Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-07-19

speedier Payton's aero is the better
for our present purpose, because the
less need he will have Of making an
early start for the rendezvous. II he
ran only q hundred miles an hour be
could do the distance to Utica IN six
or seven hours; but, Of course, he
won't hurry. He need not start be-
fore tomorrow night, and probably he
Will not, because he will prefer to
come on by night in order to run the
less risk"
That's what he did before" said
Mr.. Grayman.
"AIl right, then" said the secretary.
"We'u assume that that will be his
course. But we have no time 10 lose.
We must catch him before he starts.
Fortunately, Allan, l have ordered
your aero and four other cracks to be
ready to leave Washington, fully armed
and provisioned, on the receipt of a
dispatch from me. I'll tell them TO
come on at once. Now, Grayman, you
can go along or not, as you prefer"
"Tll 60" said Mr.. Grayman promptly.
Mr.. Grantham, in his dispatch, had
the foresight to order the aero to meet
us at a little town a considerable dis
lance east Of Buffalo, where MI. Gray
man and himself would run less risk
of recognition. Accordingly, after a
good meal we went by train to the
designated place, arriving a little be-
fora 1 osp1nal Az u-n aagPnn6nd from
the train l was delighted to recognize
the Eagle lowering e the little town.
The foul other aeros were running
about near, and a crowd had already
gathered about the station and In the
| street, watching them.
WED better get aboard as quickly
as possible" said Mr.. Grantham. Lets
walk a little way up the hill, out Of
town, and III signal the aeros to drop
down for US"
In response to the signal two of the
aeros, the Crow and the Eagle, swooped
down to the earth. My men were re-
joiced to see me, and l to set foot once
more on the deck of my beloved fier.
She had her full complement, but the
other was a little short, so L sent two
men aboard the Crow to make room
for the secretary and Mr.. Grayman
without weighing the Eagle too much.
1 wanted to have her in good running
trim.
snow, Lieutenant Allan" said Mr..
Grantham as soon as we were aboard
and afly, you are in immediate com
mand of this feet. l have ordered the
commanders Of the other aeros to rec
ognize you as their commanding Off
Ger and the Eagle as their flagship. l
shall continue to advise you, but you
will take charge of all technical de-
tails and give the orders. AS the fiers
are all duly armed and provisioned,
there is nothing to prevent our max
ing a start immediately"
No n could have been more eager
to start than | "os Instantly LEar
up the signal to get under way, the
Others being instructed to follow my
lead. Besides the Crow. already men
toned. there were the Osprey, the
Bobolink and the Skylark, all, as l was
E1do " oCt, IN DcSL IlClS LII AAc Sci v
ice, although 1 believed that none OF
them could keep pace with the Eagle
in a race.
The electric gun had already been In
vented, and each Of the aeros carried
two Of these terrible weapons, of q
caliber of two and a half inches, one
at the stern and the other at the bow,
They fired either shells or solid shot.
AS everybody knows, the electric gun
makes no report, but a sharp whish
is heard as the ~projectile leaves the
muzzle. These projectiles at that
time had an effective range Of three
miles, but when fired from an eleya-
ton they would often fall to earth at
q distance twice as great. 1t was,
therefore, necessary to be very careful
in using them over an inhabited coun-
try, and we used always to run out
over the sea for gun practice, employ
ing unnamed balloons for targets.
One of our aeros could easily carry q
hundred rounds of ammunition for
each gun.
There was great competition among
the gunners in craftsmanship, and /
had on the Eagle a Connecticut Yam
kee, Ethan Haight, who was pract-
cally a dead shot and a great favorite
among the men. We carried no drop
ping bombs, like the navy aeros, but
each had a stand of automatic rifles
and pistols, besides ~cutlasses. The full
complement was ten men, including
the commander, the engineer and the
steersman. On this occasion en-
tire fotilla carried thirty-eight fighting
men, my own crew comprising only
eight men, including yself, after ]
had made room for my two visitors.
There was a quick response to my
signal to get under way, and in a few
minutes, to the great admiration Of
the people below, the whole feet, with
its ~aeroplanes flashing in the sun, was
speeding northward, the Eagle in the