The St. Johns herald., 1897-06-12
Not Like Falling off a Log
Isan Fransisco Examiner,J l

News comes from the Pima Ressrva- ton in Arizona that the Indians of that happy land are employing their elegant leisure in the building of an airship. 1.-two of tue chief medicine men" being engaged in bossing the job. There simple faith is based, as the local chrc. nicler relates, on "a model found iu one of the illustrated weekly papers" that reach the reservation. Further, the story runs that the ship resembles a canoe with huge propeller much like that which appears in the illustrations of most of "the standard airships." 1t is something, of course, that the coun- try has arrived at that point of mechan- ical evolution that we already have . standard airship." It's not. ofcourse, quite so valuable as a lying airship, but it is an elementary law of physics that we must stand before we can fly. IL is satisfactory to know that the pre- valent and popular airship is patient beast that will stand without hitching and even needs as much goading as the foothill burro before it starts, as the sagacious small boy remarks, "to get move on."
 The wise men of the Pima tribe, how ever, propose to overcome the constitu- tional laziness of the weekly paper air ship by taklngit up to high place, as one might say the jumpingoff place, and making the ship jump by the sim pie proces of pushing it over the edge. ''Ir is calculated" proceeds the chro- nicler, 'that the airship will be ready for launching by the middle of the week." 1t is even possible that it may be launched at one fell swoop from the middle of thls week into the middle of next.
 This community was entertained and amused not so long ago by the airship picture printed by local contempor- ary. They came in flocks. The skies were full of them. They were birds of nocturnal habit, sort of fly by night, and It was interesting evidence of the doctrine of evolution that every several airship of the fleet was provided with . giant eye to pierce the gloom. Dr. Jor- dan will tell you that the old red sand. stone airship had but a rudimentary eye. Yet we have not heard that any, body in this neighborhood was encour. aged by the pictures to built mechan- lcal blrd with beamlng eye,= much less to jump of a high place. Less civilized communities have felt enceur- aged on smaller provocaLion to take the first step to convert the editor into an airship by Hedging him with a coat of tar and feathers, but we distinctly disapprove of this course.
 To return to our Indians. It is relat. ed that there has been no difficulty in securing a crew of volunteers to man the airship when it starts to sail the ether blue. We would not be under stood to throw stumbling blocks in the way of science; we would not discourage the adventurous pioneer in the dim. wide fields of invent ton; but 1t seems that the publisher of the weekly paper taken at the Pima Reservation is in danger of losing subscribers by his en- terprise, and it is certain that however devoted he may be to tho cause of human progress. no man would more regret the news that constant reader had been distributed to the four winds of Arizona and had been gathered to his fathers Tn basket, fragmentary martyr to the editorial gospel that fly ing is the same thing as falling o6 a log.