The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-08-12
Time and Distance Give
Way to Mans Genius
Which Bred Aviation.
VAST DESERTS SPAWNED
Great Peaks. BottomIeSS
Canyons Among Scenic
MarVeIS Observed.
BY BOYD GURLEY
Editor of The Times

ing farewell. At 4:22 Saturday aft
ernoon the Indianapolis monument
beckoned a friendly welcome.
In between. in the straight line,
lie 2.043 miles of a great nation,
broad acres of farm lands. little viii
lagos, great cities. vast deserts, mys-
tic mountains, deep canyons gashed
by Mother Nature. and. most of all,
a great people who, having con-
quered distance by steam and gaSo-
line and stage coach, now annihi-
late time by the genius of aviation.
Running upon a schedule as &C
cIuate as ever was maintained by
any time clock, the great planes OF
the Transcontinental Air Transport
Company each day make this trip.
Each day adds to the number Of
those who finally have arrived at
the conclusion that air travel no
longer is a great adventure, but a
part of modern living. as firmly es-
tablished as any other means of
transportation, and as safe as a
baby carriage under the hand power
OF a most cautious and solicitous
mother.
Opens New Yistas
To those who place value upon
time, air travel magnifles their
power. To those who may have
lost some of their wonder of the
world, it opens new vistas in which
the soul as we'll as the mind may
soar to greater heights.
The start gives confidence. The
men, all young, but experienced,
have the assurance that gives con-
fldence.
Into the plane with seven other
passengers, one steps with some
thing of trepidation that fades as
you notice that nothing is left to
chance, nothing taken for granted.
These men know, before the
motors start to roar, and the three
propellers to whirl, until they reach
1000 revolutions per minute, that
the machine is mechanically all
that human intelligence can create.
They know the power behind those
motors, the tensile strength of each
part, the condition of the tires upon
the great wheels that will enable
them to land as softly as snow
flake in an autumn day.
Pass Over Glendale
There is a quick dash against the
winds, slow rising and minute
later you are above Glendale, he
great and fast growing suburb Of
Los Angeles.
The wide streets fade into lanes
as you pass above this city and
through a mountain pass to Pasa-
dena, the home of millionaires.
Their palaces lose their magnifl
cence. The great bowl, scene Of
great football games, seems the size
OF a saucer as you pass on to the
foothills, getting new viewpoint of
mountains as you ride above them
and look down into the valley with
its orange groves, its small plots Of
walnut trees, its peach orchards.
The distance to Kingman, in Arr
IONA, is 300 miles. And as you leave
the valley and pass high above the
San Bernardino mountains, you en-
ter the land OF deserts, where vast
expanses of white sand color in the
sun and blue haze spreads a screen
beneath the sky riders and the tor
rid suns.
Green Over Passes
There is the green from the trees
on mountain tops. the little lakes
that nestle high above IL plains,
the great cragS of mineral and rock
that invited the early seekers to
golden dreams and death through
hardship.
AS you creep through the noun
tain passes at 40 miles an hour, you
catch sight of sthe little town Of
Ludlow. built in the desert and
identify the railway track from the
cement road by the fast moving
train that seems almost to stand
still as you pass 1t.
Mountains. deserts. mountains.
deserts. as mile after mile is checked
up on the map. but meaningless in
the air. There are little oasis in the
desert where some hardy soul has
found a we'll and water. rich enough
to create for himself a home in that
forSaken land. But the houses are
few ana grow even fewer as you ride
over a land whose beauty from
above becomes almost monotonous
by its variety and its splendor.
There are colors. as you look from
above. which man has not translated
to his canvas. You have left the
railway line TO meander its way
through easy passes while you have
ridden above mountains and above
clouds.
Novelty Begins to Pail
The experienced official OF the air
line, himself q great aviator. begins
to yawn. A lady who has tired OF
the scenery, and whose mind is not
yet equipped to absorb such a sue
ceSSion Of new experiences. turns TO
love story in a magazine.
And in two and half hours there
is q slow circling of the plane and
you are at the neat little airport.
~ With its we'll equipped runs. and its
people busy a mile away. becoming
so used to the landing of the plane
that they no longer look aloft or,
if they do. merely to use it as a
means OF setting clocks.
More gas. Again they shove of.
Again new and wonderful coun-
Try. The desert is less barren. But
the trees upon the mountain tops
are interpreted with the. red of
rocks There are steep declivities,