, 1925-02-02

"Wil you kindly convey to lieut.
Smith and the other flyers my
hearty congratulations on compile
ton. for the first time in history. Of
the circling Of the world by air
planes? I have followed With In
terest and admiration the progress
Of this heroic undertaking"
Huge. Impressive Ceremony
Defense day proved to be another
day OF thrills for u.s." continued
Les Arnold. "At 1.15 we took
off and flew over Washington TO Ar
lington, where we dropped flowers
on the tomb Of the unknown soldier.
Mrs. Coolidge had sent us boquets
of roses from the White House gar
den. Then we circled around over
tho White House and flew down
Pennsylvania Avenue to the capi-
tol. No other planes were allowed
in the air at the same time. This
was in order that the people OF
Washington might have an oppor-
tunity Of seeing our cruisers.
Returning TO Boiling Field, we
Jumped Into awaiting autos. pro-
ceeded to the peace monument. and
then rode IN the parade. Pennsyl-
yania avenue was damned, and we
had never heard such a roar as went
up from that throng as we motored
to the Eclipse.
Although the personal congratu-
lations we received in Washington
and the kilograms and cables from
all over the world seemed to take It
for granted that our world flight
was over and that We had won the
ace to be the first TO fly around the
globe, all this embarrassed US be-
cause we knew all too well that
thousands of miles of flying still
lay before US. Moreover. on our
very mex hop. across the Alleehe-
niles we had a marrow escape from
Disaster
so far as the hazard OF the thing
was concerned" remarked Erik Mel
son, Il suppose you would say that
Ivy far the most dangerous leg OF
what remained OF our route around
the world, lay directly ahead of us
on that 18th day of September.
when we left Washington and
rammed our nose into the fog west
Of Harpor's Ferry. Crossing the
Alleghanies in the best of weather
Is attended by its risks. because II
your motor freezes YOU may crack
up on a mountain top. But the
danger was. more than doubled the
day We CROSSED on account of the
fog. Five escort planes started out
with us. and not one of them got
through. No doubt luck was with
Smith and Wade and myself. or we
too would have had to turn back.
Just after leaying Cumberland
Nd. the weather was SO thick that
we all had our doubts as 10 whether
we could get throurh 1t. We tried
TO climb over the fog. but It reached
beyond our ceiling. Then We tried
hugging tho tree tops. Smith had
never been across this particular
section before. but fortunately Les
Arnold had flown 1t scores of times
when ferrying Martin bombers from
Dayton to Langley field. When II
proved impossible for us to proceed
straight ahead without running into
a mountain. the five escort planes
flying beside us turned 10 the left
in search OF a valley off TO the south.
But Les signaled Smith to swing
10 the right. Finally we picked UP
a railway line and by flying just
high enough above the rails TO avoid
the trains. we managed to creep
through the mountains. singl. file.
to Uniontown. Pa. The five escort
planes. unable TO locate their valley
returned to Washington and followed
US the next day.
Back With Old Friends
After leaving the foggy area at
Uniontown. we passed over Wheel
ing. GAINESVILLE. and Columbus.
Twenty planes met US near Column
bus IND escorted us on to Dayton.
As we passed over Wilbur Wright
airdrome we saw an enormous sign
Welcome World Flyers painted
on the ground. and between $4,000
md 100000 people oheered us a mo-
ment later as we came gliding down
over McCook field.
The first men 10 reach US were
the mechanics. They were Jacks
pals. men with whom he had worked
for years. They literally yanked him
out OF the cockpit and then tossed
him UP and down in the air until all
the tools fell out OF his pockets. a
moment later a young lady broke
through the crowd and threw her
arms around Jack. From now on
this became n daily feature Of our
receptions. Jack seemed 10 have
fair cousins in every city.
Yes, and wh-n we came down at
MoCook field. broke in Lieut.. Hard.
ing, ERIK also was welcomed by
IA very beautiful young lady and she
wasn't his cousin eitherl A moment
later he was greeted by his famous
dog Nome the old sled dog he had
brought ali the way back from Alas.
la in the cockpit OF his plane on
the flight from Now York 10 Nome
and return.
Our Dayton friends presented US
with Liberty bonds, flowers and
travelling bags. We wondered wheth.
er the latter was a gentle hint for
us 20 keep on travelling.
Machines and Men o. X,
For the first time on our entire
flight We were not allowed 20 over
haul M service up III planes. The
mechanics at MoCook literally shooed
us Off the field. My old pals worked
on the ships for two nights and a
day without stopping. They went
over every bolt and wire to find out
exactly how tho cruisers had stood
the strain Of the flight. Instead OF
finding them ready 10 fall 70 pieces
they discovered that they had with.