Life — October 19, 1928 — page 11: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

SKIPPY’S 9 LETTERS By Percy L. Crosby Dear Sooxy: Wait'll I tell ya! You'll never guess. I goes up in an seroplane. Yes, sir! an aeroplane. Mr. Geepee knew someone who had a friend that knew a feller what worked around Commander Byrd's plane. Ya can see we was sittin pretty. It wasn’t long before Mr. Geepee says a pilot would take me up for an airin, Well, I gets in the plane an it’s a closed one. My heart began to beat when the motor gets singin; pretty soon we starts. Faster an faster we goes bicyclin over the lawn, then all to a sudden I look out the window an I see we're no longer on the ground. In no time no less we're goin over backyards an houses, straight up the kite line we go, until I see water right ahead an before I know it, there it is un- der us. Docks look like inch marks on a ruler, Higher an higher we buzz up the sky. We don't seem to be makin any speed now, just sorta danglin like a spider in the wind. | wobble up to the driver an hold onto the back of fis seat. “What's them things down there that look like cracker ctumbs on a billiard table?” I asks. “Cattle!” he sez. “An them match boxes full o' pepper?” “Freight cars full of coal!” he sez. “How far are we now?” I ask him. “Six thousand feet,” he sez. “Which way?” I ask. “As an engine drops,” he comes back. T looked down an my insides flutter like a cage o’ canaries in a cat show. It was just as if I was lookin at a page in the geography—nothin but maps. Then | pot to thinkin of my homework. We gin to tilt an there’s the map right alongside o° me, just as if we was turnin a page. All of a sudden—zingo! Under- neath is an altogether different map. Well, after we mosey around the pages, the driver starts carvin pretzels in the air. All of a sudden—wingo! We drops like an elevator without a floor. I wanted to yell, but me mouth was full o’ lungs. When he gets through playin ring 0° rosy with the sky, I begin to get easy. “We'll have to go down now cause I ain’t so sure o’ my gasoline,” the driver sez. “Ain't so sure!” I sez. “Why, how much ya got?” “I dunno,” he sez, “the meter’s busted an I think I’m workin on the reserve.” An me without so much as a step lad- der. “When you drivers hop the ocean, how do ya tell time if ya watch is bein fixed?” I sez. “A pilot's got to know his astronomy.” oy stars maybe should I ask it?” “No, we don’t tell time so much by stars as the spaces what fit between the stars,” he sez. “When it’s black we know it’s night, but when it gets gray, then we know it's time for break fast.” All this time I never knew we was goin down, but we was over house tops an skiddin toward a big dog house. Oh, sometime I'm goin to tell you about this ride. Oh, I've got the swellest collection of fence gates ya ever saw lined up for Hal- loween. I hear Krausmeyer’s goin to get a new bread-box. I hope he doesn’t disap- point us. Affectionately sincere, IF THE FOOTBALL COACHES WROTE THE CHEERS Ran! Rah! Rah! Our team’s a bunch of dubs But give ‘em a regular cheer; They can’t even beat the scrubs, They ain't won a game all year, So there’s no sense in lying, The team’s all BLAH. But at least they keep on trying— So give "em a regular cheer— RAH! RAH! RAH! Tue Mextinc Por seems to be rapidly evolving into the Cocktail Shaker. Rameses: That guy’s been working a week, and he hasn't given me a laugh yet. I'm going to fire him and get a good columnist! comicbooks.com