St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-08-02

was debating whether to try for any
more altitude with the darkness of
evening gathering when my engine
began to sDutter and miss in way
that sounded as though there were no
more gasoline in the tank.
This. however. / knew could not be
the cause of the trouble. The tank
had been well filed before I started,
and what the trouble was l have new
er ascertained. but l felt the power
beginning to give out. and I showed
my steering post forward just about
in time to get the machines nose
pointed down when the engine stopped
entirety. There was nothing for it but
to plane down and get as near back
home as possible.
With the machine pointed right for
a long spiral glide. l looked below to
get my bearings. and that is where 1
got my first fright. The mists had
gathered so thickly that / could not
see a single glimpse of the earth.
There was nothing below me but
billowy sea of clouds. impenetrable to
the eye.
l blamed myself in forcible language
for my folly in not taking more care
full note of my position on the upward
climb. Now it was too late. / had
not the slightest idea what part of the
country l was over nor in what direc-
ton l was headed, but 1 had all I
could do to take care of the machine.
rushing downward through space as
was at the rate of seventy miles an
hour or more. l thought of nothing
except the steering and instinctively
tried to keep her. going in a general
way in about the same wide circles
that 1 had followed on my journey up.
Saved by a Fluke.
Soon l entered the clouds and began
to catch glimpses of the earth. l
thought I saw something that looked
like one of the buildings on our
grounds. and I steered accordingly.
aiming to plane down so as to have
plenty of room in the open land that
stretched for miles away from the
hangers.
Suddenly plunged through the
mists into the ordinary atmosphere Of
the earth's surface, and below me
there was nothing but trees, trees,
trees, as far as the eye could reach. 1
seemed to be directly over the heart of
a limitIess wood To land in the
branches meant certain wreck. I had
no power in the engine to give me a
chance to look about me for an open
ing. There was nothing to do appar-
emily but to plunge down among the
forest giants and trust to luck that the
wreck of the machine would not cut
me up badly and that my fall from the
top Of whatever tree landed in would
leave my features In good enough
shape for Identification at the inquest.
took a deep swoop downward and
then desperately turned the aeroplane's
nose upward to coast as high as the
momentum would take me and search
for clearing in this momentary re-
spite.
l plunged downward for a hundred
feet at a terrible rate; then at the mo-
ment of turning up my heart nearly
stopped beating as l heard a choking
cough from the engine. then another,
then another, and suddenly the br-r-r-r
of the cylinders as the explosions came
with full force, and the propeller, get
ting its grip on the air. put on all its
power. and climbed safely away from
the treetops. everything working per-
fectly and once more in control of a
safe and efficient piece Of machinery.
sailed close to the ground until l rec
ognized some houses over the edge OF
the wood. was more than twenty
miles from home; but, with the engine
working smoothly, the trip back was
mere child's play. and / was soon on
the ground again. being alternately
cursed and Rugged by Mac. while the
hangar.
The Eternal Question.
They are never pleasant to talk
about-these narrow escapes. It is
best to forget about them as soon
after they have occurred as possible.
for they get on the nerves, and things
that get on the nerves are not good in
aviation. It has always struck me as
odd that almost the first question the
average man win ask after he has met
me is:
"What was the narrowest escape
from death you have ever had?
This is simply another manifesta-
ton of that morbid desire for thrills
at another mans expense by demand
ing feats the aeroplane was never in
tended to perform. The aeroplane has
its limitations. and they are. so far.
very narrow ones. It viii do certain
simple things very well and if not
pushed too hard is not great deal
more dangerous than manufacturing
dynamite or being picked out by the
! Black Hand
The late Ralph tombstone recognized
| this clearly. and he once said, ut will
| rro+ 11c oil c011Q 6avn ssTf'' OOf him