The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1913-11-27
AN
AERONAUT
By FRED L. YOUNG

with a number of boxes, which were
marked Machinery" he was q
pleasant spoken, hail-fellow-weil-met
sort Of person, who made acquaint-
ance rapidly with the other passenssrs-
He bet freely on the daily run Of the
ship and IL be won opened wine to Gel
ebrate his good luck and II be lost
opened wine to celebrate the winners
luck. In either case be opened wine
Billy Msckieton, the gentleman re-
ferred to, soon became known as the
best fellow on the ship.
whats In all those boxes, Mickle-s
ton, you brought aboard with YOUR
asked a passenger.
when we approach the Atlantic
coast you'll all know. I'm going to
make an experiment that will attract
the attention Of the world"
"Why not tell us now?'
"Tm under contract with q New
York newspaper to keep the secret till
the last moment The paper Is to have
the exclusive rights Of publication"
Nothing so absorbs people as cEios-
ity, and the Orinoko had not long
passed Madeira before everybody was
talking about Mickleton and the expert
ment he was going to make. Some be-
lieyed 1t to be a trial trip OF a new
kind Of boat, whose parts were packed
In the boxes. Others guessed that he
had invented a light submarine to be
managed by one person. He would
put 1t In the water when the ship was
off Sandy Hook and, moving under
water, beat her to her dock. A third
crowd guessed that Mickleton intended
to be shot out of mortar from the
ships deck and come down with q
patent parachute.
When the ship was 500 miles from
port Mickleton secured the permission
Of the captain to remove the contents
Of the boxes to the upper deck. When
they had been unpacked and carried to
put together an aeroplane. The pas
sengers gathered about him to watch,
some who knew something about
aeroplanes curious to see the machin-
cry put in. But Mickleton waited till
they all turned In for the night to do,
this work, and when they came on
deck in the morning they found the,
aeroplane concealed under a canvas;
cover
The captain kindly ordered the ships
carpenter to make passage for theI
machine by taking down the stern rails
and otherwise render start possible
When all these things were done andI
the passengers had nothing to do butt
wait they crowded around the aero-l
naut and piled him with questions. Isl
1t new power you're going to testg's
"Are you going in ahead Of the ship OIL
going to make transatlantic fightFl
is it to break record for speed or
for height or for distance"
Mickleton said that it grieved himI
not to be able to satisfy them, but that,
he was dependent on the newspaper
with which he had made his contract3
,or funds to carry out his experimentl
and If he let out anything he would
forfeit a small fortune. When mani
became too persistent Billy opened Al
bottle Of wine.
Fire island was sighted at 8 o'clock
in the morning. At 10 Mickleton was
ready for his fight. The last article mel
nut on his machine was small box
He opened it and showed provisions
From the size Of the box it might con-
tain food and drink to last a week. 1t
was evident from this that the flight
Nas TO be long one, and 1t was the
,p;nion of most Of the passengers that
Nickleton was intending to make
stroicht across the Atlantic back to
Gibraltar. If necessary he would have
stopping points at the Azores and Ma
deira.
JUST before starting Mickleton went
to tbe wireless office and sent mes
sage in cipher to a New York news
paper. If any one had any doubts as
TO the truthfulness Of the aeronauts
excuses for not telling his intention this
removed them Leaving the wireless
office. he returned to his aeroplane,
vent under the canvas, made a hnai
inspection Of the parts, then. removing;
the cover. got aboard. Sailors on al
run pushed him along the deck; ne3
caught the air. hardly striking thel
water surface, then rose gradually.
The ship was steaming westward
along the Long Island coast. The aero
plane. rising, turned toward the land,
passed over the eastern end of thes
island and gradually passed out OIL
sight. The Orinoko reached Sandy
Hook about noon, but, being delayed]
at quarantine. was not docked till the.
next morning. Every passenger was,
on deck and eager to read the account
of the aeroplane fight, the start OF
which he had witnessed. Not single.
newspaper mentioned 1t.
Mr.. Mickleton passed out OF the