Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / Feb. 19, 1911, edition 1 / Page 11
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THE OHAaLOTTE NEWS FEBRUARY 19. i9tl m,- J. Armstrong !'. iraiu between Phlla- ‘ "V York. I had just . MiUion of my altitude »7 fepi the highest man ■ . in an oeroplane—and • n flu' evening i>apers that i!i:ti*>n to he llrst t£> rise lo.ooo mark would :i' • '1, for Lej^'agneaux had I Ht'trrnoon. one man say to \ hiivp settled Drexel's q' . stion now. Here's a hoaien him by 5u0 ihc other. “It seems to vrry day.” Li rd—(liey talk of alti- as thou.i^h it were a i'astime to be nonchal- 1 t- r a few moments be- . inu* U as one wo\ild ;’i'Ifion;L.' 'tr the benefit of r 11'., , and climbs and t -■ and musole to 'in: he fichts inch by a fiail machine beyond a.‘ ver intended to do— crr-aklna: of the wood- ■ ' wicked sintinu of the ires, and he knows that 'ince more of strain sonie- V 1-. re. and it will ail be I ■' I.orrii^le of end«—■ - .r I and upvaid. sick at : hady, utt'^rly weary and Kf'iie, strene,th ebb- ’a dlrzy. ears bnrsting and unlil a numicntary ! ■;nc')nscit)upnes.s makes ;olf for the aw* ■ir ■ :-lun‘;e to earth, ; .! •: liy heliiless when . I '.i''h the ground— ;11 all tl’.is easy! ' i rl perhaps, it was easy. ; i d f( c' was not po difficult, I v rif^ a long time making •,i I ’ learn confidence in -n hi;^ machine . Two • ft w;is mi rely another step q '.-'ion of more confl- i. .» ■■‘‘laps, l^ot*^er mechanics, n j fi !• 'lotisand feet came • rv,i ;Vf>n entered the new ' I.--* Mttuiatiwns of human = . fnr i; -u.-n (o l>e seen r.l. \vn ; tho machine itself or a i.iioachint tlie ])oint • lifting p.iwer al'solutely ni:»n liim.-^elf began to Hi ti e awful ^tiuciile upward m »re awful catapuli ra 10 V. iil rvov be al'dc adefiuately I ' vast itlunw to ■ nerve lia^ cf)Ilas|)Od . -'I'scd to do more >'\v* oxi)cri('iiced it \ i:\ i aviator. ‘ • ‘ .-i.iiot . ( . all -M\y de* ■ ’•(■’oiuns of it— ■ ■! iiudd'ri'u;' ii\f>mory of ■ i;i-' I '- with an awful • I ' . . I*'.'. j and futility f f'i'I'- ih''ouc:h V u the cli...'ces one ne ii'.i^t a safo land- i'ti cHnih for lieisht,” ■ Tbf tiling i"? to get ’ knew enough to I : - d ath. just as the ‘ t o- !>xcopt my- 1 ' n, Lniircncaux. : ■'.'(! MS . 1’ l)v his mar- ■ ■ M'* nie from my : ' ■ iiu’: he lirst to f touch 10.000. But I venture to say that Legagneaux will awit a long time before he attempts this again. One de scent from that height is likely to be experience enough to satisfy a man for a long time. CLIMBING THE AIR STAIRS ABOVE the clouds. I should like to have had him with flight from Philadelphia for the altitude record—t^hat fellow who fu "getting easier all the time.” I venture to say that thereafter, when the papers record another altitude record in a few brief words, he would do as I do—shake his head and draw' his breath in through hia teeth at the realization of the ages of suffering that the aviator must have undergone during his hour and some minutes of flying. That man should have seen the beau tiful Bleriot as sli(» swept gracefully off the ground with me that day at Point Breeze and as she flew, with out effort and with scarcely a tremor, in the first wide preliminary circles as I mounted the first two thousand feet. Kasy! That would have looked easy enough, certainly. There didn’t seem to be a bit of ef fort to it, I imagine. The machine must have looked like a great gull or I a lyizzard floating on the breeze, and II suppose I might have been sound I asleep in her for all the spectators on the ground could have seen of motion or of effort on my part. Then came the clouds and I worked my way tlirough them, hoping that they would not be thick enougli to last long, for above the clouds in the sunlight are the wickedest gusts, and it means flght—fight—fight all the time. I The hand of the aneroid barometer ! in front of me kept creeping round land round as I moimted; the first two thousand feet were tolled off quickly and then