The theocrat. [volume] (Zion City [i.e. Zion], Ill.) 1914-1949, 1919-11-22

the pilot, Mr.. Charles Cox, who had been
in the Royal Air Force for four years and
is an admixture of brilliance, daring and
calmness. Mr.. Lawson impressed one by
his extreme caution, which, however, was
never subordinated to safety or expediency.
He and the pilot were seated side by side,
for this machine has dual control opera
ted by two steering wheels much like the
steering wheel of an automobile, and may
be operated alternately or together.
The last command was given by Mr..
Lawson, the door was closed, and more
power was exerted of the motors until the
huge machine began to move slowly across
the commons, automobile fashion, with &C
companying jolts, until we were running
at tremendous speed, when suddenly the
| jars ceased and we realized we were
hundred feet off the ground, mounting sky
ward, at the rate of eight hundred feet
| minute.
Higher and yet higher the airplane
climbed, in graceful curves, as the pilot
turned her nose toward the great city to
the northWard, on the last lap of an event
full and truly history making journey There
was feeling of mighty power pulling us
at most compelling rate of speed through
the air, as we continued upward, first one
thousand then two, three and on to six
thousand feet above the earth The Drain
age Canal cleaved the city on its course
westward; a Yellow Taxicab toyed along
on a white street at provokingly slow
pace; men looked like pygnies and seemed
barely to move.
across the city we flew, into the face
of forty mile wind, yet we were amply
protected by the enclosed cabin with its
| spacious celluloid windows admitting of
an excellent view in all directions. DO
you see that block below?' said a fellow
passenger, himself a pilot. I did. WE'LL
he said, that is mile square We counted
| the streets each way and found he was cor
rect. Evanston sang out the chief engineer
in my ear which was laboring under the
| crash of the motors, exhaust and propellers.-
| | was astonished, as it seemed we had but
just left the flying field and must yet be
over the stock yards, or thereabouts.
''The small cities and villages began to
appear, with the beautiful golf grounds and
park designs in every direction. Seated
between the propelers, the effect was thrill
| ling in the extreme Looking directly down,
our speed of 80 miles seemed but slow, as
the great height from the earth made move
ment seem out of proportion to the record
ed speed.
"For some distance we followed the
shore line of Lake Michigan. On the land
side, we could see for fifty to sixty miles
across the Illinois prairies and the Des
PLANES watershed A bank of clouds hung
over the lake, seemingly at a considerable
height, suggesting in their whiteness range
of snow-capped peaks. | wondered at this
until I was disillusioned, for | saw that the
waters of the lake met the clouds, and |
was actually viewing the horizon which had
risen to our line of vision, forming what
appeared to be an enormous disc, Our ship
being over the exact center. Green was the
predominant color on the earth, with a
! sprinkle of brown everywhere. One easily
| could have believed it was late summer, as
viewed from the air.
| perhaps the most astonishing and vivid
| impression this writer received was the
| illusion that the whole countryside was
village Farmhouses seemed to be every
| where, for farms looked like acre tracts
with buildings on every third corner. We
| knew they were farms, for we could see
| the roadways which led off from the main
/ thoroughfares AS for the cities, there
seemed to be an orderly array Of parkway
designs, roofs and streets. One must view
the North Shore country from the air to
see it's greatest beauty.
Suddenly we deserted the homeland.
Zion lay ahead and below US. We were
flying at 5000 feet now and about two miles
west of the Administration Building, which
could be plainly seen though it was very
small. Zion Home looked like the corner
of kindergarten room where child had
left his toy house distinctly saw all these
and could locate various streets and indivld-
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