1919 Newspaper Abstracts  OCT-DEC


Lenoir News-Topic, Lenoir, NC, Vol XLV, No. 1, Fri, Oct 3, 1919:
p. 1, c. 6 -

CALDWELL FOLKS EAGER
        FOR RIDE IN AIRPLANE
        ------------
Col. W. H. Frith, Veteran of Civil War and
      76 Years Old, Wants to View
       Lenoir from Dizzy Heights;
          Others Ask to Get In
              ------------

        Col. W.H. Frith, 76 years old and a veteran of the civil war, was
the first to ask for reservation for a flight in the big army airplane
which is to be here four days next week.  Col. Frith was a member of the
10th Virginia cavalry and fought during the entire civil war.  At one
time he was severely wounded.  Col. Frith says he wants to see Lenoir and
Caldwell county from on high.
        Dr. Alfred W. Dula wants transportation to Blowing Rock and
return and has put in his application for the trip, notifying the
News-Topic from North Wilkesboro, where he is spending the week.
        Among others asking for reservations are Fred S. McGowan, C. D.
Hailey, S. E. Dula, Francis Hawkins, W. F. Powell, E. C. Pitts, the
children of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Mattocks and others. Applications will
continue to come in from now until the fair and during the fair.
        According to a message received Wednesday by President Courtney
of the Fair Association the airplane may be expected to arrive this
afternoon or tomorrow morning.  It will be piloted by Lieut. H. J.
Runser, who will fly here from Jonesville, Va., where he has been giving
exhibition flights this week.  The messages reads:
        "Expect to reach Lenoir before Saturday.  Mark large field with
white sheet.  Important. Must be 20 acres or more.  Book as many
passengers as you can for flights."
         A lot near Lower creek near the Hickory road bridge has been
prepared for a landing place.



The Oxford Public Ledger, Oxford, NC, Fri. October 3, 1919:
p. 1, c. 2-3 -

PASSENGERS ARE BEING BOOKED
        FOR TRIP INTO THE SKY
        ----------
It Will Cost Only Fifteen Dollars To Make The
                Flight.
        The Secretary of the Granville County Fair received the following
telegram from Lt. H.J. Runser, dated Jonesville, Va., October 1st:
        "Book all passengers you can as we expect to stay in Oxford for
three days."
        Messrs. Frank Young, Mott Pinnix, and others have made
application to fly.



The News-Herald, Morganton, NC, Thurs., October 9, 1919:
p. 1, c. 2 -

     AVIATOR LANDED HERE
      THINKING IT LENOIR
         -----------
 BECAME CONFUSED AS TO COURSE
  AND MISTOOK MORGANTON FOR
       NEIGHBORING TOWN
        -------------

        Morganton had the benefit the first of the week of one of the
features planned for Caldwell County Fair, now in progress at Lenoir.
The airship engaged for the occasion arrived here Sunday afternoon
[October 5, 1919] , the aviator mistaking Morganton for Lenoir, and
landing on the farm of Mr. J.D. Alexander near town.  It is said that he
was confused by the lakes near Bridgewater which were not on his map.
After landing here he found much difficulty in getting started again, his
engine failing to work just right, and it was Tuesday afternoon late
[October 7, 1919] before he got on his way to Lenoir where he was due to
be giving exhibitions.


Lenoir News-Topic, Lenoir, NC, Vol XLV, No.  2, Fri, Oct 10, 1919:
p.  4, c.  1 -

[AN EDITORIAL by Fred H. May, Editor and Manager]

