The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-01-19


Central airport? Oh, that's Lam
bert field. about twelve miles north.
west Of here; it's good distance out.
side the city. II you want to reach II
In hurry. your best bet is to hire a
machine or taxi to drive You out"
"Well, do" Rankin returned
promptly. Captain Chambers Is wait
ing to hear from me: phone him to
meet me there as quickly as he can
get to It. Tell him intend TO take a
plane back to Philadelphia immedi-
ately."
Rankin took leave of the two de-
tectives and hailed cab, whose
driver. obeyine his order TO disregard
traffic regulations. brought him to
Lambert field In half an hour. It was
already one O'Clock; but despite the
late hour. plane roared off into the
darkness. circling west. just as he ar
rived. Typical of all airports, be-
wildering variety of red. green and
white lights cleaned from unexpected
places Several searchlights swept the
night, revolving on skeleton-like tow.
erS.
Before Captain Chambers arrived,
Rankin had introduced himself to
the only agent of the Continental Mail
and Passenger airplane present so
late. presented his credentials and ex-
planned his predicament And In re-
turn. was Informed of the extreme diff
Guilty of obtaining transportation to
Philadelphia at that time Of night.
There were. of course, no passenger
planes or planes for both mail and
passengers going east until morning /;
If the detective wished, however, he
could charter one. The only other al
tentative was the mail carrier from
Kansas City, bound for New York and
due at Lambert field at two-ten. But
except In rare circumstances, and
cases Of extreme urgency, the COM
pany never permitted these to carry
passengers; and then only with the
assent Of the operation manager OF
that-the Central-district The Unit
ed States post Office. the agent assured
Rankin, could not object as long as
the mails were properly delivered. The
official in question though. Mr.. Alcock.
was in Kansas City and would have to
be phoned by long distance to his
residence there.
All this Rankin briefly related to the
excited captain, as well as his discov-
cry and the reason for his abrupt and
speedy departure. Then he turned
again to the agent.
TRY to get in touch with Mr.. Al
cock at once" he suggested anxiously.
IF he refuses permission, suppose
I'll have to hire plane But the
emergency is certainly great enough,
once he realizes II Is matter of pre-
venting the escape of two murderers
and that l want to be on the ground
myself"
Eyes, | should think So" the agent
agreed. "and I'll have him on the
wire in few minutes. OF course. it's
rather awkward at this hour; If there
were more time or the request came
from someone in higher or more rec
ognized position In the city, 1t would
be less difficult. | haven't any doubt
that your passage east could be ar
ranged without delay"
Just the same" Captain Chambers
put In sternly, "the police authorities
have right to expect your co-opera-
ton. You can be assured this mission
has full official approval If you wish
me to, | will phone our Commissioner
of Police here and have him speak to
your operation manager"
The agent nodded. "It might be
good idea to do that" he said.
Then, If 1t should be necessary to
convince Mr.. Alcock how important 1t
is to grant his permission, we can
connect them and let the commissioner
back you"
Accordingly, while he communicated
with Kansas City, the captain called
the home of his superior in st. Louis,
woke him and described the situation
to him. His Intervention, however.
was not needed. It took fifteen min
utes to get the G. NJ P. A. manager on
the line; but when he heard all the
circumstances from both his en-
ployee and Rankin himself, he was
persuaded that they justified an excep-
ton to the usual company practice.
Provided the detective signed a waiver.
because the mail planes contents were
insured, releasing 1t from all liability
in case of accident, he could go along
In it.
It was two o'clock before, all prep
arations completed. Rankin accom-
panied the agent and Captain Cham
bers into the glarfng lights of the
field. Waiting there, he repeated to
the Captain his instructions to the de-
tectives and added new ones. Sud-
denly, the distant hum of motor from
nowhere broke the silence, growing
louder as it approached until it became
deafening drone. It ceased just as
abruptly: and the next moment. a low
winged gray monoplane volplaned into
the illumination and settled on the
ground.
Constructed entirely of metal, it had
a single engine and open cockpit. Orig
inally. it had been a cabin plane, with
capacity for four passengers but three
of the seats were removed to make room
for a mail compartment. Like all
planes. the Widespread revealed the
license number and the name of the
line that owned it.
The pilot stepped out alone. tall,
unusually handsome man, scarcely
more than youth. but with grim lips
and sharp wary expression. He ac-
knowledged the agents introductions