The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1920-02-05
MISS McLAURIN TAKES AIR TRIP
Tells How it Feels to Soar 500 Feet
Above the Earth i'm Ailplane.

Tells How il Feels to Soar 500 Feet
Above the Earth in Ailplane.
The following article by Miss May
belle McLaurin, daughter OF the late
Jno. l.. McLaurin of the Buck Swamp
section, clipped from the Laurinburg
Exchange, will be of interest to many
Dillon county people:
Late Saturday afternoon when the
crowds about the streets in Laurin-
burg were turning their thoughts to
other things after looking almost
breathlessly at an aerial exhibition by
Lieut.. w. H. Fillmore, many were
amazed and astonished almost to
learn that Laurinburg girl, or Miss
Maybelle McLaurin, teacher was in
the great air boat when it was cutting
capers some 5000 and more feet above
the earth. A great majority of those
who saw the exhibitions Saturday af-
ternoon had never witnessed any
thing of the sort before, and every
where were expressions, all to the
general tone that nobody would be so
possessed of nerve as to do such stunts
except the daredevil young aviators
who by practice have doubtless be-
come accustomed to the thrill and
take it as part of the days work.
But Miss McLaurin was up there
through it all, and for readers of The
Exchange, at our special request, she
has recorded some Of her feelings
under the title of -
Aerial Impressions"
"It is one thing to stand on firm
ground, and observe an airplane sail
ing, diving, jazzing, looping, whirl-
ing, or spinning in the blue heights
but another to be passenger on
board that plane.
when girl is lifted from solid
earth and placed in yawning cavern
just back of a Curtiss engine and is
strapped there by stranger mechan-
! ic, who Immediately afterwards be-
gins turning a propeller and when
! the pilot from bel ID cries, Con
tact!' and then follows whir, spin
and a rise, that girl experiences a
great love for the familiar places
about her, to say nothing ola sudden
tenderness for the cotton field be-
meath her. AS greater heights are
gained, however, she turns to the
pilot for reinsurance and friendly
lod and kindly smile make her
feel more at home.
when some minutes of flying have
ensued the passenger has given birth
to legion of thoughts. Visions OF
pleasure, of friends, of home, Of low
ed ones, surge upon her brain. The
foremost, perhaps, is that of the
mother at home who knows nothing
of the adventure. She realizes that
her blessings brighten as she takes
her flight. Above all is the sense OF
danger and commingling with all is
an unbreathed prayer to that Power
beyond the sky that He may guide the
way Alright.
when a height of several thous-
and feet has been gained the traVe-
Ter begins to feel a security hitherto
unknown. She looks down upon the
earth and tries to recognize earthly
haunts. If she is teacher she seeks
to discover the red brick building
known to the younger set as 1.-THE
Prison" At all events she searches
for the spot called home" and does
not give up until she is reasonably
sure that she has found it.
Things below are all the while tax.
ing on new interest, for they are as
suming a new aspect. The home town
has shrunk until it resembles the
small boys toy village left by Santa
Claus. Also the scene marvelously ap-
proaches that of a landscape garden
Streets, trees, roads and fields evince
beauty and symmetry never noted
before.
"The most peaceful and the mos'
beautiful bit of the air ride is that
beyond the clouds. The plane rises
through the mist and floats above
heavenly mass of blue-gray billows
It is then that the passenger forgets
earthly scenes and revels in the ae
rial delights. 1t is as though she were
drifting heavenward over a misty sea
glorified by the sinking sun.
when the mists have rolled away
the pilot touches his companion OF
the shoulder thus warning her tha'
the time for smooth sailing is over
Forthwith she catches her breath ano
clutches the belt around her. Their
the battle is on. Poe's character who
descended into the malestrom has
nothing on her. 1t is dip and dive
swerve and sweep, Use and all, un
til it seems that demons Of the all
vie in extracting the life breadth ano
blood from her veins. She wonders Il
the like ever occurred to other morta
being, then she recalls the pilot who
not only is experiencing the same
sensations but who is also manlpdla
ting the machinery, and she feel:
strengthened.