                THE FLYING (?) MACHINE

    When the entertainment committee of the Caldwell County Fair
Association contracted with the F. E. Young, Memphis, outfit they entered
into the agreement in good faith.  The members of the committee were
satisfied that they had made a contract with a reputable airplane
exhibition agency or company.  The contract, the price and all provisions
were agreed to and accepted by both parties.
     A hold-up proposition never occurred to the committee until
Wednesday morning [October 8, 1919] following the arrival on the evening
before of Aviator Runser with the machine.  The contract called for four
exhibition flights, one each day for the four days of the fair.  The
price agreed upon was $100 for each day, or for each exhibition flight.
Wednesday morning Runser wanted $200 for each day, finally coming down to
$133. The committee agreed to pay this amount, provided Runser placed his
machine in the fair grounds and made the flights from there.  The first
time Runser took to the air he flew the machine out near Lower Creek
church, where he landed in a field, claiming that his engine was out of
fix.  His engine may be out of fix, but statements made by Runser himself
cause the fair officials and others to believe otherwise.
     The Young outfit has violated every provision of their contract.  At
no time this week have they seemed inclined to fulfill their promises and
agreements.

-----------------------------------------------------------
[AN ADVERTISEMENT]


                         The Airship May Not Fly

                   But that's no reason why you should
              hold up on eating Brannon's Better Bake Bread
                          and Sliced Cold Meats

                                 ------

               When you get it from us there is always the
                     satisfaction of knowing you are

                            GETTING THE BEST

                            B R A N N O N ' S

                                Phone 164


Lenoir News-Topic, Lenoir, NC, Vol XLV, No. 3, Fri, Oct 17, 1919:
p.  1, c.  4-5 -

FAIR CROWD WAS MUCH
        PLEASED BY AIRPLANE
        -----------
Many Thought Machine Was Falling;
   Aviator Was Caught in Storm
     Crossing the Mountains;
       Engine Out of Shape
        ---------------

     Lieut. Harry J. Runser's flying and air stunts pleased the greatest
fair crowd ever seen in Lenoir, when, Friday, [October 10, 1919] be made
his first exhibition flights over the fair grounds.  When Lieut. Runser
first arrived here Tuesday evening, the first day of the fair, his engine
had gone back on him.  He was unable to fly the following morning, and
finally when he did make a successful getaway from the Lower creek field
he was unable to turn his plane back to the fair grounds, but was forced
to come to the ground near Lower Creek church, on the farm of Messrs.
Pink and Willie Powell.  The next two days the aviator and his mechanic
were busy overhauling the engine, and it was Friday afternoon before he
was able to take to the air again.
     Lieut. Runser made good with the big fair crowd when he did get his
plane going.  Driving the first airplane ever brought to Lenoir or to
Caldwell county, the aviator has given the people of the county and
section much to talk of during the coming years.  During the first flight
given an excited crowd watched the great Curtiss training plane as the
aviator drove it to and fro and circled over the fair grounds and the
town.  It was a steady climb and the plane grew smaller and smaller.  The
aviator continued to climb for twenty minutes, when suddenly the plane
took a long shoot at a downward angle and glided over in a loop-the-loop.
There were many exclamations from the startled crowd, which now expected
the birdman to turn his plane back to the landing field.  The plane began
to climb again.  This continued for several minutes until the plane
seemed no longer than a crow or hawk.  Suddenly the plane toppled over,
turning its nose towards the ground, dropping like a plummet, whirling
around and around as it fell.  A shudder went up from the crowd.  "He's
gone! He's gone!" was heard on every side.  The falling plane shot out of
sight behind some trees on a low-hanging hill.  Suddenly a shout of joy
rang out.  "Yonder he is!  Yonder he is! I sure thought he was falling, "
came from dozens of anxious spectators.  Lieut. Runser had given the
people of Caldwell county one of the most sensational thrills they had
ever experienced.  Coming out of tail spin while behind the trees and
hily [sic], he glided his plane to the field and landed.

