The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-06-22
'AEROPLANE DIP AsOEATH TEASER
SWOOPs TOWARD EARTH
WITH MOTOR RUNNING AT
FULL SPEED - THE MOST
THRILLING OF ALL THRILL
Frs"
BY w. q. shepherd

~ We Ne OhDphhCHu
MINEoLA, L. l., June 22.-The
loop-the-loop was thrilling. in its
time; the somersaulting automo-
bile. in the circus. was hair rails
Ter; the man who dived into the
tank got his share of the public
attention.
But Charles X. Hamilton, with
his aeroplant dip, outdoes them all.
Hamilton's aeroplant will be
climbing before your gaze at a
speed of so miles an hour, when
suddenly, as IL 1t had reached the
top of ghostly hill, ITS nose will
tilt downward. Your heart as
lcends toward your throat. Down,
down, down the nose points. You
see Hamilton bracing his feet and
leaning backward with all his
might. He is shooting downward
In his machine feet first. His for
mer climbing speed of so miles an
hour seems to have been almost
doubled. Your heart pops up to
the entrance OF your throat and
seems to stop your breath.
Fifty, hundred, two hundred
feet, three hundred feet he shoots
downward. 1t isn't gravitation
alone that draws him; his engines
are running at top speed; the pro-
pellor is dashing him to earth. In
another instant, it seems, he will
be dashed into the very ground
and dig his own grave by the very
force of his impact.
He's human, daylight meteor.
You want to close your eyes to
avoid seeing his finish.
But wait just a millionth Of a
second! AS quickly as you can
wink. he draws his steering wheel
toward him.
The death that was only a few
feet away from him is gone; you
see his wonderful machine soaring
along, on an even keel, a short
distance above the ground. With
in a moment it begins again to
climb. Your heart slowly settles
back into place. You swear that
you will not remain there and have
this daredevil jerk your heart
back into your swallowing place
by another dip.
But you do. You stay there just
as long as he's in the air. Up and
down, up and down, twenty times
during the afternoon, goes your
heart like skyscraper elevator.
| You're weak with excitement
when you leave the field at dusk.
Hamilton has been flying in a vii
llage field; you didn't pay anything
to see him, but If you had you
wouldn't be regretting it. The loop
the-loopers and the leap-of-death-
ers, in the circuses, whom you
have often paid good money to be
thrilled by, are as old ladies in
their rocking chairs, compared
with Hamilton and his dip.
But Hamilton isn't weak with
excitement. He's in his tent, calm
lily smoking cigaret.
isn't that dangerous?" you ask
him.
mot as long as the machine
sticks together" he says, smiling.
TITS dangerous to ride in baby
buggy IL it's not strong and good
lone; it's all a matter of having
Istrong material and knowing how
to operate the machine"
Suppose a wire breaks?" you
ask, glancing toward the thin steel
wires that brace the planes.
Good night" he says.
why don't you shut off the en-
gines when you dip?"
at wouldn't be SO much fun.
Wouldn't come down so fast. Be-
sides, when you shut off the en-
CINE you have to alight on the
ground; you can't start dead EN-
CINE up in the air. There's no
lplace to stand while you crank