Show D The n A viator Smith a Ear 1 d That Title tf He began by smiling at adversity adversity adversity ad- ad and he hasn't since stopped By Dy ARTHUR 0 T confounding Father Time and AT dodging Sudden Death Art Smith has no competitor Which is to say that he is s young and courageous courageous- two essentials of ot an aviator r. r vIn v In me the baCK DacK of the Smith family Bible at Fort Way Wayne e Ind the record of his bis years gives s Art as s twenty He wore a of medals far up in inthe inthe inthe the reaches of the sky over the Hudson Hudson Hudson Hud Hud- son Biver River while he swung his aeroplane aeroplane aeroplane aero aero- plane through a series of fiery loops that temporarily checked New Yorks York's respiratory system on one night not long ago medals ago medals these th that t. t might at any moment have adorned an inert form hurtled d to earth through thirty-five thirty hundred feet of blackness Those medals studded the studded the waistcoat of f the human pinwheel so that reporters re reporters re- re e- e porters might see Bee and be impressed at at atthe the conclusion of of- his Nils pyrotechnic gyrations Courageous we called him but can courage ke keep p c company with such s1-ch ostentation and vanity Let this be the answer When Art PUI pulled 4 open his coat coatto to display the badges badges' of r his conquests it w was s the im im- pui e action of of the small boy t toting his t toy fire engine across the parlor carp carpet lor for the e callers He has in fact a to toy lire fire engine in the form forn of a 3 7 au automobile mo ne built by himself and painted a bright bright red with his name in bold letters letters' on the side He IS young youngE Sixteen times that night like a co cornet comet et set spinning by some frolicsome Olympian Smiths Smith's Biplane described startling luminous circles in the sky Three d days ys later an ep exile t larmY arm army aviator fell to his dea death in San Diego I bay He had attempted t to the to the loop loop loop once v 11 In the West they know ow the thrilling g chapters in the c career reer of Indiana as a's s B b y For few a ai are his years years he ha has overcome the obstacles es of ofin r inexperience in- in experience tho the h handicap ap of poverty the ridicule of his elders Elusive success and sudden fame came came cametO to to him quite recently when he was fras was b booked to tomake make make his spectacular ni night t flights ov over r the San Francisco Exposition Just Jus five years earlier than that from a rowboat a on a a. lake I Ih near his h home me the boy had dreamily watched the smooth winging of a a. hawk beneath banked clouds He sixteen was sixteen n you see and it was a late Sunday Sunday afternoon afternoon afternoon after after- noon In summer and he was wa's not alone Never had little Aimee Cour looked more charming th than n now now w as she flicked the water at the e side of the II boat with her pudgy fingers At such sucha I a moment who wouldn't resolve to be bea bea a famous man Fam Famous us' us in a hurry too That was tit dt He would be an at- avi aviator tor a brave knight errant of the of-the the skies I The next day Art Smith Gould could not focus his IDs attention on his work in the thear ar architects architect's hite ts t's office where h he earned 5 5 a a week At the SUpper supper table he blurted bulted d out his ambition His father a a. a c carpenter carpenter car car- r penter whose failing eyesight made ht his inc income me a a varI variable bl quantity wa was s troubled at th the j announcement Th The architects architect's office held a comfortable future for the boy if he persisted His mother was appalled at t the th thought atthe of at the danger of the birdman's vocation And the tho funds for such an expensive project how project p how were they to to be be supplied supplied supplied sup sup- plied The subject was dismissed For Art however th the imaginary whirr of a propeller kept the blood coursing his veins veins In a a. corner of the barn he spent weeks building a model I aeroplane Unbounded was the boys boy's exultation when at the demonstration the miniature machine rose under its r rubber band motor power and sailed across the back yard 1 T t r t dd d d Mr Tr Tra M s a 4 Y L TI TIk k t L iI L Y 45 R CA C- C 1 A 5 f t. t r M w c 5 S g So L r v 1 1 Photo 0 o c Cardinell Vincent Co Here is a remarkable time exposure photograph snowing showing the fiery of I Smiths Smith's illuminated aeroplane above the Exposition at Iris Frisco o skyrocket sky sky- rocket running amuck i II I Dad Iye Ive figur i it up f from om