The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-09-14
John w. Elstun Says Several of His
NeighbOrs Witnessed the
Strange Sight.
IT CARRIED THREE PERSONS
FROM VICINITY OF IRVINGTON 1T
DRIFTED NORTHwARD.
Speculation as to Whether 1t Was
Prof. Langley or santos-Dumont
What the People Say.

dianapolis at an early hour last evening?
If not, whence came and whose was the
airship which several residents of the east
ern part of the city and Irvington claim to
have seen lowering i'm that vicinity few
minutes before o'clock?
An airsilip, some mysterious creature,
neither of the earth nor of the seas, there
must have been, for not fewer than dozen
people saw 1T, and many others saw some
one else who saw it, and all along East
Washington street, from Tuxedo to the linn
it's of Irvington, excitement prevailed (espe-
cially among young boys) for several hours.
The heavenly visitor is said to have ap-
peared from the west and after circling
about above the residence of Hilton u.
Brown for few seconds to have darted off
to the north, soon to disappear in the grow
ing dusk.
Difficulty was experienced i'm finding any
one who had himself witnessed the appari-
ton. John w. Elstun. who lives in the
northwest part of Irvington, was reported
to have seen it, but upon inquiry it was
found that he had received his information
from others.
81 did not see the airship MYSELF" said
Mr.. Estun by telephone TO the Journal,
''but half dozen of my neighbors saw 1t
and are positive that it was an airship.
They describe it a cigar-shaped affair,
from which a basket or car was suspended.
In the car were two or three people, but
at least two, and one of them was appar-
emily steering the thing. The steering ap-
paratuS could not be seen, the airship was
TOO high for that, but those who saw it
thought they could detect smoke issuing
from one end of the affair." which indicated
that there was machinery of some kind
The airship came from the direction of
the city, but no one saw it, 1 guess, until
1t had almost reached Irvington. Then it
suddenly circled around and started off to
the north. No, those who saw it say it
could not have been an ordinary balloon,
nor merely a eigar-shaped balloon. They
and that the men in the car had it under
control"
MYSTERY DEEPENS
Dr. NJ. III. Williams, 1912 East Washington
street, is said to have seen the airship. but
ne could not be reached last night to con-
firm the report.
No one in the heart of the city seemed
to have seen the affair, which adds to the
mystery, as it was supposed to have come
from over the city. No one i'm Indianapolis
has been working on airship, at least
not to the knowledge of the public, and,
indeed, there has been no report of In
diana inventors who are seeking to accom-
plsh what Santos Dumont has worked at
for years and what Prof. Langley claims
TO have at last perfected-an airship that
is really an airship. Prof. Langley has been
conducting series of experiments with
his machine at Whitewater, Va, for the
past two or three weeks, and has met with
persistent hard luck, but he had announced
that he expected at last to get away with
his machine some time Saturday. 1t is
possible, although not altogether or even
slightly probable, that his trial of Satur-
day was success and that he came as far
west as Indianapolis on his first flight just
to show what he could do once his wings
/ In
STILL again. it might have been Santos
DumoDt, en- route from Paris to st. Louis
where he is booked for performances with
| his air ship during the coming exposition
| Or, one more guess, it may have been an
| other Darius Green. Or, last, it may all
have been mirage. a delusion. dream or
a hoax agreed upon by half dozen in
| triguers who found it easy to play upon
| the credulity of persons selected as victims
| One man who thought he saw the air
| ship said 1T would be useless to try to find
| out to whom it belonged because there
| were initials the rear end of the
thing and 1T was going at such speed that
nothing short of the wrath of the Omnipo-
| tent could overtake it to ndentify the chat
| feur. or whatever the driver or conductor
| should be called.
REPORTER IN IRVINGTON.
| The report that the aerodrome had passed
| over the classic suburb of Irvington took
| a Journal reporter hastily to the scene
| for an interview with those who had seen
/ III. lie drrleVu III the suburb some time
after the airship was said to have been
| sighted. 1t was not very late, but few
! lights were visible from houses and the
winding streets were as dark as Stygian
blackness with lights far distant. Arriv-
! ing in the main part of the suburb the re-
| porter found the drug stores closed and the
| only congenial spirits about the place were
| two men telling stories in front of the gro
1 Gerry. After further investigation he got
rumor of a boy who was said to have
| seen the ship. BY shouting and whistling
and beating off the dog, the boy was finally
brought down, sleepy of eye and brousy
| of head. When questioned il came out
1 tell about the thing. The other boy had
| seen il pass over Tuxedo, veering rapidly
| to the north. He said it was cigar-sha ned
| with an under car and propelling wheel
| at the stern. The cylinder of the shin was
| painted red. white and blue, and i'm the
| car were three men. The other bow had
said it was moving very fast Incidentally
| the other boy had remarked that il he had
had his gun he would have taken a crack
| at the thing.
An effort was made to find the .other
boy" but he was not at home. He had
| gone to Tuxedo again Another witness of
| the airship was "A negro who lives in the
eastern part of the city. His descriptiop
/ agrees with the others except that there
| that the airship was seen by many people
/ who attended the celebration at the German
! Protestant Orphans Home, in the south
| eastern part of the city. The machine was
reported TO have passed directly over the
| grounds. moving swiftly northeast. lit was
| said to have been very high in the air.