 1-5
19 2:32 2-5 47:49 8-5
~° 8:85 2-5 50:25
-1 2:35 . 58:00
52 2:35 1-5 85:35 1-8
::! 8:85 4-5 08:11
it 2:32 2-5 li():l:t 2-5
'-'•' 2:33 83:13 2-5
2" 2:2» 1-5 65:44 3-5
27 2:30 4-6 «8:15 2-5
M 2:2!) 3-5 70:45
'-"• 2:23 3-5 13 : i 3 3-5
3° 2:29 4-5 75: 18 2-5
81 2:33 1-5 78:18 3-5
88 2:33 80:49 8-5
88 2:.i0 83:19 3-5
S« 2:311-5 85:50 4-5
3"' 2:34 ■.>-.-> 88:25 1-5
3« 2:34 4-5 1)1:00
37 2:27 2-5 93:27 8-5
88 2:33 8-5 86:01
3!) 2:2!) 3-5 08:30 3-5
40 2:28 100:58 3-5
41 2:27 1-5 103:212-5
12 2:24 4-5 105:49 1-5
43 ! 2:24 108:13 1-5
44 -. 2:27 3-5 110:40 4-5
45 2:314-5 113:12 3-5
48 2:38 3-3 115:49 1-5
47 2:38 1-3 : 118:27
..Total illHtan.f 75.7358 plus 185 tMt
after pauJiig lini-hintc tine. \
Total time in uir after paieins Ntart
(Dg line, 118:32. '
l.rjik in gasoline tank.
Average an hour—:<B.B( mile*.
Hamilton. li.v laps. Total.
I 8:19 1-5 8:19 1-5
2 3:15 2-5 8:34 2-5
•A 3:20 10:03 3-5
4 3(21 1-5 . 13:23 4-5
"i 8:08 ■.'- 10:33 1-5
(i 3:18 4-5 19:52
7 3:03 1-5 22:55 4-5
8 8:06 1-5 26:02 3-5
9 ,1:07 1-5 29:09 4-5
10 3:10 4-5 32:30 8-5
II 3:17 4-5 38:88 2-5
12 3:13 1-3 38:513-5
Total ili-lanrr, 19.8888 mill's plus
5-15.05 feet after pawing ttnlah line.
Total time in air after patting Martini;
line. 88:00 2-5.
Dislocated right rear upright.
TEN' LAPS FOB SPEED
Curtill Lap". Total. Old mark.
1 2:2« 2:28 2:31
2 ... 2:III 4:15 4:52 .1-5
3 2:28 1-5 7:13 1-5 7:22 3-5
4 ... 3:27 2-5 9:40 3-5 »:511 1-5
5 2:22 1-5 12:02 1-5 12:19 3-5
i: . 2:27 1-5 14:80 15:00 2-5
7 2:21 2-5 16:81 2-5 17:23 3-5
x 3:18 19:09 2-5 19:58
!)' .. 2:19 1-5 21:28 3-5 22:23 1-5
10... . 2:15 23:43 3-5 24:54 2-5
One lap for hpeed—Curtis, 2:18 1-5.
One lap l» diri«;i!ilrs —
Knabensbae. 5:23 4-5.
Beachey, 5:84.
Timers>l. Jepsen ami A. J. Ctob«i of
the liitt>v company! <ai>t. s. 1". Bot
tom* of Ik- roast artillery; (apt. 11. H.
1:,,,., of the regular armyi l>r. Hewitt,
aargeon of I tie- regular army, stationed
ill the Presidio,
Vernon. "What does the aneroid say
iiinv V"
Twenty-two hundred," said Mrs,
Mars, ns Bhe looked at the Instrument
tied to the ropes above the basket,
"] think If we go up a little we'll
, i ike a i urrent that \\ ill take us out
A\ latlon park, Thai's what we'd
11 ter try," said the Oakland man.
■ i ,ook down there," and be pointed
to the Bmoki stack c>! a factory far be
so far below thai It looked like the
make-believe factory In a child's toy
\ ill ;i s-;<■- "See," he said, ai his hand still
pointed, "the wind down there is blow
ing- in from the sea. [{ we ran hit a
current higher up that will take us
beyond and west of Aviation park we
gel down Into the low current and
get into the park Itself without any
trouble. That's what we will try," and
out went some more sand.
"Watch the aneroid," Pilot Mars
called to his wife,
"doing up," was the answer. "Twen
ty-six hundred now."
Signs of Motion Lost
"Yes. and we've sot the current,"
said the aeronaut as he leaned far over
the basket and watched the i.iillll l.-1iij i•
Index of the drag rope as it showed
how Cast the balloon was moving and
in what direction over the mathemat
ical maze of green fields and brown
i,,ads and spots of houses far below.
For unless wo looked at thli drag-rope
Index »i' had no sense of motion at all.
our horizon was so vast that we had
nothing by which to Judge the motion
of the balloon.
Back over HunHngton Park we wont,
almost straight above the Held from
which we had ascended twenty-five
minutes before. Then wo were treated
to a lesson in aeronautics that was new
to ii- the jockeying of the balloon pilot
with his big machine, bo ready to an
swer his beck and call if all is well, and
no treacherous If the elements of the
air are hostile.