catalogues catalogues catalogues cata cata- said the sald-the the boy and if I l' l lb b Udit j j myself an a aeroplane wi will l cost 0 1756 1766 1756 The Tho only answer I answer was a contemplative tive expression r in the fathe fathers father's s 's dim eyes eyes B But Brit t one one night some weeks later I while Art Art was poring poring over a text textbook textbook bo book k on mech mechanics his father a her told II him t their home had been mortgaged that h he might have his a aeroplane What was it i it if not superlative yon youth that impelled h him n to whitewash th the barn windows windows' when when he be began the construction of his vehicle to fame fame Ss Sh Ss Sf Ss s stabilizer the stabilizer the origin of I j his brain brain he he must safeguard its secret until a patent could be taken out After Arter mo months of f work so j eagerly I. I constant that grudged he himself the time to eat eat or or sleep the tho aeroplane pl n of or Curtiss urt s. s type with a two two cycle i forty lOFty horsepower engine was was completed In Inthe the dead of of night Art Art and a ch chum m wheeled it through the deserted streets to td a tent on an an abandoned baseball field Early that that morning morning before the scoffing townspeople were astir astir for for I every one had condemned his fa fathers father's be s 's folly folly foUy-ATt foUy Art made his first flight with only n y other mother r father and trusted Heuten lieutenant lieu lieu- I ten tenant nt as spectators a tick t r e c cArt Art Smith burns bums the boards as 25 well the as clouds he made sixty miles an hour on the Minneapolis track in Baby Daby a ac 1 miniature racer of lus own his own make c J r I V- V t. t t toi o i 1 o 4 The machine flew but flew but alas aras in zig zig- z gs The boy mechanic had devised such sensitive controls that to push the wheel over over was was to steer straight into the blue of heaven and to pull i 1 if iback back was to dive headlong g to earth He could not hold a a. level Jevel He Ie had an elevating plane In front fron and flaps o othe on the tail taU either of ot which would have sufficed for a machine as light as his The exhibition ended ended disastrously di with the plane splintering itself t to pieces from a drop of ot forty feet With Witha a badly wrenched back the youthful Icarus spent five weeks in ln bc bed Even now when he be has established his his' parents in a fine big coun coun- try home with with plenty of orchard orchard orchard or or- chard and pasture Art looks Jocks back backwith backwith backwith with painful memories on those bleak days when the mortgage was foreclosed and his mother I was obliged to visit an aunt I while his father and he lived in ina a I barn on the two lots that remained re re- remained re j to them I His engine gine fortunately had no not t I i been damaged though the planes and the chassis were beyond re re- re- re J pair For the first time apparently apparently the youthful inventor realized realized real real- eal- eal I iz d that tech technical ica Instruction in I flying ng would be of be-of of advantage t to 11 him He must visit the aviation school at Chicago To finance hi his trip he evolved the unique Idea o of of his adventure adventure ad ad- adventure exhibiting the wreckage venture in ina a tent at the local driving driving ing lug park Ten cents please yo you would gloat at c close ose quarters over ove the kids fool costly experiment i The scoffers came to to o the extent eaten of 1550 enough to 0 keep beep him fo for three weeks at a a cheap lodging I house housein in Chicago which he r reached ached I Ivia via the Box Boa Car Railroad The tuition tui tuition tUi 1 tion fee in aviation was S She SOl he picked up what information information- h he I could from friendly airmen ex I jf every aeroplane in town and returned home To rebuild his machine mean meant a an expenditure re of nearly neaIly J Again the father with confidence confident i t unshaken risked his meagre sayings sayings say say- sayf f ings on his sons son's success The Th II two lots were pledged as security j I for a ninety-day ninety loan The tike American was as off offering ring prizes some of which Art declared h he would cop Better taught Better In the principles h d AA 1 1 I d AA 1 1 I of flying Art fashioned his ne new w I pl planes nes built his his chassis on different lines a and d devoted Wms himself lf to practice e I flight close to the gr ground und The citizens citizen I of Fort Wayne began to take him seriously seriously seriously seri seri- when 1 He lie e made a six-mile six trip Vit with no