Williams news., 1916-06-29

| to miniature railroad extending sev- eral hundred feet outside the shed. | The pilot is taking the sun with sextant. We saw being posted re- ports of the velocity of the wind and condition of the atmosphere constant ly received by wireless from meteoro- logic stations along the well charted route we were to travel Unless the weather conditions are entirely favor able no ascension is permitted.
 AIoft In Twinkle of Eye.
 Fortunately, the weather conditions are perfect. The pilot in the forward gondola tests the steering gear, which by the way, is the same as on yacht; the powerful gasoline engines of 145 horsepower each, one in the forward and two in the rear car, are started, to see that they are running smooth ly. The wireless operator from his cabin on board sends his first mes- sage and we are invited to come on board
 We mount the aluminium ladder to the mahogany finished cabin amidship, which is built into the keel of the afr ship instead of being suspended below as are the two cars (gondolas, they are called) which contain the engines and crew of eight. The comfortable wicker chairs in the cabin will accom- | modate 24 passengers. AS the pas sengers embark enough water to | counterbalance their weight is let out of the reservoirs in the keel of the ship, the engines are started and we back slowly out of the air shed. A small army of men hold onto the ropes that dangle from the ship to control it when the cables that attach | it to the railroad are cast off. ! When free of everything we pause just long enough for the photographer to get in his work, the captain calls out, Cast off," the floor slants up- ward at anything but an alarming angle, the earth slips gently away from under you, and in the twinkle of an eye you are sailing 800 feet over the spire of the cathedral, with not the slightest feeling of fear or dizzi- ness. Should your heart come up into your mouth, the waiter stands ready to serve liquid refreshment to wash it down again. The other woman pas- senger on our trip availed herself of this good excuse to take nip of that justly celebrated German apricot 'schnapps," sort of Spirits of the air"
 "A Soap Bubble in the Air"
 The predominant sensation of flying is buoyancy-you are soap bubble in the air-you are swimming again on inflated bladders as when boy in the old swimming hole-you have. lost | gravitation-weight is annihilated- your fear is not that you may drop to earth, but that you are never going to alight again-you have become satel- lite to Mother Earth, and you don't care a darn. The air you breathe is aerated champagne-you want to talk all the time, and you do-you can hardly keep from singing. I didn't. hummed an old song:
 Up in balloon, boys.
 Up in balloon;
 | Up among the little stars,
 A-sailing round the moon.
 of the vintage of '73. You remember it?
 You gaze down as through a most fascinating kaleidoscope on the world and for the first time realize what a "bird's-eye view" really is. You see an entire city at once. In one gfance you see what it took thousand years to build. It looks like the blue print of an architect, only the buildings are not drawings, they are real The river is not a crooked line, it is running water. The trees are real trees and that little man on the funny, marrow street is alive. An octagonal sky scraper looks like a brick wall pulled out of it's hole and set to one side. You see into the heart of solid city block and find pleasant gardens and trees and fountain in the hidden court. The ruined castle perched on mountain peak, green with ivy and moss, with it's lookout tower high above the trees, shows its loveliness