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Show THE CITIZEN 8 THE CITIZE N SIXTEENTH YEAR PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY BY GOODWIN'S WEEKLY PUBLISHING CO., INC. W. E. CHAMBERLIN, Business Mgr. F. P. GALLAGHER, Editor and Manager. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: In the United States, Canada and Mexico 12.00 per year, $1.25 Including postage for six months. Subscriptions to all foreign countries, within the Postal Union, $3.50 per year. 8lngls copies, 5 cents. Payment should be made by Check,- Money Order or Registered Letter, payable to - The Citizen. Address all communications to The Citizen. Entered at the Postoffice at Salt Lake City, Utah, U. Phone Wasatch 5409. 311-12-- matter. Salt Lake City, Utah. S. A., as Ness Bldg. 13 second-clas- s IN AN OBSERVA TION PLANE Editors Real Trip In Observation Plane to write WHEN ofI planned my first trip in an this air- plane the prospect was as pleasant as the trip had been delightful. Then I heard of the disaster which had befallen Lieutenant George M. Beck, my pilot, within a few hours of the time we took to the air from the old Buena Vista race track. The machine was a wreck and he was dying in the hospital. I recalled how his cool, quiet, courteous manner had attracted me. As we stood near the machine, after the flight, he smiled and said: Wasnt it a sensation such as you never felt before? In his gentle eyes I could see the glory and the madness of aerial daring. I could understand something of the spirit of those wonderful cavaliers of the skies who did so much to win the war for us. It was such splendid, American boys as Lieutenant Beck and Quentin Roosevelt and thousands more just like them who shamed death with their intrepidity. How well he guarded the lives of those he piloted; how careless he was of his own safety! If a stiff breeze was blowing he would say: I would not mind going up in it myself, but it is a little too lively for .passengers. We landed at 4:45 p m. At 9 oclock he generously went aloft to perform stunts for the scores of spectators who had assembled on the field. He had made a right tail spin successfully and had turned into left spin when he lost control. His efforts to right the machine failed for some mysterious reason that will not be length. As we drew up in the field we noted that the wind was not quite so strong and saw that Lieutenant Beck was just tuning up one of the two big machines preparatory to taking a passenger on a flight side of the race track, in ATthethedusty road, were four or five automobiles. Perhaps thirty or forty persons were on the field, examining the machine not in use, jesting or talking shop. I recall that one was telling how much amused Lieutenant Beck had been with a passenger who had flown with him a few days before. The passenger was an old gentleman, custodian of one of the downtown buildings. The lure of flying had caught him in its golden net and he could not stay away from the field. One day he took the usual flight with Beck. As the lieutenant dropped the nose of the machine toward the earth to make a landing the old man turned and yelled at him: Dont land! Give me five dollars worth more! My friends were keen on keeping me in a cheerful mood. A young man was jotting down the names of the passengers and other data. Thats the undertakers assistant, He is ready said one of my friends. to take your measure. I observed that this was the popular type of joke for the occasion. The friends of the two men who preceded me into the air were equally funereal in their humor. It is difficult, however, to depress ones spirits when the Utah sunshine is at its full June power and there is not a cloud in the sky or, perchance Just a suggestion of white-clouformation above the snows of the peaks. is so lovely as a day in when one has left the torrid world of the pavements and is floating in the cool elysium above Salt Lake City and valley? The weather bureau told us that it was the hottest day of the year 'up to that time. It was as bright as it was hot and as I motored through the downtown area with Vernon Arnold and John L. Brat-age- r on our way to the field, a sultry breeze tugged at the flags and banners of the Rotary convention, streaming them out to their rippling full LIEUTENANT Beck remarked that unusual. For the first time since he had begun to fly from the Buena Vista track he was called upon to face a breeze directly from the south, and a brisk breeze at that first pasStarting with his senger at a point near Fifth South street, he gained the air, I think, between Seventh and Eighth South. At the latter street the field ends and across the street are either telegraph or power wires. It seemed to me that, struggling with the wind, the plane, on its initial flight, missed the wires only a few feet, but this may have been an illusion, for a few minutes later I found myself crossing the feet above wires at least seventy-five them. my turn came to climb into WHEN machine I endeavored to do it with grace and no little aplomb. I inserted my right foot in a sort of built-istirrup under the rear cockpit and threw my left foot forward over the wing. Dont step on the fabric, cried one of the attendants nervously. Hesitating and looking down for inspection purposes, I discovered that I was supposed to plant my foot firmly and politely on a steel platform about n six inches wide which formed a part of the wing. I had almost put my foot through the fabric as cleverly as a circus clown steps through a paper-boun- d hoop. I decided that my next attempt at grace should come when I tried to swing or climb into the forward compartment After eyeing the prospects a moment I formed the opinion that the best gesture would be to lift my right leg jauntily toward the left and throw it over the side, but I was pained to find that it would not jaunt. Also I bumped the left side of my forward cranium against something perhaps it was the roof. Having seated myself in the cock unnecesasry to explain ini I surveyed the interior and found that there was a steering-cran- pit it is how I got k framework set in the floor and against its two. prongs t planted my feet. A sense of security and satisfaction crept over me. One of the attendants reached in and tried, to buckle the belt around my waist, but missed goal by about three inches. After a few tugs he gave up in despair. As the plane seemed warming up for the start I inquired with some anxiety: How shall I hold myself in? You dont need to take hold of anything, said the attendant It will be perfectly safe, said the lieutenant, reassuringly. Evidently he did not intend to loop the loop with me. I had been a little doubtful on that point and felt more confident THE run for the hop-of-f gave me sensation of the unusual. The plane really did seem to ,be hopping along somewhat after the manner of an ostrich. I exchanged salutations with the spectators as we passed them, going rapidly. A few moments later I realized that we had begun to soar. We were riding as steadily as if in an automobile, but there was a sensation of lightness and soon wonderful in its surprise a sensation of floating. The floating sensation is not the only one that differentiates the aerial and from the earthly joy ride makes it more joyous. There is a sensation of riding the air on a magical steed and a sensation of aboveness. It is as easy to look down at the land as it is to look over the sides of a canoe into the water. One must lean out a trifle to get the view directly below. It is a much more enchanting view than merely to gaze at the mountains or the citys sky- scrapers. The fields below us looked THE first to fly was a Rotarian who only an hour to spare. We had no time to question him when he landed, for he leaped into an auto and sped away in an effort to catch his train. The second was an Atlanta man who has an automobile agency in the Georgia metropolis. It was his first flight, and it had a business purpose. Im going to buy five machines and start an aviation service for passengers in Atlanta, he explained. I believe it will be popular there. In the back of my brain I had a no- - There will be no King Coal at the Peace Celebration to be held in Germany. Western Fuel Company C. H. FISCHER, Manager Phones: Was. 2667-266- 8 like The growing crops appeared as closeout as the grassplots in front of houses, but they were giganof tic brilliant green, plots orange and yellow, with here and there gray paths along which crept silent, drowsy automobiles. In one of the fields a horse was frisking about and a cow lolled on the lawns. d known. WHAT tlon that it would be cold In the upper air and that some kind of a leather suit of Esquimaux warmth would be forced upon me. I noted with surprise, therefore, that each of the passengers, as he landed, took off only a pair of goggles and handed them to the next to fly. 135 South Main St. |