The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-03-02

had read in the evening papers that
nv great ambition to be the first to
70 up above the coveted 10000 mark
would never be realized. for Legag-
neaux had risen 10,499 that afternoon.
Well" / heard one man say to an
other. they have settled Drexels rec
ord beyond all question now. Here's
fellow who has beaten him by 500
feet"
Yes" said the other. TT seems to
get easier every day."
Easy! Good Lord--they talk of al
titude climbing as though it were
pleasant little pastime to be nonchal-
kntly enjoyed for a few moments be-
fore breakfast much as one would
take a constitutional for the benefit Of
,ne's appetite.
Easy! A man climbs AID climbs and
strains every nerve and muscle to the
breaking point-he fights inch by
lnch forcing a frail machine beyond
anything ii was ever intended to do
he hears the creaking of the wood
work and tho wicked singing Of the
tautening wires, and he knows that
pne little ounce more OF strain some
where. anywhere. and 1t will all be
over in the most horrible of ends-he
plugs onward and upward. sick at
heart and in body, utterly weary and
hopeless, nerves gone, strength ebbing
eyes swimming until momentary
spell of near Inconsistencies makes
him pull himself together for the awful
hell of that final plunge to earth, to
leave him practically helpless when at
last he does reach the ground-and
they call all this easy!
In the old days, perhaps, IL was
easy. One thousand feet was not so
difficult, though man was a long time
making IL, for he had to learn con-
hdence in himself and in his machine.
Two. thousand feet was merely another
step--lnerely a question Of more con-
fdence and, perhaps, better mechanics.
Three and four thousand feet came
and went, and then entered the new
element Of the limitations Of human
endurance, for it began to be seen that
not orly was the machine itself reach
ing or approaching the point where
the lifting power absolutely stopped,
but man himself began to give out in
the awful struggle upward and the
still more awful catapult to the ground
again.
No man Will ever be able adequately
10 describe that long. vast plunge to
earth after every nerve has collapsed
and every muscle refused to do more
work upward. / have experienced 1t
more often than any living aviator, yet
even now 1 cannot recall any detached
Ur ueIlHltt impressions Ol lt-UOlHlTR
but the shuddering memory Of horrors
rushing by with an awful sense Of de-
fenselessness and futility of effort as
fairly shrieked through the air to
earth with the chances 100 to / against
a safe landing
Anybody can climb for height"
said Morane. THE thing is to get
down again."
And Moranc knew-Knew enough to
give II up before his death. just as the
other altitude climbers, except myself.
gave it up until young LegagneauX. q
newcomer startled us all by his mar
velous work that kept me from my
coveted honor of being the first to
touch 10000. But / venture to say
that Legagneauy will wait long time
before he attempts this again. One
descent from that height is likely to
be experience enough to satisfy man
for long time.
CLIMBING THE AIR STAIRS ABOVE
THE CLOUDS.
! should like to have had him with
me on my flight from Philadelphia for
the altitude record-that fellow who
said 1t Is getting easier all the time"
venture to say that hereafter, when the
papers record another altitude record
In a few brief words, he would do as
do-shake his head and draw his breath
vi through Ills teell at inc realization
Of the ages of suffering that the aviator
must have undergone during his hour
and some minutes of flying.
That man should have seen the beau
tiful Bleriot as she swept gracefully off
the ground with me that day at Point
Breeze and as she flew. without effort
and with scarcely a tremor. in the first
vide preliminary circles as mounted
the first 1000 feet.
Easy! That would have looked easy
enough. certainly.
There didn't seem to be n bit of eff
fort to 1t, l imagine. The machine must
have looked like a great gull or a buzz
sard floating on the breeze, and / sup
pose / might have been sound asleep
In her for all the spectators on the
ground could have seen Of motion or OF
effort on my part.
Then came the clouds and l worked
my way UP through them, hoping that
they would not be thick nor last long,
for above the clouds in the sunlight are
the wickedest gusts, and it means fight
-fght-fght-all the time.
The hand Of the aneroid barometer in
front Of me kept creeping round and
round as mounted; the first 1000 fee,
were tolled off quickly and then more
and more slowly the indicator went as
| entered the thinner strata OF the up
per air and began the struggle to pass
the thousand marks. Three. four, five
six, thousand I passed, each one taking
an increasing length of time and re-
curing more OF physical effort and
mental and nervous strain.
Soon the hand Of the aneroid begar
20 caper back and forth / knew l was
mounting steadily. but the little instru-
ment did not show it and finally Topped
back near the starting point and stayed
there. The aneroid had evidently gone
higher than IT was ever intended to &C
and now was completely out Of COM
mission.
A biograph-which is a recording
| barometer. encased in quite fair sized
wooden box with glass front-hao
teen tied about my neck and hung II
| front Of me, just far enough down fol
| II to rest easily In my Jap as l sat IN
my seat. took one hand from the
control and turned the face Of the bar
ograph up toward me. Through the
glass front ! could see the purple line
that had traced my ascent. / felt sur,
that must be near the top. 1t seemed
ages since had started and the ter
rible cold was beginning to penetrate
even the thick. fur lined clothing tina
! had had made particularly for thi!
Tight Ny hands were beginning L
get numb and I felt that my ears would
burst with the pressure from inside
my head or. rather, with the lessen.
Ing Of the pressure outside. My nerve!
and my muscles. too, began to give
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