        Caught in Terrific Storm

     In making the flight across the Blue Ridge mountains from the Blue
Ridge mountains from Jonesville, Va., to Lenoir, Lieut.  Runser was
caught in a terrific storm.  He left Jonesville about 3 o'clock Sunday
[October 5, 1919] afternoon of last week.  He was driven nearly twenty
miles off his course.  This accounts for his landing near Morganton on
the farm of Mr. Davis Alexander.
     Threatening storm clouds had been hanging over the mountains for
several days, but shortly after noon of this Sunday they seemed to break
and the aviator took advantage of the clearing sky for his trip across
the ridge.  The trip during the first three-quarters of an hour was
uneventful.  Climbing above one ridge and then another, the airman had
noticed thickening clouds.  The storm came almost without warning,
bursting suddenly with all its fury.  The driving wind flung the airplane
through dense banks of rain clouds.  To keep a course was an
impossibility, and at times the aviator said that he could see the tops
of the trees not over twenty feet below him through openings in the
clouds.
     The aviator's course lay north and east of Mount Mitchell, and
almost directly over Grandfather mountain.  When he finally hurdled out
of the storm Lieut. Runser found himself in strange territory, completely
off the course he had mapped.  He had crossed a part of Mount Mitchell,
nearly twenty miles off the course on which he had started.
     Not figuring on crossing this section of territory, the aviator had
not prepared a map or any flying guide.  He came out of the storm after
more than an hour's battling to find himself lost.  However, keeping to
the general direction in which he knew Lenoir must be, be landed on a
farm near the first town of any considerable size which he sighted.

MANY TAKE AIRPLANE
        FLIGHTS WITH RUNSER
        ----------
Mrs. R.B. Hartley is First Woman
to Fly in Caldwell County -- Peo-
    ple Drive Twenty Miles to
        See the Airplane
           ----------
     Since the first sensational flights and stunts of Lieut. Runser at
the fair here Friday Lenoir and Caldwell folks have become accustomed to
the thrills.  Not satisfied with seeing the aviator do these stunts, a
number have taken trips with the aviator as passengers on the machine.
Passengers have not been satisfied with straight flying.  They have taken
the tail spins and nose dives.  The passenger rate was twenty bucks, but
this did not seem to bother.  If the person who wanted to ride was shy a
few dollars, or maybe the whole amount, he could pass the hat around.
Everybody was anxious to see the ship go up.
     The first passenger to view Lenoir from on high was E. C. Pitts of
Gwyn's garage.  Pitts was a good advertiser and there was a rush for
reservations.
     To Mrs. R. B. Hartley goes the distinction of being the first
Caldwell county woman to take a trip as a passenger on an airplane.  Mrs.
Hartley was the thrid passenger to go up.  The course of flight lay out
towards Hartland and back and then across the town and circle back to the
field.  Mrs. Hartley says that a person does not know how to appreciate
good riding until a trip is taken on a flying machine. She was thoroughly
pleased with the experience and says that she has been much more [sic]
scared on some automobile trip.  Other ladies to take the flights were
Misses Dina Cox, Fries Hall and Christine Wright.
     Andrew S. Nelson was the only passenger to take the tail spin.  The
plane climbed to about 3,000 feet before the aviator cut off his engine
for the 2,000 foot drop.  Mr. Nelson said that it looked like the whole
earth was being thrown right at him.
     Next to the tail spin the nose dive was probably the most exciting,
or the most thrilling to the passenger.  The first to try these stunts
was Mr. T. J. Stone and Dr. A. W. Dula.  It was all right until you got
to the dips, they said.  At this point it seemed that something had a
leaving sensation.
     Among others to go up as passengers were Hill Prestwood, Foy Powell,
Mr. Mooney, Hub Beard, Bass McGhee, Wade Link, Luther Baker, Ralph
Triplett, Fred Prestwood, Raymond Rice, Bill Correll, John Carlton, J.
G. Ballew, Hall Cobb and George Brnhardt.