more and more slow'lv the in- dictor went as I mtered the thin ner strata of the upper air and began to struggle to pass the thousand Tiiarks. Three, four, five, six thousand I passed, each one taking an increas ing length of time and requiring more of physical effort and mental and ner vous strain. Soon the Iiand of the aneroid began to caper back and forth; I knew' 1 was mountalng steadily, but the little instrument did not show it and finally flo)>ped back near the starting point and stayed there. The aneroid had evidently gone higher than it was ever intended to go and now was complete ly otit of commission. A barograph—which is a recording barometer, encased in quite a fair siz ed wooden box with a glass front—had been tied about my neck and htmg in 1 front of me. just far enough down for . it to rest easily in my lap as I sat in my seat. I took one hand from the ! control and turned the face of the ; bnrofvraph up t-jvard me. Through the (glass fruit I could see the pur])le line 'that had traced mv ascent. It seemed I ages sir.ce I had j;tarted and the terrl- |b!e ccki w\is beginning to penetrate even the thick, fur-linod clothing that II had had made particularly for this : riiirht. My handp were beginning to iget numb and I felt that my ears would biirst with ihe pressure inside my liead. or. rather, 'vith the lessening of the i)resBure outside. My nerves and my muscles, too. began to give warn ing tliat they had been pushed almost to the utmost and I felt that I was near the end of my pow’ers. But one sight of the barograph made me grit my teeth and shove the nose of the Bleriot a good deal higher than wisdom warranted. Instead of being near the coveted 10.000 mark, I was barely passing the 8,000 line. No words of n^ne can express the disappointment and the discourage ment of that moment. I was almost “all in,” yet I. had still the two hard est stages of my journey to cover—the bitter fight of .lumping and falling, jumping and falling during the final five hundred feet, and, last, but most aw'ful of all, the horrors of that de scent where the chances were one hun dred to one against me in my pitifully weakened condition. LAUGHING AT 10,000 FEET. There was nothing for it, however, but to continue the flight upw’ard. I set my teeth hard and again pulled the control toward me. There was a rattling sound behind me and I glanc ed back quickly, fearing that the tail of the Bleriot had come loose. But, before 1 had time to turn all the way, I mastered myself and forced myself to look straight ahead and not to think of such a possibility as the tail com ing off. I knew that to give way to such fears would threaten panic with my overstrung nei^^es, and panic wotild be fatal. So I doggedly fixed my mind upon the magic figures “10,000” and mount ed again. Below me there was noth ing but space. The filmy clouds form ed a haze w'hich completely shut the earth from my view' and I seemed like an impudent little fly, buzzing around importantly in the vastness of Infini tude. The thought, struck me as be ing rather droll, and I laughed aloud. I’hen I remembered how a friend of mine had come to me at the hangar before I started and, w'ith a quizzical exiiression on his face, as though he knew I was not serious, asked: “Are you really going for altitude to day?” “Yes.” I answered. My friend’s quizzical look turned. I thought, to a smile of open disbelief as though he and I w'ere sharing a se cret from the waiting crowd. “Do you think you have any chance of making it?” he asked. ‘‘There’s alw'ays a chance,” I re plied and jumped into the machine. Since then I have thought over that short conversation a score of times and I have failed to find in it anything clever, or out of the ordinary, or even in the slightest amusing. Yet away seemingly to accentuate the very vast ness and impressiveness only Lagag- neaux and I. of all living men, can ap preciate. with the motor buzzing and whirling and humming and spitting, seemingly to acecntuate