Newsreel man (1931)

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74> NEWSREEL MAN out the remaining gas for a descent. There is no use trying to limp back to the home base.’ He was quite casual about the whole matter. On asking him if there would be any danger, he smiled sort of grimly but assured me that outside of a good bump, we had an ev^en chance of landing unscathed. I decided to keep right on grinding and give the office something real hot to look at. A forced landing of a blimp right from the pilot’s perch! “Just outside of a little town, which was identified as IVIurfreesboro, we spotted an ideal clearing. The captain cut the motor switch, and, with a grimace, yanked the rip valve cord. The ship settled down like lead. I could see a group of Negro workers looking up at us. Abandoning whatever they were doing, they dropped to their knees and crouched in terror of the big bag as it swooped down. At that, it must have seemed like an emissary of the devil to them, the flabby, half-deflated envelope making it all the more incomprehensible. “The camera was still running, taking advantage of all this business. The ground seemed to be rushing up to meet us at a terrific speed ; the car grazed the tree tops of a grove that bordered the field. I braced myself for the final jolt and waved to Bert. He seemed plenty excited. “Crrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaack! One corner of the gondola hit the ground; it careened and the left-hand motor prop was washed out. That is the one I’ve kept as a memento. We were scudding along in a crazy fashion, ripping, bouncing, and tumbling continuously, but finally the whole ship came to a grinding halt, and the big bag, now entirely deflated, billowed down upon us, draping itself fantastically. “None of us was hurt, and after ascertaining that we were really human beings, the Negroes helped to extricate us from the wreckage. Captain Springs was swearing softly. He turned to us and said: “ ‘Well — none of us is elegible for the Caterpillar Club yet.’ “On investigating, I found the camera intact. That tickled me no end. What a picture! Bert joined the group around the captain. “ ‘How much damage do you estimate it is, Cap?’ he asked. “ ‘Oh — outside of that broken prop and a few struts, there isn’t much to it,’ the captain replied. ‘But,’ he added, ‘the government is going to be a little fussy about losing all of that helium. It costs like ’