The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1919-12-11
DILLON FOLK TAKE AIR TRIPS.
Airmen Spent Several Days in Dill
Ion and Many Citizens Take
Rides.

|
Rides.
No longer is the airship novelty
| in Dillon. A ship spent several days
J here last week and scores of Dillon
folk took trips through the air. The
small boy was in, his seventh heaven,
and it was with difficulty that the
attention of the school boys could be
kept on their books.
The plane found good landing
place in #. w. Bethea's oat field two
miles southwest of Dillon and the
trips were made from the lending
field over town and then back by a
circuitous route. The plane came over
from Bennettsville where it had been
doing a land office business with the
citizens of the Marlboro capital.
Twenty dollars for a 20 minute trip
was the price charged and it was not
often the case that passenger ar
gued with the airmen over the length
| of the stay in the clouds.
Mr.. James M. Sprunt, cashier OF
the Bank of Dillon, was the first Dill
lon man to "break the ice." Mr..
Sprunt saw the airmeh land and he
went out to the field Immediately
When told that he was in Dillon for
the purpose of taking passengers up
into the clouds Mr.. Sprunt said he
was ready to go, and he had the dis
tinction of being the first native Dill
lonite to view his own town from a
distance of a thousand feet in the
air. Mr.. Sprunt said it was delight
full sensation and he was charmed
with the experience.
Mr.. L. Cottingham went up the sec
ond day and when the airmen took
what is known as a nose dive"
while over the centre of the town he
braced himself for what looked like
fall. When the plane was within a
hundred feet of the ground the air
man shot it back into the clouds and
when it settled again on straight
shoot back to the fields Mr.. CottiDg-
ham said he felt happy. While up in
the air considerable distance Mr..
Cottingham dropped his eyeglasses,
but strange to say they were found
that same afternoon near Mr.. E. T.
Elliott's residence. The finder hap
pened to walk into Mr.. Cottingham's
store next morning and remarked that
he had found a pair of gold trimmed
glasses. He pulled them out and Mr..
Cottingham identified them as his
own. The glasses were not injured by
| the fall from the clouds.
The airman returned to Bennetts-
vile Saturday afternoon where he
was scheduled to make exhibition
flights at land sale to be held near
IBennettsville Tuesday. Mr.. Sprunt
accompanied him. OR the trip back to
Bennettsville. Mr.. Sprunt said
they went by way of Minturn
and about two miles to the north of
Clio. They were a considerable dis
tance in the air, but Clio was easily
seen and recognized. The time con-
sumed in making the trip to Ben
nettsville from the time the plane
rose into the air until it settled on the
landing field in Bennettsville was II
minutes. Mr.. Sprunt said they were
in no danger at any time during the
journey as they could have landed
a. most anywhere, there were so many
open fielts. The only dangerous ala' e
they crossed, he said, was Donaho
Bay. He recognized the big strip OF
woods long before they came to it,
but they were flying-at such height
that the machine could have glided to
a place of safety even If anything had
happened while they were over the
centre Of the woods.
The planes visit to Dillon has had
the effect of arousing considerable in
terest in aviation, and there is talk OF
organizing a company and buying a
plane for commercial purposes. If the
company is organized regular sche-
dulles will be established to towns
throughout the Pee Dee section.
Dillon was the first town in the
south to own an airplane. When fly
ing was in its infancy Mr.. w. Muir
Gibson purchased a plane which made
several trial flights. The machines
in that day, however, were not prac-
tical, and after repeated attempts to
negotiate the air the plane was sold
to other parties.
There have been so many improve
ments over the first machines that air
navigation is no longer an experiment
and it is predicted that in few years
they will be almost as common as
automobiles.
EunTICE GET T,ERS