Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-10-30
RIDING ON A ST0RM.


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81 don't believe tbess q any such
thing - an airshipP' exclaimed the
man who had his chair tilted back
against tn side Of tho ho1el md who
was allowing cigar aaAes to drop On his
vest.
but people have sen IT," exposeu-
hted The man who wears long rcd side
whiskers ON his head and pats ON his
feet.
The other members II Tie Curbstons
club drew their chairs mp closer and
looked interested.
(which simply goes 20 show." We
the reply. "that We are living In IN era
Il adulteration. Nobody ever NV things
like that before they got to making
chemical laboratories take the place Of
distilleries. What do We want with IN
airship anyhow"
Scientists nay It's bound to come"
veutured the proprietor Of white vet
and . plated shirt bosom.
"Of course scientists tell % IT'S CON-
ing. Scientists have families to support
the same as other people. and IT'S their
business to keep public confidence mp.
And don't deny that the airship may
be coming some time. But IL won't get
here till conditions demand il. What
could you do with an airship that can't
be accomplished just as well with q
trolley car or o steamshipor bicycle1'
Some drops Of rain gave warning of
. storm, and when the party had got
settled In the smoking room the skepeic
resumed:
Surprising they do fix up an arrange
ment to take you up in the air. What 10
there to do except to como down againl
OF course You can 60 from place to
place, but straight line Is the shortest
distance between two points, and what
the use of taking the extra trouble Of
travelling on a curve through the atmos-
pierre? II there were some way Of an
choring cloud and starting roof gar
den ON it, I'd say, GO ahead and have
the airship, By all meana' There'd be
money in it."
But" ventured he Of the plated
shirt 'front.' ''it would be nice way b
travel, plenty Of fresh air and room,
you know"
The STERN had increased outside un-
til its noise attracted general attention.
The man with side whiskers went b
the door and exclaimed:
II guess this il the worst w even
had in this part Of the country"
1T might be that and still MOI
amount to much" contemptuously 10.
sponded the wearer of the ash sprinkled
vest. Its coming down In drops 20 fan
apart that you can see between them. 81
They're puntty big drops, though. 81
"Pshaw! Compared to the real thing,
this shower Ii nothing but q leak in 3
wash boiler. By the way, somebody
was claiming that airship travel would
be commodious and comfortable and Ill
that sort Of thing"
II said that" came the rather timid
confession.
did you ever try voyage ct . srea'
altitude?''
emo"
II thought not II you had. yos
wouldn't make any such assertion.
"A number Of years ago I won't viii
. friend for q trip on Lake Erie. That
the place for storms. His boat was {
small screw propeller and one Of tn,
swiftest affairs ever built We saw {
storm coming. and. In spite Of oul
efforts to run away from It, It overtool
Us Talk about raini What We encoun
tered there was . perpendicular river
Ny friend staid On deck 70 see that vi
didn't run into anything. and I, d
course, stood by him. In few miuute
realised that II something wam't don
we'd drown right in our tracka wait
ed my opportunity, and presently. whea
. big wave came along and tilted th'
boat up 20 that the deck stood at an an
gle Of about 45 degrees, turned the en-
CINE loose for all there was In ik
glanced ut my friend He Wa white q
sheet but he grasped my hand In 10
hen Of his approval Of what I Wa do
ing. Il was desperate chance, but I
turned out as had hoped Tho boat be
gan to rise steadily and swiftly On
slant Il was . time Of hofxble sua
pense. for we didn't know what minut
the craft might strike thin SPOT In tn
STORM that the paddle wheels wouldn'
take hold a. But We got safely to tn
top and both sank 10 tie deck in utte
exhaustion- When we recovered sum
ciently, We took . survey Of our sur
roundings. and I give you my word
newer experienced anything more dreR
than the impression made BY the TIE
, mendous expanse IL Vacancy which me
!. our gaze On all sides. After . few hur
Of IL I would have given . fortune 70
the sight Of few telegraph poles Or th
sound Of train boy peddHng @mgsa
i "How did you get downi" aaked On
o6 the group.
eve didn't bother about thak Alta
playing seven up till We spt tired Of th
, 9am0 We TUNED in. and Vhe1 -