St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-08-23

the framework of the rib was covered
and which gives the supporting sur
face of an aeropl&ne. To the layman
the full import of such a realization
cannot be understood in its full force.
Briefly it meant that the cloth which
alone held me in the air had begun to
rip on that side, and I knew that at
the tremendous speed at which / was
going it would take only one good
grip of the wind under such a small
opening to tear the entire fabric from
front to rear, whip it or the frame
and leave me absolutely unsupported
on that side to go crashing below.
All this flashed across my mind in
an instant, and I made up my mind
to turn about and try to get back to
the aviation field.
/ came down in as easy curves as I
could because I did not want to put
any extra strain on the torn fabric,
and l kept my eye glued on that vi
brating piece of cloth, fascinated, held
spellbound by the problem of whether
it would continue to vibrate without
tearing until / got down another one
hundred feet or SO to comparative
safety, or whether it was merely wait
ing until the last moment to give a
final shrieking rip as though in a fend-
ish desire to tantalize me with false
hope as long as possible.
/ know that cold sweat stood out all
over my body. and it was only by in
stinct that l worked the controls Of
my machine, for my entire mind was
focused on that little Tapping shred
and all my thoughts revolved about
that one question of whether it would
bold long enough to let me get little
closer and have a chance for safety
in the fall if the rip did come.
Blessing of Something to Do.
AS look back on it, believe I
never even noticed the jolting of the
wheels when at last I touched the
ground. Dumbly and by instinct again
I had shut off the power on landing,
bringing the machine to full stop.
I sat in my seat as my mechanics
came running up, and with my eyes
still glued fascinated to the spot where
I had seen the tapping cloth waited
for them. When one of my men came
near l shouted to him to go over there
and see what was hanging to the
plane.
II do not see anything" he said.
''Isn't there a shred of the cloth
hanging there?'' asked.
He ducked under the plane and soon
came up. holding in his hand little
piece of string four or five inches long.
cit wasn't piece of CLOTH" he said,
sit was just a bit Of string that got
caught in bolt here"
Do not get the idea from what I
have said that an aviator is more or
less constantly engaged in fighting
fear when he is in fight. AS a rule,
a man in an aeroplane is far too busy
to think much Of fear, especially when
he is taking part in some meet. There
are pylons or turning posts to be
rounded, grand stands and Enclosures
to be avoided, outlines of ships to
drop bombs upon, circles and squares
to land in for accuracy and all such
details that keep a mans mind fully
occupied. The earth is near and fash
es by at the rate of mile a minute,
and, more than likely, there are other
machines in the air at the same time,
and the rules of the "road'' must be
followed or there will be disqualified
ton if not total smashup. So the
aviator is too fully occupied in guild
ing his machine according to the rules
to think much about the danger he is
in, yet, oddly enough, it is in this very
competitive form Of flying that he is
in most peril. In working by himself
he is least in danger, yet he is likely
to be more in fear, for he has more
time to think Of his peril and not so
much to occupy his mind and SO quiet
his nerves.
Panic From Nnfhinnr fn IN