Lenoir News-Topic, Lenoir, NC, Vol XLV, No. 3, Fri, Oct 17, 1919:
p.  4, c.  1  -

[EDITORIAL]

                RUNSER MADE GOOD

     Criticism in these columns last week of Lieut. Runser proved to be
unfounded.  The News-Topic does not wish to do the aviator an injustice.
There is no doubt that Runser's machine was out of working order, and his
landing near Lower Creek church was forced.  After watching the aviators
work from the lower creek field we are willing to accept the aviator's
word that the landing place prepared in the fair grounds did not give
sufficient space for safe landings or ascensions.  The fair grounds
runway was not long enough for the machine to get off the ground.
     It was unfortunate that a misunderstanding occurred.  The News Topic
wishes to correct what might have been an injustice to the aviator.  In
this connection we offered to carry a statement from Lieut. Runser. His
statement says:
                        ----------

     I take this means of expressing my appreciation to the mayor and the
people of Lenoir for their hearty cooperation in connection with my
airplane while in this city.
     The public in this vicinty was no doubt greatly disappointed for the
failure of my engine, which of course caused me much worry and delayed my
flying three days of the fair, but it was indeed a great relief when I
got to fly the last day.
     Although the fair association lost confidence in me I stuck to the
ship amidst a bombshell of criticism and got the old bird in the air
where every one could see it, and it is to be regretted that the fair
association was so unconcerned about me flying that the president
remarked that his scalp was saved because I arrived, and he did not care
whether I flew or not.  I did, but I found that the fair association is
not the city of Lenoir, and I leave with respect for the city.

                                LIEUT. HARRY J. RUNSER.


The Oxford Public Ledger, Oxford, NC, Fri. October 17, 1919:
p. 1, c. 6 -

LT. RUNSER, AVIATOR,
        DID NOT REACH OXFORD
        -----------
When Last Heard From He Was At
            Lenoir.

        It was advertised far and near that Lt. Runser, would make daily
flights at the Granville County Fair, and hundreds of people came to
Oxford with the expectation of seeing him soar over Oxford.
        Thousands of people watched the western heavens Tuesday afternoon
and all day Wednesday expecting to see Lt. Runser and his machine dart
into view, but seeing no sign in the heavens the people with one accord
pronounced it a fake pure and simple.  They were fooled two years ago,
they said, and they might have known that the same thing would happen
again this year and the next if there is a fair.
        Owing to the fact that Lt. Runser did not reach Oxford, as
advertised, a word of explanation is due the public.  The contract signed
by Runser, and which is in evidence, stipulated among other things that
if he did not reach Oxford on Tuesday morning October 14, he would arrive
next morning.  The contract signed by Runser looked as good to the
management of the fair as any paper on file in the county Court House.
        The last message that the management of the fair received from
Runser was dated at Lenoir, requesting the secretary of the fair to book
as many passengers as possible to fly with him.  The management of the
fair is expecting a message from Runser stating why he did not reach
Oxford.




The Dispatch, Lexington, NC, Weds, October 22, 1919:
p. 1, c. 1 -

MISS PENNY FLIES TO RALEIGH
        ---------
Popular Home Demonstration Agent
    Makes Trip in 80 Minutes
       Sunday Afternoon.

