Source

THIS DO SETTLE IT.

EVEREST, KAS., has seen the FAMOUS AIRSHIP AND SAYS IT IS NOT VENUS.

VENUS "SPOTTED" ALL THE TIME THE AIRSHIP WAS IN SIGHT.

Flying Machine in View for More Than an Hour Has Four Huge Wings and a Canoe-Shaped Car "Seen" in Kansas City, Too.

Everest, Kas., April 1 (Special.) Everest has seen the airship or thinks she has. It was All Fools' Day and when, at 9:03 tonight, someone sang out: "There's the airship," half of those who heard it would not even glance at the heavens and the other half looked toward the west to see what new capers "Venus" was cutting up. But it soon became evident that if the airship was a joke it was a joke on an exceedingly elaborate scale, for, bearing down upon the city from the southwest came a huge green light beside which Venus were as a tallow dip to an arc electric light.

In five minutes the entire population was out to see, and in five more every man, woman, and child was willing to take oath and declare that what most of them had believed to be a myth was a floating, moving, grand reality and those of them who did not sit up all night in the hope of getting another glimpse of the aerial steed went to bed to dream of the not-distant day when they may breakfast in Kansas, dine in Chicago and take supper the same day in New York, the journey having been made on the wings of the wind in just such an airship as they saw or thought they saw tonight.

The airship or something was in view for an hour and twenty minutes. Once it came within a few hundred feet of the earth, and a shout went up: "Oh, it's going to land here," but the ship fooled the people a trip, for just as the crowd was looking for someone to appear at the edge of the car with "Ahoy! there! Standby to make fast the line!" the huge machine bore away to the right and in a few minutes was almost lost to view. But it came back and sailed majestically over and around the town, while hundreds looked on and wondered.

The ship moved about so erratically that an accurate description of it could not be obtained. Those who had the best view of it, however, assert that the floating power seemed to be in a mammoth bag, supposedly filled with gas. To this were attached four light wings of triangular form, two on either side, and from the great bag was suspended a cage or car. This car was canoe-shaped and appeared to be from twenty-five to thirty feet long. A few declared that the ship had red lights hung over the edges of the car presumably as a precaution against collision with some one of the other numerous ships of similar character that have been observed in this vicinity recently by people who have a faculty for "seeing things."

As proof positive for the skeptical that Everest's mysterious visitor was not Venus, it might be mentioned that three of the most reputable citizens of the town, themselves skeptical at first, "got a sight on" Venus, old girl, shortly after the airship put in an appearance, and never removed their eyes from that giddy planet until the airship had done with its maneuvers and gone, and they are willing to swear that Venus never moved, except as was proper and seemly for a planet, and that Venus and the airship are not one and the same. "I had Venus down fine on a dead line with the door of the depot and the top of that old poplar tree yonder," said one of them, "and she stayed there all the time, while the blamed airship went cavorting around above the poplar tree, and to the left and right of it; so that airship ain't Venus, and I know it."

The ship finally passed under a cloud to the east, then reappeared, and, starting off due north, was soon lost to view, after entertaining the people of Everest for an hour more than they have been entertained before since "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was here.

If there still be doubters, let them read this:

"This is to certify that we, the undersigned, saw and watched for some time tonight the movements of large and brilliant lights that traveled at various heights over this city, and what we believe to be the same as seen at various other points, and believed to be an airship.

"J. E. Gunn, proprietor Commercial hotel.

"E. E. Mason, roller mills.

"A. L. Stout, capitalist.

"Cleve McGregar, with Lyons Bros.

"Thomas Emlngton."

---

There are many things of a strange nature that take place on the first day of April, but for the first time in her history Kansas City had an airship April fool joke played yesterday, and the most amusing part of it was that it caught a great many people.

About 8 o'clock last evening the evening star shone forth in the west with unusual brilliance. The atmospheric conditions were exceptionally fine and the star's brilliance was much greater than usual. For the purposes of a joke, someone at the Coates House made a remark about the airship and called attention to the star. The crowd looked, and one credulous man who had been celebrating the day declared it was the electric headlight of an airship. Possibly the same one recently seen at Belleville, Kas., or at Omaha or at Topeka. Possibly it was the aerial crew of the engineering corps of Governor Leedy's South Pole & Aurora Borealis Railroad Company.

Word of the airship was telephoned about the city, and soon the guests at the hotels were all out watching it and discussing what it was. The crowd at the Savoy was so dense that it almost filled the street in front of the place and interfered with the running of the Ninth street cars. Over at the Midland the guests were where the smoke from the packing houses interfered, and as each puff of smoke passed athwart the view, some believer in aerial navigation would declare the boat was shifting about. It was the same in all the crowd, a few believed they were watching the airship, but the large number knew it was simply the evening star with a little extra polish.