the very vast- ness of the solitude and make it more awe-inspiring than it is to the floating balloonist,—aw'ay up there, passing close to the 9,000 foot mark, the two questions and their answ'ers struck me as being the most droll things I had ever heard and I started to laugh and guffaw, loudly, boisterously, coarsely, like a drunken sailor in a low' tap room. The sound of my laughter had some thing uncannay in it and I suddenly awcke to a realization of the fact that 1 had been laughing in this v/ay for fully ten mintues and that there was nothing to laugh at after all. “Crnzy,'’ I though, and as the thouriht flashed across my mind with all file honible possibilities of a loss of mentality and mental balance near ly two miles above the earth—w'ith the sligiitest niis-movement spelling awful death—I pulled myself together a,2:ain and made a final desperate ef fort to cross the 10.000 mark. It w'as impossible for me to know whether I had succeeded or not. The last few' feet w’ere such a bitter strug gle up and down, up and down through the thin air, that I could not look at the barograph, and, indeed, could not see the line the one time I did try, for my eyes had become af-f ears felt that they would burst and fected by the strain and everything j the top of my head felt as though it would fly off at any moment. Added to this came the feeling of nausea. w^as a blur to me. Finally, utterly exhausted and numb both in body and mind, I gave up the struggle and turned the nose of the Bleriot tow'ard the earth. UNCONSCIOUS OF THE DROP TO EARTH. I have no words to describe that de- scenr. It w'ould sound like the veriest drivel if I should try, for only a man trained to repression of superlatives could give an idea of its horrors v.'ith- out making it seem like silly exaggera tion. Every reader has probably gone dow'n fifteen or twenty floors in an ex press elevator. Do you remember how dizzy and sick at the stomach it made you? My descent was made at the rate of a vertical mile in about tv.'o minutes w'hile I Avas travelling horizontally at the rate of seventy or seventy-five miles; and hour. In ether w'ords. my vertical speed dow'nward was about four times as fast as that of the fast est elevator and I had the added strain of the tremendous horizontal momen tum. The effect of this rapid descent is al most paralyzing. Those w'ho have traveled under the nevv' Pennsylvania Railroad tunnels to New York have felt the effect of the pressirre of air W'hich grew' and grew- until my head swam and, just for one moment, I am sure, I lost consciousness. This oc curred, I should c:ay. at a height of betAveen 7,000 and 8,000 feet. Again I had to bring all my self con trol to my rescue, but my nervous en ergy was ebbing fast and I remember wondering how much lon.'^'er I should be able to fight back the utter col lapse that I knew was coming soon. You must remember that all this W'as occurring when I had only an op- proximate idea of how high above the earth I w'as and when I licid absolutely no idea of my geographical position. After I had passed througli the upper strata of clouds at a licighi of some 4,000 feet, I had not arrain seen the earth except for little drifting patches of indistinct drab as I flew over the lifts of vapor, and I did not know whether I was one mile or a hundred from Philadelphir,. And now', I was descending so fast and was so nearly helpless, both physically and mental ly, that I could dt* nothing except keep the Bleriot on.the proper slant to give the best descent with the least possi ble strain. Into the clouds agains I w'ent, cir cling now, with some vague idea that against the ear-drums. This is. about {I had managed somehow to keep over one-tenth of the effect that is made!the Point lireeze field from w'hich I upon the cars w'hen descending in an 1 had started. I knew that I should aeroplane from a great height. In my | collapse utterly when I landed—sup- case. in coming down from 9,897 feet j posing, of