        Around 2,000 people Sunday afternoon saw the first Davidson
county woman fly.  At that time Miss Eunice E. Penny, the popular and
efficient home demonstration agent for this county, went from Lexington
to Raleigh by the air route.
        Lieut. H.J. Runser and Lieut. Roscoe Turner had been here since
Wednesday and had taken Messrs. Bryan Harkey and Harry Stegall for a ride
over the city.  Plans were made to have a public demonstration Saturday,
but rain interferred.  The sky cleared Sunday, however, and for about an
hour before Lieut. Runser and Miss Penny set sail for Raleigh, Lieut.
Runser thrilled the huge throng which had gathered almost simultaneously
from all directions with his daring dips and dive.  Considering the fact
that the demonstration had not been advertised, the crowd which gathered
on the field west of the Southbound railroad on the Center Street road
was wonderfully large.  Automobiles were lined up in a column a half a
mile long, and the people crowded the field.  The aviator sailed around
over the crowd and the surrounding territory, doing the tail spin, nose
dive, and other stunts familiar to acrobats and aviators, and landed
almost without a jolt of the least magnitude.
        At 4:35 Lieut. Runser took Miss Penny on as a passenger, and the
great throng looked on with marked admiration as the nervy flyer and
flyerette started toward Raleigh.  The machine was off as easily as one
ever left the earth, and within eighty minutes the distance of 115 miles
had been covered and Miss Penny had landed in Wake county, within a mile
and a half of her native home, the machine averaging almost a mile and a
half a minuted.
        Not only does Miss Penny have the honor of being the first
Davidson county woman to fly, but to her also belongs the distinction of
being the first woman native of Wake county to ride in an aeroplane in
North Carolina and over Raleigh.
        A telegram to The Dispatch from Miss Penny Sunday evening read as
follows:
        "Arrived safely after a most wonderful trip.  Was not at all
afraid.  From the time we left the ground I felt just as much at home as
if I had been in my own Ford.  The trip took us 80 minutes;  seemed not
more than 20."
        Before leaving Lexington for Raleigh, Miss Penny promised to
write for The Dispatch a description of her trip, which she has
furnished, as follows:
                                           Raleigh, N.C.
                                                October 20, 1919
The Dispatch
        Lexington, N.C.

        True to my promise I am writing you, as best I can describe them
some of the impressions I got and sensations I felt in my trip from
Lexington to Raleigh by aeroplane.
        First I will say that I was not frightened or nervous or dizzy or
even excited (except pleasantly so) from the time we left the ground
until we landed.  I did not feel as if I was doing anything unusual at
all.  It just seemed to be the sensible and right way to travel, and I
was as comfortable as if I had been sitting in a cushioned chair in my
own room or seeing a good show in the Lyric Threatre.  It was just
"glorified" automobile travel on road where there were not any bumps or
sharp curves.
        As we passed over Lexington we were not very high and I easily
located the homes of my friends, the graded school, courthouse, Varner
building, and even noted the exact corner in Mr. Fred Thompson's garden
where he is going to build his new garage.  After leaving Lexington we
went higher up and made a bee line for Raleigh.
        From our height telephone poles looked like tooth picks and the
automobiles racing along on the white ribbon roads looked like just good
sized insects.  The passing of our plane did not seem to create much
interest in the earth below as I did not see a human being even in the
towns we passed.  Do you suppose that everybody was taking a Sunday
afternoon nap or was it that we were too far away to see the folks?
There is one thing that I would like to suggest and that is that every
town should be labeled on top-- else how in the world is an air passenger
to know just where one is?  Of course the aviator is supposed to know
from his maps, but his passengers cannot ask him any questions for the
noise of the plane-- what a comfort that must be for the aviator.  It is
strange that railway conductors do not strike for noiser engines-- their
work would be less trying, I am sure.
        Of course you have heard other people say that from an aeroplane
the world seems covered with tiny playhouses, and that is true.  As a
rule the towns look better than the country because there is more order
in their arrangement.  Good farming shows up splendidly, and square, even
fields covered with something green or prepared for wheat are a joy to
behold, but small ragged fields are ugly, and washed and gullied
hillsides look even more disgraceful from the air above than from the
roadsides.
        I did not recognize Raleigh at first.  To tell the truth, we had
floated along so smoothly that we hardly seemed to have been moving, and
I could not imagine our getting to Raleigh so soon.  It had really taken
us 80 minutes to make the trip, but my watch was not running and I had no
idea that we had been on our way more than a half-hour at most.  I think
we did a rather modified and dignified tail spin on landing-- anyway I
know that was the most delicious thrill that I got, and I would not have
missed that part of it for anything.  We landed without a jolt in a
grassy field south of Raleigh.
        We were surrounded by negroes first.  It seemed strange that we
should be made a fuss over, for during that 80 minutes "flying" had grown
to be just an ordinary experience.  The negroes looked at us as if we had
been beings from another world.  One old mammy said, "Laws Miss, did you
come in dat thing."  I replied, "Yes, auntie, I did."  We flew right over
her house and "skeered" here "most to death," she said.  She wanted to
know where I came from and when I told her Lexington, she said "Is your
home up there?"  I looked up into the air and said "Up there?-- yes."
She said "The Lawd help us" and moved away.
        My home folks were not very surprised and the neighbors not a
bit.  I though my mother would probably want to whip me or shut me up in
a dark closet as she used to do when I climbed trees that were too high
or went in wading before the first of May.  But instead she was just a
real good sport and said that she did not blame me for taking advantage
of such a wonderful opportunity to fly.
        An now please, you people who read this, do not take my word for
things but just try flying for yourselves.  My advice would be to try it
before the air gets too full of aeroplanes.  There is no danger now of
having collisions with other machines.  Later there will certainly be
this danger if everybody feels as I do about flying.  Surely it will soon
be the practical way to travel.  I hope so, for it is wonderful, to say
the least.
                                EUNICE E. PENNY



