The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-05-25

i when one took note of their enormous
Iturret guns-twenty-inch, without
1 doubt, capable of hurting a ton Oh
/ more Of metal every five minutes.
counted ten battleships. five or six tor
/ pedo-boat destroyers Recognized by
their quadruplicate funnels) and sew
| eral cruisers. Two huge coal barges
were being towed several miles to the
rear. This much was visible to the
naked eye. Looking through my glass
could see a swarm of torpedo boats,
only their coming towers showing
above the water, lowering around the
TANKS and leading the advance.
The fleet was proceeding very slowly
in a great curve to the north, evidently
not desiring to advance nearer the
coast. By late afternoon it had turned
and was heading west at the same
pace.
AS the sun drew near the horizon and
the wind freshened l turned the nose
of my airship to the east and prepared
to spend the night aloft. / had been
sailing leisurely back and forth over an
area OF perhaps fifty miles, in hope of
seeing the German feet. Except for
the many passenger steamers coming
and going there was nothing to be seen.
was leaning over the edge of my
basket smoking idly. had just chris
tened my ship "L'Aimee," and was
when voice came down upon me from
the clouds.
Who are you," it called, in French.
/ looked up in astonishment, and
there fioated the strangest airship
had ever seen. 1t was merely an aero
plane, supported by great saucer-like
metal contrivances, with a small bas-
ket-car hung by slender cables. tt
swept by, some hundred feet above me-
and ! had a glimpse of a white face
looking down upon me. / sped up the
motor, and rising as I advanced soon
drew up alongside my fellow traveller
Then ensued brief conversation.
Where are you going?" I shouted
He was not more than hundred yards
away.
II don't know. My steering fans
won't work, and / cannot turn. sup
pose l shall have to consider myself
bound for America"
Eyes"
Drop to the sea, then, and will !
pick you up. My ship steers perfectly"
We were now far beyond the fleet. i
descended by degrees. The other tipped |
his planes slightly and started down |
on a long slant, like a boy coasting /
down a hill. When within twenty feet
Or less Of the water he tipped the planes
sharply In the other direction, and his /
ship stopped with a shudder, lowered /
for a time like a brooding gull, and set
tied slowly into the sea. was close
behind him with small rope-ladder,
and minute later, dripping wet, but
he clambered into my car.
Then we rose again to the two-thou-
sand-foot level and with just enough
on to overcome the wind, lay
vs. In calm.
found that my guest was none other
han Emil LeF'evre. son of the great in-
yentor of submarines and explosives.
When he had disrobed and hung his
vet clothes to dry in front of the radi-
tors, swathing himself in a rug mean
While, he gave me brief account of his
Quincy. The world was ringing with
he news of the great battle on the
satalunian Plain; how the French had
'een all but whipped when their feet
L airships, belated by some misman-
came upon the scene with the
lew explosive, glycolite, and sent the /;
Germans back upon their camp, kill
ng and manning thousands. There
lad been no movement on land since Il
hat. All eyes were now turned toward
he sea, where the fleets were watching !