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[[Image]] RUTH LAW Lass who broke record just to poke her nose in a cloud, chills you and thrills you to lofty thoughts. Sky pilot finds it pretty dizzy work to follow her. Up in the air. This is to be a story not of high finance, but high flying. I am just from the fair, where I had the pleasure of sitting in the press box with Ruth Law. You will have to admit that I hit in the high places yesterday. In the morning I was addressing 500 college girls at Montevallo in the interest of the Red Cross work, and in the afternoon I was chatting with the famous aviator. Please do not call her an aviatrice or even an aviatrix for it gets on the nerves of her manager, who says she is Ruth Law, the aviator, for there is none other in her class. Now it may seem a far cry from a bunch of college lassies to a professional woman aviator, yet the biggest hit I made before the college gathering was my reference to Ruth Law's marvelous flight in her world-renowned machine that carried her from New York to Chicago and to fame and fortune. A funny thing, you say, to be talking to serious young college women about, but wait a moment, for "there was a reason," as I stood by and saw her gradually rise from the ground in her airplane like a giant bird and sail away, it was more than a mere amusement performance, for in her ability to fly, I saw in vision America's supremacy in the air, when at last the American eagle, the uncaged bird of democracy, was going to win the battle against the shackled imperial eagles of Germany. The first afternoon as I watched her climb higher, and even higher, I held my breath, for a strong wind was blowing, and her manager, who was at my side, was worried about her ascension, but confessed that he was powerless to keep her from giving an exhibition if her engines were working properly. As she swayed here and there in powerful air currents he was visibly uneasy, but when she got the wind to her back and the machine shot forward at a terrific pace, he clapped his hands in joy like it was the first time he had ever seen her fly. Several times he called to my attention that she was making over 100 miles an hour. LIKE A WOUNDED BIRD At first I thought perhaps he was giving me some press dope, and I made up my mind that I wouldn't fall for it, but when she had reached an altitude of several thousand feet and looked like a big bird, and then began to loop the loop in what at her height was a driving gale I thought he would die of heart failure at his distress over her foolhardiness. She just kept on tumbling down like a wounded bird, lower and ever lower until he cried out she dare not make another loop, she is too low, she must be crazy to attempt in this wind, but she was high above sitting firm and fearless, and after he had called my attention to her nearness to earth turned over again just as though she had overheard him and wanted to show him that she knew what she was about and to quit making a fuss over nothing. He says she is just daffy about flying, that when she gets set in her machine she ready to scour the heavens, and no one knows what she is going to attempt. Not long ago, up in Indiana, she was doing stunts and all of a sudden she pointed her machine skyward and kept going until she was out of sight for nearly 10 minutes, while those on earth held their breath, not knowing what had happened. After awhile the machine, a speck on the horizon, began to grow bigger and bigger, until she was seen with her hands on the levers coming erathward. As she was gracefully lighting, for she lights bird-like, there was a rush to her car, and with great anxiety he asked her, 'what, went wrong?" to be answered: "Why, nothing at all, looking above me I saw a cloud floating high and lonely, and I just had an insane desire to poke my head through it, and I did, and oh, it was such fun." But to do it she had made a new high record, having reached a height of nearly 15,000 feet. A man who can't get a thrill by seeing Ruth Law going through aerial gymnastics thousands of feet in the air, is little impressionable and is first cousin of the debutante who on seeing the ocean as breaker after breaker was climbing high over he sea wall said, "ain't it cute," or is twin brother to the Englishman who, drawing up to my side on the quay at Munich as I was looking at the Swiss Alps all covered with snow, just to start a conversation said to me, "the mountains look awfully jolly, this afternoon, doncher know." I felt like drowning him, just as I would feel like giving a man whose blood didn't grow cold when Ruth Law is looping a blood tonic. SHE WANTS TO FIGHT I see I am about to lose my head in the cloud over this flying woman, who has come to town, and so I will get down to earth long enough to say that I was not particularly interested in her until I learned that she is not in the flying game so she can be a high flyer with the money she gets from flying, but that she wants to qualify and go abroad and serve Uncle Sam when he gets good and ready to pounce out of the air down on Germany, and I am wishing that before another fair is pulled off in Birmingham she will have had the pleasure of circling the Kaiser's castle at Potsdam, from which will be floating the Stars and Stripes. No one who has seen her in her natty officer's uniform doubts for one moment that she has the nerve to face the Boches of the air who scatter death on helpless men, women and children in unprotected cities. I got to going so fast I forgot all about connecting Ruth Law with the illustration I used in my speech on patriotism at Montevallo, but having practiced law for five years, the old lawyer habit makes me connect the evidence, so here is where I get it before the judge and the jury. I told them of seeing her the