The Detroit times., 1910-06-11
EROP[AhE DIP is.
THRILLING AND
DARIkG FEAT
xank Hamilton, Swoops Toward
Earth With Motor in His Airship
Running at Full Speed, and
Rises Again.
He Will Try To Make Round Trip
From New York To Philadelphia as
Soon as Weather Permits.
BY w. q. SHEPHERD.

MINEOLA. l.. l.. June 1.-The
loop the-loop was thrilling. in its
time: the somersaulting automobile.
In the circus, was a hair raiser tne
3 man who Owed into the tank got ms
share OF the public attention.
But Frank Hamilton, with his aero
plane dip. outdoes them all.
Hamilton's aeroplane viii be climb
sng before your gaze at a speed oil %
miles an hour when. suddenly, as III
. Il had reached the top OF a ghostiy
A hill, Its nose will tilt downward.
/. Your heart ascends 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 down
ward In his machine feet first. His
\ former 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, q hundred, two hundred feet.
three hundred feet he shoots down
ward. II isn't gravitation alone that
s draws him: his engines are running
q top speed: the propeller Is dashing
\ him To earth. In another instant. II
neems, he will be dashed into the very
b ground and dig his own grave by the
very force of his impact
He's O human. daylight meteor.
3 You want to close your eyes to avoid
seeing his finish.
But wait Just millionth OF Sec
Ond? Al quickly as you can wink. he
draws IT'S steering wheel toward him.
The death that was only 10 feet
away from him Is gone; you see his
\ wonderful machine soaring along. on
even keel, q short distance above the
\ ground Within q moment 1t begins
again to climb. Your heart slowly
!. settles back into place. You swear
4 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 afternono. goes your heart
like q skyscraper elevator.
You're weak with excitement when
\ you leave the field at dusk. Hamilton
has been flying In village field; you
didn't pay anything to see him, but
n you had You wouldn't be regretting
It. The loop-the-loopers and the leap
of-deathers. In the circuses. whom yoq
have often paid good money TO be
thrilled by, are as old ladies In their
rocking chairs, compared with Hamil-
; ton and his dip.
But Hamilton isn't weak with ex-
citement. He's in his tent, calmly
a ayuokfng n ci1aret -
isn't that dangerous?" you ask
him.
mot as long as the machine sticks
a fogether," he says, smiling. Its dan
gerous to ride In baby buggy IL It's
not strong and good one; it's all a
matter OF having strong 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 OF the engine
when you Dip"
1T wouldn't be so much fun.
when you shut of the engine you have
to alight on the ground; you can't
A start dead engine up In the air.
There's no place to stand while you
crank IT.
How far could you Dip"
Five miles, IL I could get up that
high. 1t wouldn't be any harder to
keep her on the ground after q i've
mile dip than after city block one"
Isn't 1t hard to keep In your seat
when the machine is going down
ward?"
Il can't sit in the seat then. /
have to brace my feet on the cross
pieces and put my shoulders against
4 the water cooler behind me and lay
\ out stiff. I'm practically standing up"
lis It any fun?"
Indeed II Is. Everybody enjoys
4 sliding down hill. and this is only
sliding down hill on the air. without
single jar or q rattle"
One day Hamilton almost scared
y 70 death O poor little black-and-tan
dog In the center OF the three-mile
field at Mineola.
He swooped down on IL, causing II
TO yelp with fear, and then scared
4 away; turning. he caught up with the
bounding little bone-polisher, and
seemed to almost Craze its back. AZ
ter a third swoop the dog lay down
In the field. evidently making up its
mind to die right there. as escape
eeemed out of the question.
IT'S bad enough for dog and folks
TO have TO dodge automobiles from
right and left. but when you have ia
dodge things from above and at all
4 upward angles, we and the dogs
might as we'll give up.
n About the only safe direction. I'm
n fheaa DAYS of Hamilton Co nnuara