, 1925-01-06

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I pointed out that it would be ueees-
sary 10 cable Gen. Patrick for con
sent. The cable was sent from
Calcutta and was duly received in
Washington, where it is not improb-
able that s~ympatlet.o heads of the
air service delayed sending back
the negative reply just long enough
to allow the flyers to get away from
Calcutta on their flight across India
Nor is it improbable that they
secretly hoped that as a result OF
not receiving a response Commander
Smith might allow Wells to proceed.
Steps in Tool Compartment.
Meanwhile. Wells. in the course of
casual conversation with the air.
men, made the important discovery
that after the substitution of wheels
for pontoons an additional weight
of 40 pounds or so would make
very little difference TO a world
cruiser. Moreover. the trip across
India was To- be made in three
stages. on none of which was it to
be necessary for the planes to carry
their maximum load of gas and oil.
So on the morning of July /.
when the boys were warming up
their motors. and while thousands
Of people were crowding around
looking over the planes before their
departure from Calcutta, Wells,
with no impedimenta other than the
clothes he wore. slipped into the
baggage and tool compartment be-
hind the rear cockpit in the fuselage
- sL. D-~tI. .-I - f.-r ,,sN,t,@ |
later the three giant planes went
roaring across the Madam. circled
over the Victoria memorial. the
Bengal club. and the ochterlony
monument, took a final look at the
City of Palaces, and headed toward
central India
The ~stowaway had plenty of room
to stretch out inside the fuselage,
but in order not to miss the sights
he opened the trap door on the port
side, stuck hi shead out few inches.
and watched the juto mills OF Cal
cutta and the villages Of Bengal
slip by.
Fly Over Historic Ground.
For an hour they flew north along
tho Hoogli. and then turned west.
From then on Commander Smith
kept above the East Indian railway
and led the way across the plains
of the British Indian states Of
Bengal. Bihar. and O-issa. and the
united provinces . III city Q, Ala
habad, near TIE ~--sl Of the
sacred Gals=s ard J@@ G-s-s-
Shortly sner Isz1z rhs Eoosu
they flew yer The image q shznti
nIketan. where Irdtz's mast Illus
son. Rzbindrrzth Tagore,
the poet and philosopher Of Bengal.
conducts his celebrated school and
sits under the Sauyan trees telling
the youth OF HindHstan about the
literature and civilization OF the
west.
The region over which the world
fiers passed on this stage Of the
flight is one Of the most densely
populated and one OF the richest
agriculturaily. as well as one of the
most historical parts of the earth.
Four hundred people to the square
mile is the average all through here.
Over cocoanut and banana groves.
clumps OF tall bamboo. swamps. and
fields Of grain they sped. on
they few over the plain near where
Give, the miracle man, with an
of three thousand, defeated the
sixty thousand followers of the
Moguls at Plassey in one OF tho ten
battles Of all time.
Gauges a Thrilling Sight.
DIGGING in and out OF showers and
Just ahead OF the rapidly ap-
preaching annual monsoon storms.
they plunged out of a cloud and saw
far ahead, a great bend in the Gan.
gss. with n %populous city extending
for miles along the farther bank.
From their maps they knew this to
be Benares, and the realization of II
sent a thrill through every one-a
thrill that even had its echo along
the spine of the stowaway crouching
In the tool compartment behind
Hank" Ogden's cockpit. For they
knew that they were looking down
from the sky on one OF the oldest
and M OF the hottest cities on
earth. n tity that was old and sa-
cred hundreds OF years before the
birth OF Christ.
Dropping down a little lower, in
oiuSr " SCI u pttteI view iuey saw
the great bathing CHATS where more
than a million Hindus come each
year to utter their prayers to
Mother Gunga and to battle in the
river which, they fervidly believe.
washes away every sin-the river
that even insures their coming back
in the next incarnation in a high
er caste.
All along the waterfront the fly.
ers saw tho spires of fantastic Hin