The Raleigh Times, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, October 23, 1919:
P. 1, c. -

        ...Though there are several persons booked for air flights with
Lieutenant Runser it is unlikely, on account of condition of the landing
field that the aviator, even if he attempts the flight himself Thursday
afternoon, will take any passengers up.  Miss Elizabeth Hughes enjoyed a
flight over the city and Fair grounds and nearby country with him
Wednesday afternoon.  The aviator was a little late in appearing
Wednesday.  It was about 3 o'clock before the crowds at the Fair were
rewarded with a sight of the airman....



Lenoir News-Topic, Lenoir, NC, Vol. XLV, No. 4, Fri., Oct. 24, 1919:
p. , c. -

RUNSER CARRIED
        GIRL TO RALEIGH
                FROM LEXINGTON
        -------------
Distance Covered in Little Over an Hour
        -------------
Was a Wonderful Trip, Miss Penny Said, After Arriving at Raleigh
        -------------
     Lieut. Harry J. Runser, after leaving here late last week, stopped
at Lexington before continuing to Raleigh, where he is giving exhibition
flights at the State fair this week.  From Lexngton [sic] to Raleigh
Lieut. Runser was accompanied by a woman passenger, Miss Eunice Penny,
home demonstration agent in Davidson county.  Miss Penny's home is in
Wake county, near Raleigh, and she surprised her parents by going home
through the clouds.
     They left Lexington at 4:40 Sunday afternoon and made the trip in
one hour and 25 minutes.  The distance by air is 93 miles and the aviator
maintained a speed of 68 miles per hour on his hop to Raleigh.  The trip
from here to Lexington, 72 miles, was covered in 58 minutes.  They landed
in a smooth pasture about one miles [sic] south of Raleigh after Lieut
Runser selected this field as his landing place in preference to the race
track at the fair grounds and other available clay fields because of the
recen [sic] theavy [sic] rains.  He explained that the grass landing
field afforded less dangers in landing then a dirt field.
     "It was a wonderful trip," said Miss Penny to a newspaper man that
night at the home of her parents, "and I am certainly glad that I had the
opportunity of riding in the air for my first time.  I was not frightened
in the least and felt just as safe as if I had been riding in an
auto.[sic, no end quotation]
     Miss Penny then explaiffned [sic] how she was lucky in securing the
air journey.  Lieut. Runser had arranged to bring a Lexington man with
him to Raleigh when a gentleman friend of Miss Penny spoke in her behalf
for the trp [sic].  Lieut. Runser agreed to take the young land to
Raleigh provided the arrangement was satisfactory with the Lexington man.
The new arrangements were satisfactory to all involved and Miss Penny was
told to prepare for her journey.
     "I have always wanted to ride in an aeroplane and when I learned
that Lieut.Runser was going to fly to Raleigh I at once planned to go
with him.  We made a straight flight and I had a grand time viewing the
ground scenery from the clouds.  The trip from my standpoint could not
have been more perfect and our landing was almost as nice as the
starting.  It was my first trip, but I am ready not to repeat it should
the opportunity arrive.  It certainly beats auto riding, for there are no
bumps to shake you.  The trip was a complete surprise to my relatives
here.  They were not acquainted with my plans because I was afraid they
would be worried over my adventure in the sky."



