The "Airship" Mystery.

Bruce Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 6, 2 August 1909, Page 5

The "Airship" Mystery.

The Spring Poet is early this year, as witness : There was a farmer named Hitchon, A story re airships was "pitchui'," And he came into town And took the boys down, And now for his gore they are itchin. There was a townsman named Who averred without any preamble, That he saw an airship Taking crowds on a trip To the coast for a nice moonlight ramble. There was a young man named Who always did as he ought'er; He saw a strange sight, While yet it was light, And the fact as related's a snorter. There was a young man named ; Who while watching Mars in her orbit, Is proud to relate And he wishes to state Of the tail of the ship he just saw er bitA young cycle agent named Last Wednesday did such a deed, . Which set people thinking, And all their eyes blinking, Because a balloon he had set up with speed, A respected good man named Who really doesn't know yet what sin is, Was fooled by the tale From fair Adam's Vale And now on man's faith can't pin his,

HITOH(bd)ON HIS STABLE TO THE

AIRSHIP,

Milton gob a frightful shock on Friday evening. Between 7 and 8 o'clock several people, gazing skywards, were excitedly talking airships. The town was fevorishly alarmed, A well-known farmer, who holds a prominent position in the Farmers' Club, was credited with being a victim of the "mystery." It—the airship, of course—had collided with his stable, and considerably damaged tho roof of the building. "The peoplo in the airship could be heard speaking, and they wore foreigners," was the story told from mouth to mouth. The farmer—a hero for the time—was in the town, and to the numerous and repeated questions, he replied with a serenity whioh convinced the less sceptical that there was truth in the story. At the Farmers' Club meeting some of the members got into an awful " scott," others who are known to be rather * " tough" were soft enough to be taken in hoIUB-boius, while several took it with "grey" dignity, pretending—only pretending—that they considered the thing incredible, One or two told the recounter to go to silent " France " or elsowhere; •'.'porter," made in Oamara, was wrongly blamed; there were men, who bore the " hall" " mark "of staidness, completely losing their " heads," and ohhping like any giddy little " finch." There was a continual " rustle " of excitement, and old gentlemen, whose motto has always boon to " moor " imagination to judgment, had their their thoughts carried away over " laneß," hills, and " dales " to the airship " mills " and " millers " in the Blue Mountains. Eeporters, elated with the sensational copy, could have hugged the farmer from whom the story emanated—" graut "«ed that it was true. It was a great scoop, and tho "quill" trembled in one's hand, so tense was the excitement. But tno story was only a canard, and the members of the Farmers' Club felt like kicking themselves for being such fools to let tho story "hitch on." Next day the story still held weight, for those who had been taken in wanted satistaction and so spread the yarn. On Sunday a party drove to see the airship-wrecked stable, There was fear in the hearts oi many of the deceiver's friends, but in the evening they were immensely relieved to learn that, Tom. realising ..that discretion was the better part of valor, had tho good sense to hide himself in the whinny fastnossos of Adams Flat.

LAST WEDNESDAY'S " AIRSHIP.'-

INVENTED BY A MILTON YOUTH f

Though the news seems almost too good to be true, we have not the slightest hesitation in stating that the " airship " seen by the residents of Milton about 7 o'clock on Wednesday evening last, was the invention of a Milton youth. It is truth, indubitable truth, and we are proudly pleased to claim that we can back up the bold assertion by proofs. The " airship," as described by so many to us last Wednesday night,"' quite as long as two railway waggons," " with four or five bright-red lights," " with a strange whirring noise something like a railway engine when letting off steam,"—all that is the fruit of much thinking and planning by a Milton youth, still in his teens. His modesty prevents us from disclosing his name, which may—or may not—be made famous throughout tho civilised world,