course, that I did finally at my tremendous rat^ of speed, my land in safety—and I hoped that I w'ould come dow'n among my friends where I could be taken care of and where there would be none of the added strain and enxietj' of explaininy. to strangers and gettins into communi cation W'ith those I had left. | ASTRAY iN SKYWARD. i By my first sight of the earth as I dropped from the lov.'er fringes of the clouds showed me that I was doomed to another disappointment. Not a sign of a city was in sight. Not a sin gle landmark that I had been told to look out for was to be seen. Instead, there were farm land and forest, ploughed fields and orchards and no-! where so much as a smooth meadow fit for me to alight upon without smashing up. r For the third time, I saw^ Death as it vreve, sitting grinning on the gasoline tank in front of me. My head swam and again, with that awful feeling of nausea. I seemed to lose consciousness for a flce-ing moment, then the sight of a small field brought me back to my senses, and I circled again to come upon it from the best direction. Fortunately for me, I made a per fect landing. It was, probably, the instinct that comes of long practice that kept me from smashing up on coming to the ground, for I know my brain w'as no longer w'orking and my muscles were incapable of obeying a mental command. I must have sat there helplessly in the m.achine for fully five minutes af ter I landed. I could not seem to get my brain into working order again and I simply sat there staring vacantly ahead of me and mumbling meaning less things to myself until I saw a wo man coming tow'ard me. Then I stretched myself, half rose, and sprawled rather than climbed down from my seat to the ground. But then I could not stand without help. When the woman came up. she found me leaning over the fusillage, my face buried in my folded arms and my whole appearance suggesting the man w)fc has been utterly ruined and beat en in a life’s ambition instead of a man w^ho had just broken all existing w'orld's records in his favorite branch of sport. I found that I had ianded In a tiny hamlet of not more than two dozen houses. They told me that it was named Oreland, and that it was# about fourteen miles northwest of my stiirt-’' ing point in Philadelphia. Naturally, the news of the strange visitor from the skies speard about the surrounding country like wild fire and the neigh borhood be.gan flocking in in all sorts of conveyances. But I wanted to get aw'ay from the crowd, so, making ar rangements with the village constable to guard the Bleriot, I went with the w'oman who had first discovered me, to her home—the only house in the vil lage that boasted a telephone—and from there I com.municated to the oflicials at the aviation field the news of my landing. That evening they came for me in an automobile, THE AFTER EFFECT. For tw'o or three days after that the thought of going again for altitude made the cold chills run up and down my back. My nerve was gone. Then Continued on Page 13. Na.tional Lea^gue ScKed\ile 1911 AT BOSTON AT BROOKLYN AT NEW YORK. AT PHILADELPHIA AT PITTSBURG. AT CINCINNATI AT AT CHICAGO ST. LOUIS DATES ABROAD, ston ; The News 1 April 20, 21, 22, 24 July 3, 4, 4, 5 Sept. 1, 2 Oct. 6 April 25, 26. 27, 28 June 28, 29, 30 July 1, Sept. 4, 4 Oct. 7. April 29 May 1, 2, 3 June 23, 24, 26, 27 Oct. 2, 9, 12 .Tune 14, 15, 16, 17 July 28, 29, 31 Aug. 1 Sept. 20, 21, 22 June 2, 3, 4, 5 Aug. 7, 8, 9 Sept. 27, 28, 30, Oct. 1 Jime 10. 11. 12, 13 .Tilly 24. 25, 26, 27 Sept. 23, 24, 25 June 6, 7, 8, 9 Aug. 2, 3, 5, 6 Sept. 16, 17, 18 14 Saturdays. . y' " 6 Sundays. July 4, at Brooklyn. Sept. 4, at New York. Oct. 12, at Phila. "^^ROOKLYN EVV YORK .\pril 12, 13, 14 Mav 2fi. 27, 29 ,\ug. 11, 12, 12, 14. 15 Costs April 15, 17, 18, 19 May 30, 30, 31 Sept. 7, 8, 9 Oct. 12 May 4. 5» 6, 8 June 28, 29, 30 July 1 Sept. 11, 12, 13 June 10, 12, 13, 19 July 24, 25, 26, 27 Sept. 23, 25, 26 .Tune 15, 16. 17, 18 July 28. 29, 30, 31 Sept. 20. 