, 1925-02-01
W0RLDFL|GHT TR|UNPHDRWEN
HOME BY WELCOME Of HOMELAND

10y Inv AAACSN dAdii4dAlC lOQGh
of the afternoon was when Erik
kissed the American flag. OF
course. every one knew that he was
Of foreign birth. and this. added to
the fact that he did 1t all So spon-
t%aneously and naturally, made it
seem all the finer. 1t was an ex.
ceedingly graceful. patriotic gesture
on the part of our flying Viking
and just the sort of thing that 4
well bred European gentleman can
do with the grace of q cavalier.
with our escort of motorcycle
police still sounding their sirens, de-
flying the speed laws. and throwing
caution to the wind, we were whirled
on out to thes Copley- Plaza. There
we found that all the rooms along
the entire front of one floor had
been thrown open for us. They
wouldn't even allow US TO sign the
ordinary hotel register, but tho
manager in person came up with Il
special one in a silver frame Just
like they do when the president Wis
its them.
Complete Wardrobe Waiting
In our greasy boots and breeches
and flannel, shirts we looked sadly
out of place in such luxurious sur
'oundings. We were dressed appro-
priately for a bunkhouse in Labra.
dor but not for the swagger Copley-
Plaza. But we had no other clothes
with US and were beginning to won
der how under the sun we were ever
going to be able TO dress SO we
could dine with General Patrick.
But about that time some one called
our attention to the clothes closet In
each suite. And there. as il by the
magic hand of a genii, we found all
our dress uniforms neatly pressec,
clean shirts, and everything that we
needed. Surely Aladdin had nothing
on US Our slave OF the lamp our
1ovial genii, was none other than
Lieut.. Robert j. Brown, who. long
with Lieut.. st. Clair STREET., had
been responsible for most of the de
tail work of the entire flight. When
1t comes to detail, or most anything
else for that matter, these two men
are Incompatible.
Dressing that night was quite a
ceremony. The telephones in all six
rooms were all ringing at once and
they stopped. So we nut a
'bellhop on each. Crowds of officials
n friends surged in and out, ben.
boys dashed hither and about. Ii
was the nearest thing to complete
pandemonium that ! ever saw. But
we certainly were sitting on top of
the world for once in our lives,
That night we 'dined quietly with
General Patrick.
Although the hospitable people
of Boston seemed to think that the
world flight was virtually over
when We reached their glorious old
city. which. by the way. they still
contend is the Hub of the Universe.
down in our hearts We knew that
the time had not yet arrived to do
my shouting. We appreciated Bos.
tons spontaneous welcome. In fact,
we fairly reveled in 1t. having lust
come down from the bleak arctic.
But it sort of made us feel uneasy
n figgety. We realized that our
trip around the world was far from
beng over because we still had more
than 5000 miles to CO."
Before their arrival in Boston the
world flyers had flown across the
Pacific. across the continents of
Asia and Europe. and across the At.
lantic. But the continent of North
America still lay ahead OF them.
With the exception OF their flight
from Turkey to England. this was
the easiest part of their trip around
the world. But there We're two fac.
tors that increased the hazard.
two factors that increased the
hazard,
in the first place. their world
cruisers had long passed the aver.
age life Of an a~irplane. and until
they were thoroughly tested by ex.
perts In Dayton no one knew for
certain but what they might 60 to
pieces in the air as a result of the
abnormal strain they had been sub.
Jected to while flying in both arctic
ana equatorial regions. and while
buffeted about by roughs seas in
Alaska, the Kurile islands. and the
North Atlantic.
Secondly. there was the ordeal by
banquet and reception which the
airmen were subjected to from the
time they reached Boston until they
completed their great undertaking
at Sand Point field. Seattle. The
manner in which they survived the
latter is surely one of the outsand-
Ing feats OF the world flight.
= Overwhelmed With Hospitality.
They were so overwhelmed with
hospitality on their way across
America that they ruefully re-
marked. when they reached Seattle,
that they guessed they would have
to fly around the world again to
get rested.
With tho possible exception Of the
experiences OF Admiral Dewey after
MS return from the Battle of Manila,