A representative of the Herald interviewed the inventor this morning. At first he was inclined to be reticent, but when wo advanced some forcible reasons why ho should give us the information aßked for, ho acguiesced with a good grace. This is how the " airship " was made, and the moat marvellous thing about the whole " mystery " is the simplicity ot it. He got a dozen pieces of tissue papor, rod and white, about a yard long. Tbeso he pasted together, the colors alternating. They were formed into an oval shape, broad on top. Underneath there were brass wires crossed, and a funneKshaped array of asbestos placed round the sides in the bottom. Inside the funnol wadding and. timber shavings were lodged, Boaked with methylated spirits. There was a daDger of the tissuo paper catching fire, and thus wrecking the " airship," but by good fortune this did not occur. The " ship " was lit, and it flew gracefully up in the Springfield district on its aerial flight. By further good fortune Mr H. Hamilton happened at the Barno momontto be showing a "new chum" how a fog horn was blown. That made the peculiar noise which tho " mystery " was said to bo guilty ot. Tho " airship " or to be very much regrotttully true, the fire balloon revolved round rapidly, showing bright red lights and paler ones. Sometimes the packing of shavings flared up, throwing out a much brighter light. The different colored papers had a aplen* did result; iney threw the glares apart, and thus Milton witnesses thought that the lights were a distance apart from each Other. Poor, deluded Milton ! This trick, to* getherwith Hitohou's unroofed stable, pre blows too heavy, cruel, and heartless I

THE MYSTERY SEEN BY A FAIRFAX RESIDENT ON SATURDAY.

Yesterday It was reported that a Fairn fax resident—Mr James Porter-had soen tho airship on Saturday afternoon. When approached by our representative Mr Porter related the following story.

On Saturday afternoon, said Mr Porber, he was delivering provisions in the Al<a* tore district. He was thinking of the airship—in the supposed existence of which ho had little faith, but nevertheless was occasionally prompted to searcbingly look skywards. When he wan at Mrs John Athy's, Akatore, at 4,55 p.m. he looked upwards, and, over the brow of iho steep hills standing eastwards, there suddenly Bhot a dark object, it wont rapidly in an ascendant movement towards tho west, and appeared to havo oorae from Taiori Beach direction. Mr Porter got a side view of the body, which he desoribos as cigar-shaped, but bulkier, and underneath, in tho centre, was a box«like structure. The airship, or whatever it was, was travelling heavenwards too swiftly to allow Mr Porter to gauge its size, but as it appeared to him it would have hidden a draught horse. What its real size was he could not form an idea. The body was visible for a little more than a minute, and then it disap* peared when high up in the sky above Milton, just as daylight was beginning to fade. Mr Porter also informed us that he had been speaking earlier in tho afternoon to Mr John Purvis, Akatore, who said that be had seen the supposed airship in his district on Wednesday. Asked if he was convinoed that that which he saw was an airsbip, Mr Porter said " No; I will - not say that it is an airship, but I am convinoed that it was some Btrange body in the air, and I would very much like to hear of the problem being solved." Mr Porter is not the sort of man to imagine things, or to invent stories with the object of bringing a halo of distinction round bis bead. The unhesitating mannor in which ho related his stcry convinced our representative, who was scoptioal when airships were mentioned, that he was relating facts, and that overy word was truth.