afternoon before writing a patriotic advertisement on the skyline, for beneath her airplane, in letters a man's size, so that no slacker can fail to see them, are the duty impelling words "ENLIST" set between red crosses, silent voices out of the heavens calling true-blooded Americans into the service of their county, and shaming those whose ears are deaf to its needs. I am not going to try and describe Ruth Law's personal appearance, for as I sat and talked to her I was thinking, in a few moments you may mount on high and something go wrong with your motor, and you will fall to earth a broken and mangled body. As she get up to go to take her place in her machine I said. "we are in the same business, both of us are sky pilots," with ready wit she laughingly turned it aside, for she saw I was serious, "but I have been nearer to heaven than you," and if to prove it she waved a saucy good-by and later as I looked at her a little bit of humanity with a whole sky for a background, I said to myself, if she doesn't come down, but keeps agoing up and up she will surely beat me to the pearly gates and leave her card first with St. Peter. I am glad she came down safe. _________________________ [[Illustration]] Hot air balloon in the sky with writing on it stating "65₵ GAS RATE" 2 persons in hot air balloon one with the word "GAS" on chest and one saying "SAVE ME! SAVE ME!" labeled as "COLUMBUS GAS CONSUMER" Man on ground with a knife in his hand cutting rope attached to hot air balloon with the word "COUNCIL" on his chest. Woman on ground saying "IF I CAN JUST GET THE MACHINE STARTED!" with a tag on her stating "RUTH INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM LAW" while cranking propeller on the front of the airplane. [[/illustration]] __________________________ [[Second article top right side of page - fragment]] ago. She does not look at all like most of her pictures. She is light-haired and blue-eyed, and smiles all the time. She wears glasses when not driving through the clouds. "Young folks are the best passengers to take aloft," she continued, "because they aren't nervous. They neither fuss nor fidget. Children in an airplane don't realize the danger involved, and that is what makes them so brave. A grownup is always considering the risks, you see, and hence does not feel quite so comfortable." "You mean that boys and girls on aircraft think they are having 'one grand time.'" "That's it. The boys and girls I have taken up in my plane acted as if they were on the scenic railway in Coney Island. They wanted some thrills to enthuse about." All of them thought they were getting the greatest treat of their young lives." Miss Law spoke of the possibility of boys or girls driving airplanes. "THERE IS NO REASON WHY A BRIGHT BOY OR GIRL OF TWELVE CANNOT DRIVE AN AIRPLANE," was her surprising statement. "No strength at all is needed to drive a plane. What you need is nerve, alertness, and judgement in a tight pinch. For this reason it would be risky to let boys or girls drive airplanes, but there is no doubt that they could do it." "How did you come to take up flying?" I asked the most famous of women aviators. "Why, the idea always appealed to me," she replied. "I have always been athletic and have like outdoor strenuous sports. I drove an auto many years before I ever touched an airplane lever, and I used to do a lot of horseback riding. My brother, Rodman, took upon aeronautics and I naturally followed. I suppose you have heard of Rodman?" Her interviewer admitted that he had. In fact, he remembered very clearly seeing Rodman Law jump from a balloon at the Hudson-Fulton celebrations and come down into the Hudson River, Clinging to a parachute. That thrilling sight was surely unforgettable. "Rodman is two years older than I am," continued Miss Law, "but we grew up almost like twins. We were both very active and athletic and they used to say that I ought to have been a boy. Later on Rodman began experimenting with airplanes, and I followed suit." "Did you know much about motors when you first took up flying?" "No, not much. I had driven autos, of course, but I hardly knew a spark plug from a crank shaft. Since then I've studied motors, of course, and have learned quite a bit about them." Miss Law has also studied many other instruments which she has had to use on her long distance flights. While she was speaking about her brother, he called her up on the telephone. "Hello, Rod," she said. "Of course I heard about [[portion of article cut off]] thrills for the movies and for the public, and he has many times narrowly escaped death. Every once and so often he is sent to the hospital, but just as soon as he recovers he goes about doing something more daring than ever. Mr. Law must have asked his sister over the phone whether he could come up and see her right away. "No, no," she replied laughingly, "I won't be able to [[Photo of Ruth Law]] MISS RUTH LAW see you until supper time. I have just four million appointments between now and then." "THE MORE I FLY, THE MORE CAREFUL I BECOME," said Miss Law in reply to a question. "I now know that I took many chances when I first began driving my plane. Beginners are never as careful as they should be. It takes time to teach you the full dangers you run. And then, when you finally realize the dangers, you make flying fairly safe by taking just as few chances as possible. It takes a skillful flyer to avoid risks." "Do you think that flying will always be dangerous?" "Why, yes, to a certain extent," answered the young woman. "If you drive an automobile along a road and something goes wrong, you may be stalled. If you mis- [[portion of article cut off]] the hands of the best chauffeur will have a dangerous spill if an axle breaks or a tire bursts. Besides, there is the danger of other