New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-10-20
AN AEROPlANE RIDE.

70 the Editor OF The Tribune Junior
Forum:
! Nutting time being here, a party OF four
bovs. including myself started out at
o'clock on cool Saturday morning for
chestnuts and fun; and found plenty Of
| each.
| After walk OF Ave miles we reached
a spot which we had noted earlier In the
] summer as n first rate place for chest
nutting, a spot evidently not well known,
as we found there an abundance Of nuts.
We vigorously bombarded the trees with
clubs, and as there had not been much
/ frost we had to spend considerable time
! in pounding the chestnuts out OF the
burrs. After two or three hours OF such
exercise we found our bags nearly full
and our stomachs quite empty. so we in
| terviewed our lunch boxes, which our
mothers had literally supplied with good
things for hungry boys. After dinner a
game OF ball was proposed and played In
a large clear field, which we found near
the woods.
Just as we were firing OF ball playing
we heard a peculiar noise overhead, and
looking skyward saw an aeroplane how
gTlnR over US. very UuI'hiN HtAlll6 OhN
of the way, we watched the person. who
ever IL was, descend. Soon the machine
reached earth, and young man sprang
out. OF course, We all crowded around, as
none OF US had ever been so close To
flying machine before.
Something was the matter with the
motor After IL was repaired To the own
er's satisfaction, he sat down and talked
with us. answering our numerous ques-
lions about the machine and how to
operate It. Then he invited US 10 take
a ride with him, each I'm turn. We drew
cuts, and the first ride fell to me.
Tho machine ran on the ground for
little way, but soon began TO rise, rise,
rise until We were above the trees. After
clearing the trees we shot of al fast
rate OF sped. O-o-oh. IL was cold. The
wind whistled in my ears. II seemed to
mo II was angry because this huge bird
went against a. To speak was impOS-
sible, the wind roared so. | looked down
for an instant and all | saw was lines
Of different colors. Here "A green line
for grass or trees, there yellow or
the road I took to be automobiles or
trolley cars. But good things do not
last forever, and soon We were on the
homeward trip. ! saw so much that
thought we had been up for fifteen min
utes or more: but. on alighting, barely
| five minutes mad elapsed. ] thanked him
for the ride and then he took another
boy. We all had practically the same ride,
40 | won't dwell upon inc inherent trips
When the last one had been given we all
thanked him again and filed his pockets
with chestnuts We watched him until
ne was out Of sight and then we began
10 tell how We each felt up in the air.
II began to grow late. so we gathered
enough more chestnuts TO fill our bags
also our pockets. and started for home
brimful OF news. What a sensation we
would create by our story. or course
some one wouldn't believe US. but we
didn't care.
Having walked about three miles We
heard that humminB sound again, and
Immediately we looked up to see IL our
friend was coming down, but instead he
dropped some slips OF cardboard attached
To a little iron weight Picking them
up, we read on each the name and ad-
dress OF our friend OF the aeroplane. Then
we had something to back up our story.
The last two miles were the longest II
seemed. that we ever walked But we
reached home at last and told our story
to attentive listeners
JOSEPH LEPSEY (aged l5).
New Haven. Conn. oct. 3. 1872