Slowly upward we went and more
idpldty toward Aviation park. ■
"There- go"9 one of the dirigibles.
Don't you see the shine or the yellow
! agaln»t the black of the grand stand?'
. xclaimed Mrs. Mars suddenly.
Sure enough, far below and hardly
I more than a speck but with a flash of
1 sunlight on a propeller blade now and
then and the sheen of the yellow gas
enclosure, -we watched the dirigible's
1 Ilisht. We even could watch the de
scent as the dirigible settled down be
side Its fellow In the field.
" •Barometer?" queried the pilot as
we began to veer off toward Redondo
and away from the park.
"Four thousand, two hundred," came
back the answer of his wife.
"Better go up a little higher," sai.l
the pilot. "We're getting too far to
the riKlit to got back to the park on
that lower current." More sand went
out and the earth dropped away still
lower—for to our earth-bound aenaes
we had lost all thoughts of motion in
our little basket and the earth was
making the queer changes that were
sending us from place to place.
"There goes one of the biplanes,'
exclaimed one of the passengers as
she pointed again toward the whito
tent row and the black mass of the
grandstand now farther away than
ever.
"Time?" asked the pilot.
"Five o'clock," was the answer.
"Barometer?" was the next ques
tion.
Mile in the Air
"Five thousand, three hundred,"
came back the answer from Mrs. Marx.
We could see, even from this dis
tance of more than a mile with ti■■•
naked eye, that the crowd at the par,;
was thinning. Then the wind ye
We went more rapidly toward the
hills of Point Firmin. with the whole
map of the harbor below us, and then
to the left toward Hedondo.
It seemed fruitless now to try ti
reach aviation park before the spects
tors had departed for home. The current
v " were in was bearing: us toward th i
ocean and danger. The wegt vai tlatn
ing with a gorgeous sunset. The lofty
hills of Catallna were no bar to our
j vision nf the ocean beyond, and it
seemed as though we were close enough
to Redondo to hit the power house with
a pebble or to knock a fly over the
roofs of San Pedro.
That was an hour rare Pnouprh to b'
remembered for a lifetime. Then the.
earth came to greet US again. How
it was managed I do not know, but
as the shadows on the water deepened
and twilight came we all were too en
tranced with the beauty all around us
to notice what the busy pilot was
about.
Then camp a call: "Oh. see! The
moon is giving us a shadow on the
earth. It's going on ahead of us like
a protector, just to pave the way."
And sure enough, there was the shad
ow, and as we passed on silently here
and there over reservoir or creek or
irrigation stream we could see the sil
ver reflection far below.
Still sailing on wo came back toward
the now glittering lights of the city at
2000 feet, so said the aneroid when we
could catch a glimpse of the. register
when the great bag overhead swayed
out of the moonlight's way.
All still with us. It was no time for
talk. But from below we rould hear
, \, m the sounds of conversation. Prom
one rancher's home we caught the fresh
i.(ii.c of a girl singing "Annie Laurie."
As we passed ovi r another ranch housn
we could see the horses, frightened by
our strange appearance, rushing madly
about the corral. From the house—
they had caught sight of the shimmer
of the gas 'lag in the moonlight—wf
caught the hearty cry: "Come in nnd
itop awhile. We're, goingl to have
some dinner. Come on down."
Invitation Is Declined
That sounded good but we wanted
lo get nearer home. Boys nelow v
now. as we drew nearer to earth,
shouted mi to us and swarmed after
us in a vain endeavor to keep up as
XV1 > traveled on over the houses and
the fields.
At 6:20 o'clock we were close to the
southern boundary of the city. There
still were fourteen bays of ballast in
the bag anil little of the. gas Had'been
lest.
•■shall we try a flight over the city?"
asked the pilot. "It will be rasy to
night but it maj take until midnight,
tor we cant come down among the
houses."
It was hard to say no, but there
v/ere buslnea duties and a- we pre
pared for the descent.
"When we go down, hang to 0
rings on (hat side" said the pilot, "i
one is to leave th.- bag until I say ■■
That was all there was to it. \\
di.i as lie bade us, and. at 6:-~< o'clocl
wi were safe once more on terra flrma
In a „|owe,l Held, after alighting
, ftß iiy thai i an.l all of the passen
gers rubbed their eyes and looked
| again to see v it "as true.
The big bag was there and in a
, few minutes an express wagon that
had b-eii keeping track of the Bight
grove up The men and boys of the
neighborhood lent a helping hand. A
hair an hours work aid the balloon
v\as dellaled and wrapped ill > and the
pil,,t arid bis nervy litlle wile anil
Heir guests were on their way back
to the eiiy and everyday life on a
street ear. _^ J -
DIDN'T LIKE TO BE "IT
Kill. I Tommy is no i *"l '■ waul
Mamma Ho« ilo yog know, dear?"
■• 'Chuso when i Ing him he newt want« to
be it."—Yoiikorn Statoßmiw. ~i<Sgg4s|M
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