FLYING EXHIBITIONS BY WALTER E. JOHNSON A GREAT TREAT
Lykens Valley in general and Elizabethville in particular were fortunate in having one of the most noted aviators in the country spend the past week here, thanks to the Gratz Fair management. Aside from the exhibitions given at the fair, Mr. Johnson and his assistant, Mr. Beers, executed aerial maneuvers here, at Millersburg and at Lykens, each of the towns paying for the entertainment. At this place an opportunity was afforded to all to witness the assembling of the air-craft and fitting for flight. The return trip from Gratz was made in six minutes, and from here to Millersburg in five and one-half minutes, while from the latter place to Lykens, a distance of 14 miles, it took only 13 minutes.
Mr. Johnson last year won first prize of $1000, in the speed contest at the New York State Fair; also the bomb-dropping contest, and last year also broke the endurance record by remaining in flight with one passenger for 3 hours, 51 minutes and 15 seconds, flying on a 200 ft. level at the rate of 50 miles per hour. It is said that during the latter contest both aviators suffered so much from cold that on landing they had to be removed from their planes.
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From the Elizabethville Echo, 25 September 1913, via Newspapers.com.
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