The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1915-05-21

slender wooden bean extended up be-
side me and my gauntleted fingers
closed on it with the grip of a drown
ing man. | smiled a goodbye to the
surrounding officers, but it was the
sickliest smile | ever smole. A couple
of sweater-clad soldiers stood in front
of the machine, steadying the wings,
as you have seen men holding the bits
of impatient stage horses just before
the driver cracks his long whip. A
young lieutenant in overalls placed
or three spoken signals such as
him and the pilot at my side. Then
the lieutenant gave the propeller a
few turns, as one cranks an auto. and
the engine started. Faster and faster
flew the propeller; the noise rose to
deafening roar; the air rushed past
us, flattening out the grass behind.
Then the soldiers suddenly sprang
aside and we dashed forwarded over
the grass. The level ground and the
rubber tries made the motion SO easy
that | did not know we had left the
ground until | noticed it ten feet be-
low us. We were rising! Now |
thought of something | had often
heard of, and determined to watch for
it, | had always heard balloon men
say that they do not rise in the air;
that the earth drops away from them.
Well, perhaps it is so when going
straight up, but it was not so in our
case. The earth did drop away. 1t
stood still and we scared up into the
air away from it
Rising Motion Not Unpleasant.
The rising motion was not unpleas-
ant so long as the machine moved
steadily. But when it would give an
occasional upward heave-as you have
felt horse heave under you while
you were climbing rocky trail
found myself gripping the beam hard
err than ever | afterWard learned
that these sudden jumps were due to
a puff of wind. Now we were soaring
over the bay. Two men-o'-war, the
Yorktown and the Raleigh, lay there
at anchor. looking much smaller than
| had ever seen them before, and |
noticed that their masts were sticking
stright up beneath us. How hard
and sharp those masts looked! | saw
Mr.. Brindley move lever sideways
Systematically l gripped the beam!
Then | noticed that we were merely
making a turn-wheeling in the air
|
along parrellel to Point Iona PENN
sula, even with the top of the ridge,
and | remembered that it was some
three hundred feet above the sea! Al
ready the whizzing air was cold i'll our
faces and | blessed the lieutenant for
lending me the coat and helmet. And
the goggles-only for them | believe
the wind would blow a mans eyes
through the back of his head. We
: were going seventy miles an hour, but
= | did not know it until after we had
landed. Once | turned my head to
, speak to the pilot, but the wind gave
| my neck such wrench that | snapped
| my face to the front and kept it there
was afraid of throwing the machine
out of balance. | learned later that
5 aviators do look in all directions, and
2 even stand up and turn around; but
} that the leather helmets and the roal
l of the machine make conversation i'm
= possible.
. Now we careened again (if that!
= what they call it) and wheeled away
a from the beach, heading across tn,
= island. Below lay the Coronado hotel
r its spacious grounds, golf links ant
e race track spread out like q piece 0
), toy scenery. How did the countr,
look? Well, just as it looks from
tall building or tower, except that
7, roved by in endless panorama. Tn
" higher the machine is, the less motion
n is noticed. The sight reminded me o
d view | once had from the SUNNI
a of the Eiffel tower.
e And the sensation! 1t was change
l. able. AS long as | realized that tn
It machine was good, sound one, an
i that the man at the wheel was an eN
a perienced aviator who made man
lie such trips every day OF his lite, | te
Is comparatively safe and enjoyed tn
d. ride. But occasionally a differer
! thought would intrude itself. Wha
IS if wing should collapse. or the plu
ot refuse to spark, or the propelle
l. should fiy off or the machine shout
t, catch fire, as they have been know
k to do? Was | frightened at such
=" thought? YES! Most decidedly Br
IS it was the fright born of ignorance.
hit man who would not feel a thrill {
re fright under the circumstances wouI
&c be an idiot. Happily such though
a were few and Of short duration; NJ
ID frequent enough to spoil the trip.
~ Sailed Over the Bay.
" I Now we sailed over the bay one
lc more, the warshipS looking more din
Is inutivc than ever. We were still ri
ID ingl The road along the beach III
ca narrowed to a footpath. AS we file
ne again along Point Iona peninsula v
looked down ON the tall wireless pole
w | afterward learned that we were 81
I feet up Then received Il
D, thrill of my life! The roar of the e
s. CINE partially subsidized and the m
el chine headed downward! | thong
ut something had gone wrong and
it gripped the wooden beam until it c
rn like a knife. However, composu