persons running into you. Air planes are not so common yet in America that they are liable to bump into one another for lack of room." Ruth Law said that she loved to fly. Airplaining was wonderful and fun for her and she enjoyed even the long, tiring flights. "Was not your flight from Chicago to New York great strain?" I asked. "Yes it was, after a fashion, but you get used to flights. I had to be as careful the minute before I landed as the minute I set out. Hours of flying make an aviator weary, and the hard part is to be as careful when you are tired as when you are fresh. You steering and control must be perfect every minute you are [[rip in page cutting off sentence]] If you take it easy for one moment you may never [[rip in page cutting off word]] to tell about the smash up that followed." Miss Law has a wonderful compass which she used on her trip from Chicago to New York. She will use the same instrument when sets out on her flight from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The compass was made in England. It was brought to this country by Lieutenant Porte of the British Navy, who, as you may remember was to have flown from America to Europe. He [[rip in page cutting off word]] have done it too, Miss Law thought, if the outbreak of the European war had not forced him to call off flight. The compass dial floats in alcohol and the hand points exactly toward the North at all time[[rip in page cut off word(s)]] you turn the instrument around very quickly, the [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] hand siwngs back to the North in an instant. Th[[rip in page cut off word(s)]] what is needed on an airplane. The compass must [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] pointing in the right direction at all times. If it ta[[rip in page cut off word(s)]] too long for the needle to return to its position aft[[rip in page cut off word(s)]] shaking-up, one may be miles out of one's way. [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] compass weighs only 8 pounds, though it is 9 [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] across and 5 inches deep. "Experts have told me," [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] Miss Law, "that it is the finest instrument of its ki[[rip in page cut off word(s)]] the United States." A new airplane is being built for Miss Law tha[[rip in page cut off word(s)]] fly 125 miles an hour. At that rate it would tak[[rip in page cut off word(s)]] just about twenty-seven or twenty-eight hours to [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] San Francisco and even less to fly to London. S[[rip in page cut off word(s)]] delighted at the prospect of getting great speed o[[rip in page cut off word(s)]] the new machine. You must remember that in her [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] from Chicago to New York, she was handicapped [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] slow, old-fashioned machine that couldn't go much [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] than a mile a minute. Ruth Law's modesty teaches a good lesson. The newspapers have been full of her name; great men have [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] her honor; everybody has been talking about her [[rip in page cut off word(s)]]derful courage and enterprise, but she doesn't think [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] has done anything to boast about. She thinks [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] women can do as well, and she say so, too. "Oh, many women could drive airplanes just as [[rip in page cut off word(s)]] as I do," she said. "Any girl who is a good automobile driver will be a success as a flyer. All you need is alt[[rip in page cut off word(s)]]ness, nerve, and judgement." EDITOR, JUNIOR EAGLE. ________________________ THURSDAY - The Evening Tribune Are You Small, Petite, Dainty? Then You'll Make Good Aviatrix Ruth Law, who will fly at the state fair, has her own troubles, and they aren't over looping the loop standing on the wing of her plane. "Why do men and women alike take it for granted that a girl who flies in an airplane must be a giant, and always rough and mannish and a little bit wild?" protests pretty, petite Miss Law. "The girls I have know in aviation were the exact opposite of this description, and, in fact, one of my friends was so tiny, weighing only 98 pounds, that she could hardly manage the controls, although she was a skillful flyer." All Small Women. Miss Law describes a number of familiar aviatrices who do not seem at all mannish. "Miss Laura Bromwell, who died trying to exceed the record of 199 loops, and Harriet Quinby, whom I saw killed the day I made my first flight in 1912, were both small, beautiful women. Nobody would ever mistake them for aviatrices, according to the popular idea. "In a hotel in Detroit the other day I had occasion to employ the services of a public stenographer. At the conclusion of my dictation, when I had signed my name to the letters she had written, the girl looked at me as though she had seen a ghost, and asked me if I was really Ruth Law. When I acknowledged the fact she stammered, 'Oh! I thought you were so different.' "She thought, like everybody else, that a woman who does stunts in an airplane must be different from other people. Masculine Women Pest. "It is the penalty we women who want to do things a little different from what most women do have to pay. But outdoor women I've known are not the masculine female that I regard as a pest. They accomplish nothing but to strut around, while the real women are always modest and womanly, regardless of their occupation, and an aviatrix is no exception to the rule." Which is a good argument, calculated to soften any man's heart. ______________________
