The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-03-02
IIrsoIsG DoyS 1000 YEyT.

st<Sin ~ PfSBne-@StoF1 81 HIs
aftespG 90 Wts the AItftsde
Eseoest-seSTe Hacking Climb
Ep~sF5>-TbS Ue~cena al the
kt=ae Of NiJe iS Two HinHtes-
ThS CoIIspee,
sBy J. ArBsstrOrjG DTeSeLt
a. was on tbe trait between Pail
adeIphIa and sew York. bad
5sst received confirmation OF my
5itftade record of 9.SS7. the high
css man had eyeF been In an aero
DiaSe, and had fead In the evening
DaDers that MY great ambition 10
D. the fIrHt TO go 80 above the
coveted 10000 mark would never
be realized, for LeSaRneauG had
ssSen fO,4SS that afternoon.
Well" heard oac man ray TO
another. they have settled Dre1-
a1is record beyond all question now.
acre is a man who has beaten him
500 feet"
Yes" said the other. lit seems
10 get easier every day"
Easy Good Lord, They talk Of
altitude climbing - though H. ~er.
q pleasant little pastirne 10 b. non
chziantIy cnjOyed for 4 few mo.
uSnts before breakfast, much al
one would take n constitutional for
The beDcfitG 0f ones appetite.
Easy a man climbs and climbs
And strains eyfry nerve and mus
efe TO the bfeaking point. He
'sights inch by inch. forcing a frail
machine bcyopd anything It yaa
ever intended 10 ID. He hears the
creakin8 Of the woodwork and the
wiched singing Of the tsuiening ,
aires and IL. knows that one lit
Aic ounce more ~ rain somewhere.
anywhere and IL will all be over in .
the most horrible Of cnds. lie
DluDges onward and upward, sick
at heart ard body. utterly weary
and hopeless, nerves gone. strength ,
cbbips fast. train dizzy. ears burst
ing and eyes swimming. until
momentary spell Of near uscon-
sctouSness makes him pull himself
together for the awful hell Of that ,
iinai plunge 10 earth, 70 leave him F,
practically helpless when at last ,
nc docs reach the ground. And
they call all thiS eaBy.
In the old dnys pefhaps IL was
easy. One thousand feet was not
60 difficult. though man was a long
Cine In making Il, for he had tD
'carn confidence In himself and In
Oils machine. Two thousand feet
NFas merely another step. merely
9neStion Of more Confidence and
-Slss .HapB better mechanics.
Three tfsDgEaRd~ sad foDr thou
sand came and went and then en-
tered the new cItmcnt OF the lin
Itations Of human, endurance. for
~ began 10 bc seGp that not only
Wa the machine haelf reaching or
approaching tho point where the
ihting power abBoIutcly stopped |
out man himsclf began to give in
thc awful struggle upward and .
Inc still more aswfu catapuit 70
The ground again
No man will dScr bc able ade-
quateiy to descrlbe that long. vast
plunge 10 earth itftcr every nerve
has collapsed and every muscle re-
fused TO do more work upward. + /
nave experienced IL more often
Than any living aviator, yet even
now j cannot recall any detached
Or definite expression Of II; moth
ing but n shudderIng memory OF
nprror rushing by with an awful
sernse OF acknowledgements and fu-
tility of effort NJ fairly shrieked
through, the air To earth. with the
chances q hundred TO one against
II safe Iapding.
Anybody can climb for height"
said hornne. THE thing Is to get
down again"
And Moranc AAew knew
enough to give II PIP before death.
iust as the other altitude climbers,
except myself. gave 1t UP until
Young Legagneauy. newcomer,
startled us all bJ his marvellous
work that kept ME from my coveL-
ed honor OF bslng the first TO
touch 10000. Bot I venture TO say
that Legagnenux will walt long
time before he attempts this again.
One descent from that height is
likely to- be experience enough TO |
satisfy man bong time.
should like to FAYE had him
with me on my flight from PhiIa-
'deiphia for the altitude record,
that fellow who said IL was get
ting easier all the time" ven
-ture To soy that thefearter. when