The Coolidge examiner., 1934-01-05

! dots 81 tiny as to resemble glow
worms; after the broad stream of
the Mississippi river was pa d.
an occasional cluster suggested a
village. He was not comfortable.
cramped against pile of mail-sacks,
stacked to his very seat. And the
cabin had no heat; with the plane
racing at a speed of two miles q
! minute, the vino whistled into II
| bitterly. But Rankin was too thank
full at being permitted TO make the
passage to dwell on his distresses.
Indianapolis, two hundred and
forty miles from st. Louis. was the
first stop; at exactly four o'clock,
the airship yolplaned to earth and
took off again In ten minutes. The
next stretch, passing from Indiana
into Ohio. was the one hundred and
| sixty-Seven miles TO Columbus. In
this passage, crossing from west TO
east. Central time changed to East
ern; the lost hour added sixty min
utes to a journey that would have
| taken one hour and a quarter. Long
before the plane landed at the state
capital Of Ohio, however. at six
| twenty-seven, faint shadows of light
In the east proclaimed the ap-
! proach Of dawn. Intently. almost
breathless, Rankin watched them
spread like clutching fingers, tint
Ing the sky and dlmming the bright
ness of the stars. Night faded
slowly as deep purple turned into
blue. and blue into pinks that
turned orange. yellow and red; the
clouds became canvas for colOrs
of unearthly beauty.
Half the distance covered, the
plane delayed longer to refuel and
change pilots. The new man. short
er and heavier set, was some years
older; but he possessed just as clear
an eye and steady hand. Again,
the mail was unloaded, additional
mail taken and the ship roared off,
climbing now into daylight. One hour
and eleven minutes later. innumer-
able black smOke-stacks, a sOoty sky
and the impressive junction Of the
Ohio river and the twin Allegheny
and MOnongahela identified Pitts
burgh, the next stop. At seven-for-
ty-eight. the travellers sank into
Belts field. to ascend again ten
minutes later. After that. in Penn
sylvania. as far rs Harrisburg, the
observant detective noted the dis
tinct change in the topography.
Ohio had been uniformly low and
level. dotted by a Kaleidoscope and
colorful pattern of small farms and
hamlets. But now, there were rug
ged brown uplands; whose range of
uneven wooded peaks extended up
ward. succeeded by valleys. Often,
they were several thousand feet in
height and the plane had to double
its altitude to keep above them.
At quarter after nine. the flyers
crossed the Susquehanna river and
landed at the Pennsylvania state
capital. From then on. the last
lap was about ninety miles TO Phil
i, adelphia.
AS they approached their destina-
tion, Rankin's excitement increased
/ ond a cnpca aF axpItafion o+ 1T. N
complishment filled him. Actually.
he had made the flight purely on a
surmise, arising from his discovery
| logical enough to warrant the Jour-
ney. yet not so certain that he could
communicate it to headquarters for
| his colleagues to act on. The delay
of one night would not be fatal;
either he was too late before he
| started or he would arrive In time
And If he proved wrong, at least his
mistake was not public to subject
| him to ridicule. Besides II was a
natural youthful zeal that made him
want to participate personally in
1
so long For there could be no
doubt the case was ended. whether
by his failure to bring all the Grim
inals to justice or by a vindication
of his conclusions.
Now Rankin could see the Quaker
city. the incredible expanse of its
area and its identifying landmark
| the Cit Hall tower, crowned by the
statue of William Penn. Like an
arrow. the plane shot across the
/ Delaware river. over Camden and
into New Jersey.
AT ten-ten. after exactly seven
hours in the air the plane circled
above the Camden airport, and vol
planed TO earth.
The amount of Rankin's fare had
been settled and paid In st. Louis.
Accordingly. he could leave at once /;
he crawled out of the cabin, less
crowded than when he had started.
but stiff and disheveled, neverthe-
less. and shook hands with the pilot.
To reach the heart of Camden.
Rankin took the first Philadelphia
bound bus down the boulevard out.
side the airport He left the bus
at the first taxi stand and hailed a
cab; but he did not instruct the cab