The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-08-23
Liberal Viewpoint
by DIR. HARRY ELMER BARNES

WILEY POST and Will Rogers died gal
w liant death. They remained true to the
frontier spirit of adventure to the last. Iney
died as they might have wished to Gle. More
over it was the kind OF death which even their
admirers might have wished Tor Cnenl-1 IL Aao
come 20 years later.
Wiev Post dramatized aerial speed and en-
durance over long distances as no other aviator
ever did What Lindbergh was to solo nights
across the Atlantic Post was to globe clrcllng.
He conquered the planet with an expedition tnaC
was far beyond the widest dreams OF 70 years
ago. when Jules Vernes Around the World in
so Days" was looked upon as no more than COL
orful fantasy.
The solo flight which Post made around the
globe in less than eight days was far cry from
the first globe-circling venture. On Aug. TO-
1919, the ships of Ferdinand Magellan left the
coast of Span and the lone ship from the
squadron, leaving Magellan the victim of mas
sacre in the Philippines, arrived home on Sept
G. 1922 From more than three, years to less
than eight days spelled the progress from Magel-
Ian to Post. The latter all but annihilated space
and time in world travel
It was too bad that man who had done SO
much for aviation and whose personal bravery
was unqueStioned should not have remembered
his responsibility to the profession to the last.
If he were too brave to think of personal safety,
he might yet have considered the repute OF air
travel Tt would seem that his justly renowned
libility
A FTER having shown that the airplane will
IA bear one with safety over incredible dis
tances, Post ended his career by showing that
one can still get killed in one if he tries hard
enough.
According to news reports the motor on his
plane was obviously defective and out of order
before the last and fatal take-OH Post could
easily have remained in his plane or the Eskimo
village for few hours and sent word to the
nearby aviator who ultimately came to take
away his mangled body.
Nor is it necessary for an aviator to risk his
life in the best monoplane when trimotored
planes are readily available Then misfring
engine does not necessarily spell disaster.
Finally in such hazardous chimes as northern
Alaska it would not be "sissifed" to use an
autogyro. If Post had taken more heed he
would nave preserved his life and that OF Rogers
and saved aviation from temporary black eye
Will Rogers easily Americas foremost
contemporary humorist. He was pre-eminent
here in 1885 as Mark Twain was in 1885, And
modern science and invention gave him far
wider audience than Clemens ever had. His
newspaper column, the radio and the movies
brought him directly before tens of millions of
Americans. Will Rogers wit was akin to that
Of Mark Twain in its frontier background and
twang He brought us the same flavor a half
century after Mark Twain had quilted the from
tier life and entered polished European and
Eastern American society. He bridged the gap
from the laSSo to the cockpit.
humorist Rogers was all to the good. He
L n poked fun, for the most part, at those
things which deserve to be rallied at-hypocrisy,
can't pomposity and the like. He made mil
lions laugh, laugh hard, and laugh without los
ing their intellectual self-respect.
The abysmal gulf between the screen hurnor
Of Will Rogers and that of the typical popular
movie clown was ever a sharp reminder OF the
diversity of human qualities and tastes. The
difference was that between TIfany'S and a junk
yard. Will Rogers as humorist on the screen
and the air did more than any other American
of his time to enable his countrymen to solve the
problem Of leisure in a pleasant and decent
fashion
| Will Rogers once visited Smith College when
was teaching there. He hdded his cap-and-
gown audience for some two hours to the i'm
mense delight Of most of his hearers Ever since,
| it has seemed to me that every stable inStitu-
| ton of higher learning ought to have at least
a miniature viii Rogers on its faculty to pune
ture the balloon of academic solenlnity, pedan-
/ try and fictitious good taste" I am sure that
the Smith College girls gained more from his
observations in two hours than from two months
| of instruction at the feet Of any Of their pro-
feSSorS
AS a political philosopher. the field in which
Mr.. Rogers apparently took himself most seri-
ously, the praise of the discerning person must
be less whole-hearted. While he inin1-
liable in the role Of a debunker of sham and
/ hypocrisy-witness his remarkable comments on
the London Naval Conference of 1929-30-his
positive philosophy of politics was as much ont
of date as a cowboy on an automobile proving
ground. We have passed the day when homely
wisdom can suffice for pilots of the Ship Of
State. VIII Rogers was the enemy Of experts in
politics and the friend of the jolly and amiable
political hacks who have brought US to the verge
J of ruin.