During bis locturo on Thursday night at Milton, Mr Wraggo said tho suggestion had been made that he could oxplain something regarding the mysterious airships and lights that had been seou by so many people, He was sorry ho had not been able to see them himself. There was an idea that it was some air« ship from Mars, and that the Martians wore hovering in the air at a certain altitude to become used to our earth's atmosphere as it was so much moro dense than tho air they were used to, If it were some of the inhabitants from Mars that were sailing overhead, he was quite sure that it they landed in Milton, the entire popoulation would "do a scoot." Seriously he could not account for tho "airship" theory unless it were that someone was making a trial of bis invention on the quiet, and that was not beyond the bounds of possibility. . Mr Wragge has since sent the follow- \ ing to the Ensign :—" These lnystorious lights are attributable two two causeslocal secret airship trials and cosmic luminous dust of meteoric or cometary ongio. I have observed the latter, and the former is very probable. Many people appear to have mistaken tho f planets Venus, Jupiter, and Mars for the lights ot an airship, Tho attention of one of our staff both on Saturday night and Sunday night was directed to a bright light in the west. 01 Sunday evening the sky was clear, and except for a haze was cloudless at 10 p.m., and just after then the star—for such it was undoubtedly—was just disappearing iroin viow either in a bank of fog on the hills or behind the horizon. At Balclutha a syndicate let off a fire balloon, and to those not " in the know " it was set down as the light of the mysterious airship. The moving light see in Milton on Wednesday nigh', as before indicated, turned out to bo also a fire balloon sot adrift from behind Mr Coleman's farm at Brooklands, The blowing of the fog horn at Mr Hamilton's was purely a coincidence. Messrs Hamilton did not have steam up, and Mr Hamilton, snr., while explaining to a visitor iw the fog horn worked, which ho got off the wreck of the Marguerite Mirabaud, lot off a roar which, subdued by distance, was thought to be the hum of thd airship's machinery, One gentleman assured us ho heard a fog horn and saw the mysterious lights, but he was satisfied that it was not an airship. We have not heard so tar of a policeman who has seen the airship; That seems significant. It was reported that the Tapanui police were searching the Blue Mountains for " air ships," If the traditions ot Tapanui aro being upheld, they might find some Blue Mountain Dew. Whiskey Gully was so named from its conned ion with a still, and out on the lino of Slopodown Ranges thore is •' Distillery Hill," so called because tradition hath it that a good brew was blended there years ago. Central Otago, not to be behind, has now discovered an airship up that way, Prior to these latest disoovories tho No license areas pretty well held a monopoly. When seen through a good telescope last evening the alleged " light " in the western sky was only a star, and with it were seen four other stars not visible to the naked eye at the time. This will perhaps account for tho " five light" airship. Despite tho information given us as to seeing airships, while we do not disbelieve that various peoplo have seen what they believed to be an "airship," the theory that it is one is pretty well exploded.

The Wellington Post has tho following : •• If you'ro waking call mo early," was Mr Latham's understanding with tho ium vontor of his ujroplane, Thrice, accords ing to a cable message published in yosterday's Post, Monsieur le Vavaasour rose to rouse tho sweetly slumboring Mr Latham, who proved himsolf a humorous Icarus last week by tumbling in midsea and smoking a cigarette on his waterlogged wings; and thrice monsiour stayed his hand. In the meantime Daedalus, reincarnated in Monsieur Bloriot (described as the " daddy " of tho monoplane) spread bi? wings, And now they are folded like a bird's on an English porch after a flight that has thrilled Europe, and the gold and the oup and the praise, coveted by the uowateh-

ful Icarus, have gone to Daedalus. Mr Latham has joined history's host of men who have Joat a laurel by a little sleepbut after the Channel there is the Atlan* tie, add after the Atlantic the Pacific, and after the Paoifio Mars, and after Mars does not matter for the present, Already M, Bleriot is practically challenged from tho Southern Hemisphere by a Perth dentist, who olaims that he has " invented an rcroplane exoelling all other types." How dentistry has fostered aerial inventiveness—unless the artist has been " transplanted " by some of his own " laughing gas" —is not easy to see but there is the olaini. And there are others. Christohurch, Wellington, Dunedin, and Auckland have turned out various patterns of flying and seini-flying craft, and the inventors have high hopes, which may remain mostly in the air, but they may believe they have at last really valuable castles in the air, There is an epidemic of aeroplane planting ; the bacillus has rapidly crossed tho oceans from the propagating centres of Europe and Amerioa. And now, by night, near Dunedin, Auckland, and Invercargill, the birds fashioned by man flash out like firocflies, The skies are spangled or streaked with mysterious lights, the swinging lanternß of airships that pass in the night, strange nocturnal cruisers that shun the unromantio glare of tne sun. When the morepork hoots and the vveka's weird cry startles tho birds of more sober habit, the aeroplane goes forth to amaze the Aucklander and the Invercargillite. Have the aeroplanes passengers ? Do the inventors fear that if they practice their art by day their secret may be stolen and sold 'to the War Office in advance ? Or has the giddy moon been figuring in a new role ? The aurora aeroplane seems to have come to stay. It appears that the stars are to have the perpetual company of lesser lights, and for nine nights Auckland may wonder, and then the present marvellous may have to tako its place among the very ordinary,