Lenoir News-Topic, Lenoir, NC, Vol. XLV, No. 4, Fri., Oct. 24, 1919:
p. 4, c. 2 --

SOME OF THE NEWS OF BOONE AND WATAUGA COUNTY
(Watauga Democrat) --

        Dr. Dula of Lenoir was in town Monday and told the Democrat that
all Watauga lacked of having a visit from an airplane was a suitable
place to land this side side [sic] of the Ridge.  He had contracted with
the aviator to make the flight, and the two ascended to an altitude of
2,000 feet out from Lenoir, and Mr. Aviator decided, after taking a view
of this section through his glasses, that he would not take the risk, and
returned to Lenoir, where he had been making flights for the Caldwell
county fair.



The Oxford Public Ledger, Oxford, NC, Fri. October 31, 1919:
p. 1, c. 5 -

AEROPLANE PASSED
        OVER OXFORD THURSDAY
        --------
Possibly It Was Lt. Runser in His
        Curtiss Machine.

        For the past few days Lt. Runser, the man who promised to fly
over Oxford during the recent county fair and failed to reach here, has
been delivering the Raleigh Times from his plane as he flew over the
townds within a radius of fifty miles of Raleigh.
        A machine passed over Oxford at 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon.  If
it was Lt. Runser, he failed to leave his card.  The machine was a mile
high and traveling at the rate of two miles a minute.



The News and Observer, Raleigh, NC, Sat., Nov. 1, 1919:
P. 10, c. 2 -

AVIATORS WILL GIVE
        EXHIBITION AT 4:30
        ----------
        Lieut. Harry Runser and Roscoe Turner announced last night that
they will give their aeroplane exhibition at 4:30 o'clock this afternoon
at the landing field east of Raleigh.  The exhibition will include
"falling a mile in flames," walking the wings, standing on upper wings
and hanging from landing gear.  These feats, it is explained, have been
attempted by only five men in the world.



The Dillon Herald, Dillon, SC, Thurs., Dec. 18, 1919:
p. 1, c. 5 --

MAY BUY AIRPLANE.
      ------
        Messrs. I.T.Wood and James M. Sprunt are thinking seriously of
buying an airplane for commercial service.  They are investigating the
different makes of planes and expect to purchase a modern machine in the
near future.  The plane will be used for carrying passengers on quick
trips to cities and towns in the two Carolinas.  The greatest obstacle in
the way, says Mr. Sprunt, is a landing field.  Land around Dillon is very
high and it is hard to obtain at a reasonable price a piece of land that
could be used for a field.  Another item of expense that will run the
cost of the enterprise up pretty high is a hanger in which to house the
plane.  The machine must be protected from the elements and it will be
necessary to have a large house in which to keep it.  These matters are
now under consideration and if the landing field can be obtained at
reasonable price Messrs. Sprunt and Wood will purchase the machine.

        ------------------------------------------------------
        Runser and Turner, the aviators who were here last week, returned
to Dillon Tuesday for a short visit.  They landed in T.W. Bethea's oat
field and then left for Bennettsville.  They were accompanied to
Bennettsville by Mr. J.M.Sprunt.  This is Mr. Sprunt's second trip to
Bennettsville in an airplane.



Abstracts (c) Copyright 1993 Stephanie L. Sandy

    Data transcription by: Milton Sandy, Jr. Corinth, MS - August 31, 1993