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we are nearly two miles in the air over the center of the Atlantic about halfway between Europe and America flying at a speed of nearly 175 miles per hour with not nearly as much sense of speed as in an automobile at 30 miles per hour. We have had two meals aloft today lunch and dinner tonight and also tea and sandwiches during the afternoon for those who wished them. The day has passed very rap'dly. Captain Sullivan invited me up into the control room and the pilot's compartment this afternoon. If was a very interesting experience. The controls, instruments and crew's quarters are on a deck above the passenger's space and the pilot's navigator, radio operators and engineer each has his separate station with controls and instruments, many many of them. successfully operating this 41-ton plane with its 6000 horsepower is an extremely serious business.  .It is marvelous how they fly this immense structure hour after hour above the clouds and the trackless sea to arrive precisely at a microscopic dot on an island 2400 miles away, as they have done on this very voyage. I have seen many admirable sunsets in many parts of the world, but the one tonight which we have seen from the plane was much the most beautiful. Because we were flying west it was much longer than usual. The sun seemed to go down very slowly, the sky was filled with fleecy clouds and all the ocean beneath covered by them also. As the sun went down there was a succession of gorgeous colors, all the tints of the spectrum, and the snow white of the clouds was transformed into a delicate pink that deepened and softened as the moments passed, the sky above was a deep blue with lighter shades to green and yellow and gold near the fiery red sun is the west. Then for a hour longer the afterglow colored the horizon and the floating clouds high in the heavens. It was beautiful and no words can really tell how fine it all was. One of the best events of the flight.

July 4. The roughest weather of the trip occurred around 3:00 a. m. this morning. For about two hours we were in a disrurbed area, but though I was wakened by the ship rolling, it was not bad. I looked at my watch and went back to sleep at once. Woke early, up and dressed hoping to see a sunrise to match its setting last night, but due to the haze it was but ordinary. Ocean still covered with clouds. Had breakfast, packed my suitcase, made out the declaration for the customs and talked with the others of the trip just ending and of future meetings.

All of the passengers are very nice people whom it had been a privilege to meet. I was made glad by both the President of the Pan American Airways and his wife telling me that they were happy that I had been their first transatlantic commercial passenger both over and back. We passed Block Island on the right and were soon flying over the east end of Long Island and along the south shore. The resort hotels, golf clubs and the country estates that dot the Island made with their smooth lawns, flowers and trees a beautiful sight under the almost level rays of the morning sun. Soon we were crossing the island, the water of Port Washington came in sight, the ship lost altitude and we touched the water for a perfect landing at 8:49 a. m. The "Dixie Clipper" and we were home, an epic-making flight ended. A nice crowd was waiting to welcome us. My cousins had been there since 6:30 this morning. It was lovely of them and I was happy to have their greeting. The customs officers soon completed their check of our luggage. The reporters' questions answered, more photographs posed for, goodbyes said to the other passengers and I was in the auto. bound for New York City, a 40-minute ride, passing the World's fair on the way. A representative of the Blue network of the National Broadcasting Company was at the airport when we arrived and asked me to tell about the trip over the radio tomorrow evening from New York. Stopped at the Airways office to arrange details, telephoned my arrival to my wife and left at 12:30 p. m. for Washington. The train seems crowded compared to the space we had had on the plane and, strangely, the train seems to be going much faster, yet it was moving only about one fourth as fast as we flew. Arrived at Washington at 4:30 p. m. My best trip ended. Ten thousand four undred and sixty-nine miles in six days
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[[newspaper article]]
THE ALEXANDRIA GAZETTE
ESTABLISHED 1784--THE OLDEST DAILY NEWSPAPER
IN THE UNITED STATES
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1939

Boy Scouts Honor Court
To be Held Tomorrow Nite
______
Members of the four local Boy Scouts troops will participate in the monthly court of honor to be held tomorrow night at 8 in the Jefferson school annex. Preceding the session Scouts will be examined by a board of review, following which they will be awarded merit badges and advancements by the regular court of honor.

Scouts and those attending will be honored with an address by W. J. Eck, assistant to the vice-president of the Southern Railway System. Eck had the distinction of holding ticket number one on the first regular trans-Atlantic airplane trip to Europe.

Officials request a complete attendance of all Scouts' parents.
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[[article]]
The Quarterly Review
Official Organ of the Graduate Nurses Association
1746 K Street N.W.
Vol VIII  1940   No.1
GALLINGER
At the January meeting of the Alumnae Association, a special treat was enjoyed. Mr. and Mrs. Eck (nee Emily Kleb) were the guest speakers. Mrs. Eck will be remembered as one of the most popular of instructresses at Gallinger before becoming Executive Secretary of the G.N.A. Mr. Eck chose as his topic the engrossing narration of his experiences during the maiden flight of the Pan American plane, "Dixie Clipper" on which he was a passenger.

Mrs. Eck followed her husband with a very interesting talk on the Advantages of becoming a Subscriber to the Nursing Journal, in which she presented an unusual number of unthought of advantages.
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