Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-08-23
JUST MERELY SURPRISING.
What May Happen When the Airship
Is Fairly Launched.

Is Fairly Launched.
There is very little doubt that the
alrship is an accomplished fact. What
boots year or two when time is fly-
Ing as swiftly as it does nowadays7
But has any one considered the new
dangers that will follow in the wake
OF the new machines2 Does any one
imagine that life for him Will be the
old, care free existence that Il has been
for most Of us, that when the air is
filed with iron and steel and wood
man VIII 90 his way unheeding upper
ether as of old?
OF course, IN the very nature Of
things, the first to equip themselves
with aerial racers will be the reckless
devils who now run gasoline jugger-
nauts on our highways.
Is it not easy TO imagine what they
Will do when they get up in the air?
Will life on the surface of the earth
have any semblance of safety while
white eagles" and red hawks" are
careering in upper air, splitting out
tools and now and then an occupant.
In these pleasant days If u man is
walking about New York all he has to
think of are the trolleys, the motor
cycles, the ordinary wheels, the auto
mobiles. the dear old horse cars and
the other horse drawn vehicles. in
Guiding the fire engines and the am
balances. If he is alert and spry his
chance of life is as good as that of a
soldier In n secondary skirmish. His
adversaries are all on the Level, so to
speak. and he can see what is coming
without raising his eyes to heaven. a
thing that mankind fell out of the habit
of doing ages ago.
But with the upper mir full OF ships
and the ships full of people and many
or the people full OF the intoxication
born Of free life I'm the void. why, I
would not write any pedestrians En-
surance without charging prohibitive
premium.
Let us suppose two irresponslbles In
an airship.
Hand me that wrench, Bill. There's
something the matter with this nut.
and 1 want TO take it off. Look out!
Gee. YOU just missed hitting that chin
neyi Can't you steer? Oh, you care
less idiot! What did YOU drop that
wrench FOR? 1t struck the north light
in that studio building. Let's get away
quick. I'll bet that you've killed the
artist ut work, to say nothing OF los
Ing the only wrench we have. Helloi
Did you see that? An old chap fell
out of that pink machine, and I'm
blamed IL he didn't grab the spire OF
Grace church, and there he isr'
''Shall we rescue him?"
RESCUE nothing. What's the mat
ter with his own people doing it?"
well, I'm going down there after
that wrench. L don't see any commo-
ton around that studio building. Guess
we didn't kill any one"
The airship turns, goes back, drops
until IL is about five feet above the
ground glass north light, and then the
man who dropped the wrench, making
a cone of his hands, calls out:
Say, you artist below there, did you
hear anything dropy"
moment later skyllght is opened,
and an excited man In u blue blouse
makes his appearance.
did you drop that wrenchg"
"Yes; awfully sorry. Did you find
itY'
81 came near finding IL on my head.
and If YOU were In n balloon instead OF
an airship I'd put you out OF commits.
sion. Confound you all! Life isn't
worth living since you left the high
ways"
lets have the wrench. that's good
fellow" - Charles Battell Loomis In
Century.