21, Oct. 2 June 6, 7, 8, 9 Aug. 2, 3, 5, 6 Sept. IG, 17, 18 June 2, 3, 4. 5 Aug. 7. 8, 9 Sept. 27, 28, 30, Oct. 1 14 Saturdays. 6 Sundays. May 30, at New York. Oct. 12, at New York. Mav 4. 5. 6, 8 .Time 20 21, 22 Sept. 11, 12, 13, 14 April 29 May 1 2. 3 June 23, 24, 26, 27 Oct. 4, 5, 9 Only April 20, 21, 22, 24 July 3, 4, 4, 5 Sept. 1, 2 Oct. 3. June 6, 7, 8, 9 Aug. 2, 3, 4, 5 Sei)t. 16, 18, Oct. 2 June 10, 11, 12, 13 Julv 24. 25. 26, 27 Sept. 23, 24, 25 i June 2, 3, 4, 5 jjune 15, 16, 17, 18 Aug. 7 S, 1) jJuly 28, 29, 30, 31 SepV. 27, 28, 30, Oct. 1 ;J?ept. 20, 21, 22 13 Saturdays. ^ 6 Sundays. July 4, at Phila. —. II. 1. ■. ^ HiLADELPHIA... April 15, 17, IS Ajtril 19. 19 Mav 30, 30, 31 Sept. 7, 8, 9 April 25, 26. 27, 28 June 20, 21, 22 Sept. 4, 4, 5 Oct. 7 April 12, 13, 14 May 26, 27, 29 Aug. 11, 12, 14, 15 Oct. 6 12 Cents June 2, 3, 5 Aug. 7, 8, 9, 10 Sept. 27, 28, 29, 30 June 6, 7, 8, 9 Aug. 2, 3, 5, 6 Sept. 16. 17, 18 ■* 1 June 15. 16, 17, 18 |jnne 10. 11, 12, 13 July 28, 29, 30, 31 July 24, 25, 26. 27 Sept. 20, 21, 22 *Sept. 23, 24, 25 A 13 Saturdays. 6 Sundays. > April 19, at Boston. 1 May 30, at Boston. Sept. 4, at Brooklyn. ITTSBURG May 13, 15, 16, 17 July 20, 21. 22. 22 Aug. 28, 29, 30 May 23, 24, 25 July 6, 7, 8, 10 Aug. 16, 17, 18, 19 Aug. 24, 25, 26 July 11, 12, 13, 14 May 18, 19, 20, 22 May 9, 10, 11, 12 July 15, 17, 18, 19 Aug. 21, 22, 23 a Week April 12, 13, 14, 15, 23 May 7, 28 Aug. 11, 12, 13 Sept. 3 Anvil 16, 17, 18. 30 J’lne 20, 21, 22, 25 Oct. 7, 8, 9 April 24, 25, 26 June 29, 30, July 1, 2 Sept. 7, 8, 9, 10 ■.X.. 12 Saturdays. H Sundays. ' is Oct. 9, at Chicago. . INCINNATI Mav 9, 10. 11, 12 July 6, 7, 8, 10 Aug. 21, 22 23 May 18, 19, 20, 22 ^ July 20, 21, 22 Aug. 28, 29, 30, 31 May 23, 24, 25 July 15, 17, 18, 19 Aug. 16, 17, 18, 19 May 13, 15, 16, 17 July 11, 12, 13. 14 Aug. 24, 25, 26 April 20, 21, 22 May 26, 27 June 26, 27, 28 Sept. 4, 4, 5 and May 3, 4, 5, 6 July 2, 4, 4 ) Sept. 7, 8, 9, 10 April 28, 29, 30, May 1 May 29, 30, 30, 31 June 1 Sept. 14, 15 12 Saturdays. ' 3 Sundays. 7 May 30, at St. Louis, t .July 4, at Chicago. Sept. 4, at Pittsburg. ''HICAGO May 23 24. 25 July 15, 17, 18. 19 Aug. 16, 17, 18, 19 May 13, 15, 16, 17 July 11, 12, 13, 14 Aug. 24, 25, 26 May 9. 10. 11. 12 July 6, 7, 8. 10 Aug. 21, 22, 23 1 May 18. 19, 20, 22 July 20, 21, 22 Aug. 28, 29, 30, 31 April 28, 29, May 1, 2. May 30, 30, 31 June 23, 24 * Sept. 14, 15 April 24, 25, 26, 27 June 29, 30, July 1 Sept. 2, 11, 12 Oct. 12 You Get April 20, 21, 23 - May 27, 28 June 27, 28 Oct. 2, 3, 4 Oct. 12, at Cincinnati. May 30, at Pittaburg. 2 Sundays. 13 Saturdays. ST. LOUIS May 18 19, 20 22 July 11 12, 13, 14 Aug. 21, 22. 23 May 9, 10, 11, 12 July 15, 17, 18, 19 Aug. 21, 22, 23 May 13. 15. 16. 17 July 20, %21, 22 Aug. 28, 29, 30, 31 May 23, 24, 25 July 6, 7, 8, 10 Aug. 16, 17, 18, 19 May 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 July 4, 4, 5 Aug. 14, Sept. 2 Oct. 12 April 16, 17, 18, 19 June 21, 22, 24, 25 July 23 Oct. 7, 8 April 12, 13. 14. 15 Alky 7 Aug. 11, 12, 13 Sept. 3, 4, 4 all the 13 Saturdays. 7 Sundays. 7 July 4, at Pittsburg. : Sept. 4, at Chicago. Oct. 12, at Pittsburg. CATES AT HOME. . . Mirdays, Simdays, i d Holidays. .\prll 19, with Phila. May 30. with Phila. 12 Saturdays. ^ July 4, with Boston. Sept. 4, with Phila. 12 Saturdays. 13 Saturdays. May 30, with Brooklyn. Sept. 4, with Boston. Oct. 12, with Brooklyn. July 4, with New York. 13 Saturdays. Oct. 12, with Boston. 14 Saturdays. May 30, with Chicago. July 4, with St. Louis. Sept. 4, with Cincinnati. Oct. 12, with St. Louis. 14 Saturdays. 17 Sundays. Oct. 12, with Chicago. 13 Saturdays. 17 Sundays. July 4, with Cincinnati, Sept. 4, with St. LouIb. Oct. £, with Pittsburg. ■■ . ■ 13 Saturdays, 13 Sundays. May 30, with Cincinnati. News — -OQfllotB—Nine at Chicago—April 30, May 7, June 25, July 2, August 13, Sept 3 and 10, Oct. 7 and 8.
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Feb. 19, 1911, edition 1
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