Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1916-06-16

| to miniature railroad extending sew
eral hundred feet outside the shed.
! The pilot is taking the sun with a
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 we'll 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 air
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 "a 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 500 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," a sort of Spirits of the
air"
"A Soap Bubble in the Air"
The predominant sensation of flying
is buoyancy-you are a 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. | didn't.
| hummed an old song:
Up in balloon, boys,
Up in a 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 glance
YOU see what it took a 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, narrow
street is alive An octagonal sky
scraper looks like brick wall pulled
out OF its hole and set to one side.
You see into the heart Of solid city
block and find pleasant gardens and
trees and a fountain in the hidden
court. The ruined castle perched on
mountain peak, green with ivy and
moss, with its lookout tower high
above the trees, shows it's loneliness