Air Wonder Stories, December 1929 — page 21: what you’re looking at

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

MOR many years I had planned to fly around a the world in one of the gigantic Interna- tional Airway Express liners ; but not until mi recently had I been able to adjust. my Seeeteeey affairs so that they would not tequire my personal attention for a few weeks at least. How- ever, during the years, there had appeared safer and speedier aero-transportation. So, when I was ready to make the flight, I felt assured of a passage, not only with the utmost safety, but also with the maximum of comfort, The International Airway Express Company had even abandoned many ofits huge landing fields, and adopted instead towering pylon-like structures to which their leviathans of the air were anchored by an ap- plication of electromagnetism. I was. fortunate indeed in having booked passage on the great Eastern Star; for, if I had not, I would have missed the thrilling episodes that followed. The novel features of the great craft, many of them revolu- tionary, added to the excitement of being able to fly. on her maiden trip. I was eager to-be off and, an hour before her scheduled arrival from the east, I was in the Los Angeles station at the base of the anchoring pylon located in the center of the Plaza. This his- torical spot in the center of old Los Angeles had been purchased by the International Airway Express Com- pany in 1950; but not until recently had the space been utilized as the location for the anchoring towers. On arriving at the station, I went at once to the office of the Pacific Coast manager of the company, Jackson Worthington, my former. college chum, As T entered, he was seated at his desk, staring into a large luminous screen which was placed at a convenient angle before him. He glanced up. “Hello, Tom!” he FLIGHT OF THE EASTERN STAR By the Author of “Beyond Gravity,” “The Stellar Missile,” “The Radium Pool,” etc. ED EARL REPP over Gayle. Remember it, Jack?” His eyes sparkled as he motioned me to a chair. “Do I?” he ejaculated, smiling reminiscently: “That was the game that made history for Bingham. I still carry the scars of that battle! I could have murdered that big brute of a half-back for spiking me!” “Tt was a dirty trick, all right,” I acknowledged, remembering vividly the incident; a Gayle player many years before had spiked Jack in the side in an effort to put our. star out of the game. “But it’s all in the game. You've got to expect slams in almost every- thing.” “T suppose so!” he said, seriously : “But what the devil made you decide on a trip around the world? Busi- ness or pleasure?” “Pleasure, Jack, old boy,” I an- swered, handing him a cigar of my private brand: “I’m getting stale, and I want to make the flight before I’m too old. Tve only had three trips to Europe and one to Hawaii; and I couldn’t enjoy ’em because there was.too much business to oc- cupy my mind.. Now I’ve managed to clean things up a bit; so that I have nothing to worry about for a while.” “Well, T’ll-change your reserva- tion for you, Tom,” he said, laying a hand on my knee: “A bachelor like you will want’to fly in comfort. I had a chance to take back the No; 1 cabin on the Eastern Star; it’s yours now if you want it, You'll be well up: forward, and I'll arrange with Captain Mark- son to show you everything. You won’t be lonesome, and I-assure you that there’s a thrill-in every mile,” “What kind of a-ship is this Eastern Star, Jack?” I inquired: “I ‘don’t recall that I’ve ever seen the pic- tures of her.” “First ‘class, ultra-modern airliner, Tom,” he an- swered with pride in his voice: “She’s the finest said, rising to grasp my hand. I had not seen Jack for several years and at once I noted that his temples were grayer and new lines on_ his pleasant features told more eloquently than words the responsibility of his job. “I see you're listed as a passenger. g Why didn’t you come to toh me for your reservation? A How are you anyhow, ‘you old——” “TI feel the need of ex- citement, Jack,” I cut in, wringing his hand heart- ily: “I. didn’t think it necessary to catise you a lot of inconvenience, so I had my secretary book my passage. Outside of overwork, I’m as fit as - I was when we put it F the old Romans. could come back and compare their galleys with the present trans- Atlantic greyhounds of some 60,000 tons capacity, they probably could not believe their own eyes. So we of today, looking at our great airplanes, find it difficult to realize how puny they will seem when compared with the aircraft of the future. There is:no question that the future airliner will be as big as our biggest ocean greyhound of today; and even bigger, when the secrets of aero-dynamics, aerial navigation and all that goes with them have been mastered. With such a future realized our well-known author has recounted an exciting voyage of a great airliner. To be sure, an ocean voyage on a steamer is a prosaic affair today; but every once ina while we have miraculotts adventures—such as when the “President Roosevelt” saved the crew of a freighter during a storm in mid-ocean. You will find plenty of such excitement and adventure in our author's’ latest effort. airship ever built and the fastest. You leave Los Angeles at six o'clock this afternoon; you are in Tokio.at ten tomorrow night, even after losing twenty-four hours by the change at the Date Line. IT suppose you'll want stop-over privileges?” “That's fine, Jack!” I said; “Yes, I'd like to stop in London for a few days. You see, I in- tended to be away for about fifteen days in all; but I’m allowing myself three weeks, in event of any unforeseen delays.” The Position Locator BUZZER sounded somewhere under his desk. Worthington ~ comicbooks.com