mishaps Those who witnessed it enough to make upa up upa a a. CO collection on of 28 But But just before e ethe the air air COntes Contests s his machine machiI-e was pocketed in an air hole one day and andin andi i in a fall in which he e escaped ap c i injury the left wing was smashed eliminating ting him from the te testS test tf Fort Wayne was wa beginning to be proud of its and when he went to io see the park managers to propose that th they y finance an an e exhibition the idea was received with warmth J i The whole town turned put out to pay tribute and Art supplied them with an au unscheduled thrill by dropping a sheer feet when a whirlpool of the upper air strata caught him Fifty feet from the ground the planes righted and be he sailed easily to the ground The to total 1 gate receipts of were his the the park park managers v take none of gt it And the day the note was paid Art played leapfrog over the the bankers banker's desk dealt i Aimee meantime had been exerting a steady Influence on the widening ro- ro puce 1 of Art Offers ca came e to him from numerous numerous numerous' r fair promoters c contracts in hi number ri number were waved before him He Ho was at last coming into his own and he might well think of marriage The TheR R great sorrow qt of his dawning prosperity pros pros- 1 was the decision of W specialists that his f fathers father's ther's e eyesight eyed eye eye- e- e sight could d not be saved parents Aimee's arents were opposed to her er marriage to an aviator viator They knew knew Arts ew Arts Art's p propensity for doing a a. athing athing thing once h he und undertook it and they kept their daughter daughter und under r ther the thet r t TY j ii 1 sharpest surveillance even to to putting a watch over the outgoing trains When hen Art was denied admission to the Cour Cour home he took the shorter shorter route oute of the telephone and arranged r for r an elopement Guarded trains are areno no nt to an an elopement when the br bridegroom is Is' Isan san an aviator l Hillsdale ilIs ale 1 Michigan seventy milesa miles a was the way was the pla place e selected for the marriage Art had frequently taken take I pass pass' passengers aloft alon by this time an and he be t felt lt n no misgivings as asto to tho the safety of h his prospective I bride Through a perI per- per on this ambitious I journey The romance of it was was was' j em em- i L for them wh when ett n In the distance distance dis dis- tance they saw saw sa tIle the t modest little c church pointing t them l nation half halfa amile ir the village t the e boy carried a by away bY the enthusiasm othis dream coming true leaned over toward towar Aimee as ime a lovers will Forgotten the wh wheel forgotten tt ten the danger of of t. t ta a a sudden inthe hm in the thed d distribution of the thew w weight ight fo forgotten everything but the desired kils fA f A moment mom later the patr we c burled unde tindera undera a litter of canvas canvas and d wood J lira fn's field near a farmhouse se I lt B ilie It f s like I ke all the world loved forwith f for forwith r with tho rho aid of farm firm hands hands they the thew r w were were i 1 able able to crawl rawl into a downy hayrick tobe to to be driven riven to town The extent of ot their injuries s would have to waitto to be de determined determined determined de- de art after r the marriage for word of the accident would bei be promptly telephoned to Fort Frt Wayne I And so so declining medical aid until the minister had been summoned ned the plucky young elopers were married in J Jr r reclining cUr in chairs hairs at the V. V F Physicians clans came from Fort Wayne th their thir ir parents White 1 White lipped ed Art waited a d for tor their their verdict r asto as to Aimee's Aimee i injuries i r f pU pushing I hin a awn away ay t the h hypodermic ic Jt kat h the doctors I V wan wanted 1 d to administer admin admin- a minister min min- ister ister to to him i of the The Tile muscles you young of Df 1 h back are badly badY torn one clans fin finally Iy told him and h sprained an ankle kle and dislocated But Bu sh she will win g get t well So Art Ar took the J They were both confined to toj for lor three thre weeks Hi weeks Hillsdale Isdale b bg hospital hospital and and when it was po pos move her Art on crutches Aimer's Aimers removal on a cot in t ilM gage car to Fort Wayne There was a big them at the opera house an and f box propped up with pi pilloWS watch watched d the presentation o ofa Jj t to h her r youthful spouSe e. e Now v do you wonder that A AA AAa AJ a pride ny id a least one of ot th those thos l. |