The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1919-11-03
LEWIS WEBSTER, WHO WAS BORN IN
LAKELAND, WAS ONE OF filters
ON TRANSCON1NEN1AL TRIP

III recently making the continental
III trip and especially will they be sur
III prjsed to learn that the Floridian was
norm in Lakeland.
HI The young man is Lewis Webster.
III son of Mr.. e. E. Webster, we'll
III known Polk county resident who now
III lives in Barlow, but who has lived in
III Lakeland, Mulberry and other points
III Tor nearly thirty years, being we'll
III known sawmill operator of the coun-
II ty. Mr.. Webster has just received
II {, letter from his son describing his
II trip across the United States, which
h he kindly allows the Telegram to-
II print. The letter follows:
II San Francisco Calf, Oct s, 1919.
i Dear Homefolks:
h | am now settled down on the
H Southern Pacific Railroad and it is
almost time for the train to start me
on my return trip East
had a most wonderful trip flying
over the Rockies and the Sierra Ne.
yadas. 1t was worth a whole year
out Of my life.
started from Roosevelt Field, Min
cola, New York at Oils a. m, on We'd
nesday and on Monday at 6:26 p. m. /
landed safely at Preside Field San
Francisco. 1t is needless to say that
! was tired and dirty but | was rushed
right up to the Palace Hotel together
with my mechanician and there after
submitting to flashlight picture for
the newspaper reporter and giving q
brief story of my trip we had good
warm bath and delicious supper.
And now | will endeavor to briefly
relate my experiences of the Trans
Continental Flight. The end of the
first day found us at Bryan, Ohio, a
distance Of $50 miles since 9:15 a. m.
i We arrived at Bryan at 6:33 p. M,
| and | will add right here that we
were bound by rules to make a 30
| minute stop at each control stop. Our
H first control stop was at Binghamp-
Il ton, N. Y, the second at Rochester,
| N. Y. the third at Buffalo, N. Y, the
i fourth at Cleveland, Ohio, the fifth at
II Bryan, Ohio, but on account of the
II late hour and the poor visibility
Il was forced to land at a little town
by the name Of Styker to find out
II where was. had no sooner landed
N than people began to run out to see
u the plane and upon questioning them
y | found out that Bryan was only about
. 8 miles further west so | Immediately
3 took the air again and within seven
& minutes landed on the control field
\ at Bryan.
: Well, the next morning when
; awoke 1t was raining and the wind
was blowing at the rate of about 80
Z miles per hour from the south. The
7 visibility was very poor and the clouds
) were close to the ground. l waited
< here until about 1910 D. m. until the
Z rain stopped and then I made mad
! dash for Chicago. This was without
! doubt the toughest lap of my journey
{ because although the rain had ceased
I the wind and clouds were still in evil
} dence. The air was so rough that at
: times | would get bumps that would
4 knock me out of my seat and | could
I feel the pressure on my safety belt.
! Anyway | reached Chicago at about
Z 200 p. m. and there | met Art Edgar
{ and Lucia who were there awaiting
I my arrival. | was sorry that | could
! not visit with them but the Race
Z was on and so soon as | had gassed
{ and oiled my machine and had
I downed good Red Cross dinner |
I pulled out for Rock Island, Ill. Ii
. was 5:15 p. m. when | left Rock Is
land for Des Moines and | arrived al
Des sMoines at 1900 p. m. but it was
so dark that failed to find the right
field and after circling around look
ing for the field for 10 minutes with
out any luck l picked out hay field
ON the North side of the city and
landed. The field looked plenty biz
enough from the air for a good land
ing but to my surprise there was Q
small fence which consisted of two
barbed wires strung on small pipe
posts; and (which divided two fields
| made good landing by my speed
after reaching the ground carried me
through this fence. Luckily Their,
was no damage done to the plane no,
ourselves. AS soon as | had landed
| could see flares from Very's pistols
being sent up to the southeast of us
SO | decided that the right field mus
be in that location. gave my me
chanic orders to stake the machine
down for the night and to cover NJ