Mrs. Grundy. (Tracy City, Tenn.) 1903-1930, 1911-03-02


Edith Hulse up n balloon, boys"
proposed to her when they we're 10000
feet in the air while the other man in
the basket was looking the other way;
and now they are married!
DR.. Stowell tried something differ
ent. He might have proposed to her
in an automobile or on the deck of
yacht by moonlight, or even in the
hammock on the back porch; in other
words, he might have proposed just as
millions of other men have proposed.
But on the spur Of the moment he
chose the air as the scene In which
to bring his wooing to climax-and
won out
When his good airship landed In a
rocky pasture he had the promise; the
rest was easy, thanks to this new way
of winning her. The 100 pounds or
so of ballast is now Mrs. Stowell.
At the beginning it looked as if DR..
Stowell stood little chance. Miss HUI
Sc, daughter of Schuyler Hulse, of
Pittsfield, Mass, was one Of the bellies
Of the Berkshires. DR.. Stowell prac-
tised in Pittsfield too, and one day he
met Miss Hulse.
lure of the City Felt
At length he gained the coveted in
vitation to call. The handsome young
physician took the very first oppor-
t1nity. The visits continued until one
day the young woman remarked in a
very off-hand manner, I'm going to
New York to study nursing"
What" answered DR.. Stowell, bare
ly sitting gasp.
Yes ratified on Miss Hulse, its
all arranged. I'm going to Bellevue
hospital there and shall take the full
course. Won't IN be fine?"
Miss Hulse left Rittsfield soon after
ward and Dr. Stowell never got the
chance he longed for. He stayed at
home while Miss Hulse went to New
York Automobling had always been
his hobby, but folks had the balloon
fever in Pittsfeld just then and DR..
Stowell got 1t, too He Joined the
Aero Club of Pittsfield-the premier
place for the sport in the east, with
its big gas works and its host of aero
sharps. Soon he had che bug" as
they say
I'm going to qualify as an air-pilot,
declared DR.. Stowell to his friends, and
he went about 1t in matter-of-fact
formal way, with each flight, making
his records and studying the science
of aeronautics as if he intended to
make it his life work.
He essayed the air for the first time
going up as a passenger with William
Van Sleet The wind was high and
the pair were blown to Tyngsboro
Mass, but they landed in safety after
a wild trip through the clouds. That
started his qualification for air-pilot
Under the rules of the Aero Club Of
Pittsfield a candidate must make six
and one of the flights must be al
night. All these Or Stowell made
but not without peril
Peril in Night Flight.
The night fight was punctuated by
a terrific thunderstorm In which the
balloon was in ,momentary peril of be
ing struck by lightning. In another
flight he was blown across the State
of Massachusetts, dipped down till be
hit the waters of the Hudson river
only to rise again and bang agains
the rock bound sides of the Palisades
But one by one, the flights were made
There was but one left, and then he
would become full-fedged captain o
the air. He could fly alone now, if ht
chose, or take a person.
He decided that his first passenger
should be John p. Manning Of Pitts
field. 1t CHANGED that day that Mis-
Hulse was in Pittsfield too, on leave
of absence from the hospital in New
York. She went to see the balloon
flight and was in the crowd that gath
cred about the Juggling thing of sill
and gas that half hundred men coulC
barely hold down.
They had chatted and laughed to
gether before things were ready, ant
Miss Hulse stood close to the baske
to see the cast-off. Dr. Stowell wa
busy setting things to rights and get
ting everything ship-shape when h
noted that his airship seemed ever
too buoyant. 1t was plain to his ex
perienced eye that she would shoe
up in the air like rocket-somethinj
that every aeronaut breads.
He glanced about There was n,
more ballast-yes, there was Miss HUI
Sc, who stood smiling by the side O
the basket to watch DR.. Stowell maxi
his upward shoot into the air Per
haps something else beside mere bal
last was in his mind too.
Perhaps there was something In
pair of merry eyes!
Invitation Accepted.
Anyway, the budding man OF the al
made no his mind right then and there