The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1908-09-24
LETTER FROM BILKIys.
a New Edition Of the Flying Ma
chine-Politicks and Flying Ma
chimes Both Oncertain-What Re-
tards Aerial Nayigation-John ID.
Rockefeller a Mighty Man-The
Wonderful Power of Money Again
illustrated.

mignty Man-The
wonderful Power of Money Again
illustrated.
Correspondence of The Caucasian
Enterprise.
Bilkinsville, N. c., Sept 21, 1908.
l see by the papers that the fiyin'
masheen hez bin discovered or in
vented, ergin.
This time hit iz by the Wright
Brothers, an they can't be any mis-
take erbout hit. Purity soon we will
be goin' ter preachin', prayer meet
In, perlitical conventions an every
thing else in airships an horses an
ortermobiles wont hev anything ter
do but pull plows an wagons an
Craze in the cool. grassy places In
the shady side ov the pasture.
An l am glad. l awlways did
feel sorry, fer horses an ortermo-
biles. The poor horses air often
ridden an driven ter death. An
the poor ortermobiles! Hit liz er-
nuff ter melt the hardest hearts ter
see them gruntin' an groaninn' an
squeakin' az they go by. They awl-
ways reminded me ov a poor horse
that IL purity nigh dead ov the It's
sick, or ov an old maid after she
hez lost the last sweetheart she kin
ever expeckt ter capture-an' hez
sworn vengeance erginst everything
that happens ter wear pants.
l hope hit IL awl true. But still
they IL one or two chances that the
Wright brothers air sum akin ter
the Wrong Mr.. Wright" an that
they will wind up themselves in a
whole lot ov trouble without sue
ceedin' in flynn through the air ter
any CRATE extent.
Pollyticks an fyin' masheens air
both nifty onsartin. l hev bin
readin' an hearin' ov fiyin' masheens
fer years an years. The more l
read an hear ov them the less 1 see
ov them. Hit hez bin said that the
great transportation lines awlways
buy off the inventors ov flynn ma
sheens. Maybe hit il true, maybe
not. But, unless some big lies hev
bin told, the Wright boys air not
the first ter be successful in f1yin'
through the air. Then what became
ov the invention, the ideas? Hit
hez bin sed by some that the flynn
masheen men awlways go crazy be-
fore they entirely perfect the ma
sheens. But that won't do; they
chr y-tn Cd fnr
make masheen. l don't say that
bekase l believe fyin' masheen inn
possible, fer they air bound ter
cum. But a man who il smart en-
huff ter invent an perfect masheen
ov that sort liz jist erbout ready ter
go crazy an hit iz az liable ter be
terday az hit il termorrer.
But we air bound ter admit that
progress hez bin made in foolin'
with fyin' masheens. The news
papers say that Mr.. Wright few
erround an made the figger So" in
hiz masheen the other day. That
does purity we'll. The first man ter
fly through the air in anything bet
ter than a balloon did the job at
the Paris Exposition some years er-
go. l hev forgotten hiz name. He
flew GROUND purity lively, making a
circle ov the Eiffell tower, which
wuz several hundred feet high. He
awlso few in strate line fer a few
hundred feet which counted fer the
igger "1''. Some other feller later
on made the fgger ''2" in fiyin'
masheen. Since that, various in
masheens an made the figgers SO, -
- )" 49," "6," an "7." So we can
not deny that progress hez bin made.
When they git so that they kin cut
the figger "9' in flyin' masheen
the fun will be erbout ready ter
begin.
Later on some feller did stunts
with a f1yin' masheen at the Worlds
Fair held at Chicago. But Chicago
| liz such a wicked city that he couldn't t
git very high up. They had a flyin'
masheen at the St. Louis Exposition
three or four years ergo, but the
lfeller that owned hit wuz very
fond oV beer an he wouldn't fly az
high az he could fer fear he'd never
git back down ter that city, which IL
awlmost az famous az Milwaukee
when the subjickt ov beer liz before
the house fer discussion. They awl
so had a flyin' Masheen at the James
town Exposition held at Norfolk las
lyear. Hit few more or less, bu'
finally got tangled up in the defici
they had in gate receipts an never
got very far from the earth, excep
in the newspapers.
| But keep your eyes peeled Eel
whatever happens. y One oV these
nice, cool days sum feller rite herr
lin North Carolina liz goin' ter In
vent a fyin' masheen that will max
awl the birds git ashamed and quit
lIf you will read most any Nortl
ICarolina history you will find tina
Init liz we North Carolinians who d.
things. Ameriky wuz first discover
led by a North Carolinian by tn
, name of Columbus. He couldn't Sc
anything except swamps an sane
hills erlong the coast an conclude
Init didn't ermount ter a hill o
Il beans an went over in Spain al
r tsettled. The first white child eve
Iborn in Ameriky wuz born in Mort
tCarolina an the first white settler
tier land in Ameriky settled in Mort
r Carolina. The first soldier kille
i durin' the civil war wuz a Mort
tCoro,;nian an the first officer xii