New-York tribune., 1919-05-05
5000 of Them, in Motor
Cycle Side Cars, Taken
From Hospitals to Van
Cortlandt Park for Picnic
100, 600 Friends There
Thrills Furnished by Army
Aviators. Who Make Para
chute Leaps from Balloons

The despised motorcycle "wife killer"
sometimes known as the sidecar, won
q permanent home in the hearts of
more than 5000 wounded veterans
from convalescent hospitals in the city
yesterday when the owners Of like
number of motorcycles sacrificed their
usual Sunday ride and gave the vet
erans an outdoor holiday among 100,-
900 relatives, friends and spectators in
Van Ccrtlandt Park.
Organized only two weeks ago, the
Victory Convalescent Soldier Motor
cycle Outing Committee, of 1913 West
Sixty-fourth Street. induced some 5000
motorcyclists with sidecars to help
put over large scale al fresco enter
tainment for wounded soldiers. Assist
ed by the motorcycle manufacturers,
jobbers and retailers of the metropol-
tan district, Grand Central Palace,
Gun Hill Hospital No. /, St. Marys at
Hoboken, Debarkation Hospital No. 4,
at Fox Hills, and fair weather did the
~oSt
Start From Washington Square
Protected by forty mounted police
men, the cyclists with their guests left
Washington Square at noon. Awaiting
them at the pa1A were all the modern
ized delights of an oldfashioned picnic,
luncheon, vaudeville enterta inmcnt,
band music, army ordnance exhibits
and parachute drops from an army cap
tive balloon brought to the park for
the occasion.
ut cost the committee about SlC,-
600 tS DO this, but the results were
worth the price," said Captain George
W. Keller, chief executive of the com
mittce.
From the time the parade gathered
at Washington Square it was evident
that it was going to be a bally-hoo
success. Wounded men who had hard
ly seen green grass since last sum-
mer began stretching in their cush-
ioned cars and laying campaign hats
aside to catch the full benefit of sun
and breeze. Just to show that Fifth
Avenue meant nothing in their young
lives they put their hob~nailed shoes
of cigarettes handy, let the marsnals
of the parade do the worrying.
Attracted by the weather, probably
100000 persons helped the soldiers en-
JOY their outing. Lunch, consisting of
sandwiches, cakes, coffee and oranges,
followed by cigarettes, was served by
the National League for Women's Ser
vice. Two bands and two army trucks,
with complete vaudeville pro-
gramme, made the circuit of the field,
bringing entertainment to the soldiers
where they sat in their side cars or
stretched on the grass for the first
time in months.
Some Regular Thrills
Regular thrills" were furnished bv
captive balloon No. 1929 of the 22d
Balloon Outfit from the United States
Balloon School at Camp Eustace, Vir-
ginia, in command of Captain A. D.
Jones. Three parachute drops from
height of 1900 feet were the features
Lieutenants Elmer j. Bowling and II
II. Mills, amid a shower of Liberty
Loan posters, made uneventful land
ings. Lieutenant Y. C. McDaniels,
however, was carried by smart
breeze into the woods on ridge over
looking the golf links. By clever leg
work in the air Lieutenant McDaniels
succeeded in picking clear spot
among the trees and landed unhurt on
a big rock.
Another thrill was furnished by II.
X. Lorentzen, of so Grand Street, who
seized rope suspended from the bal
loon and was carried nearly 1000 feet
aloft. He then showed how he would
have escaped the Germans, by sliding
down the rope, aided only by slight
contrivance he has invented
Free ascents in the balloon were
given several persons who had pur-
chased $500 worth OF Liberty bonds.
Among these were several women.