KANSAS MUST HAVE AIRSHIP.
Call Determined to Build One That
Will Fly.
"Kansas must have an airship that will fly, and be just as successful as the Wright aeroplane which has opened the eyes of the people in France and the whole world," Henry Laurens Call of Girard, Kas., who made an unsuccessful attempt to sail his airship a few weeks ago, said yesterday at the Blossom house in Kansas City. Mr. Call is very determined in his efforts to build an airship that really will fly, and he has set about once more gathering material for the Call airship No. 2.
"Kansas is never behind the times in anything it undertakes to do, and it is not going to be behind the times in this airship business," continued Mr. Call. "My second airship will be constructed on practically the same plans as the first, but the defects in the first ship will be remedied and changes will be made where necessary. I was the subject of many newspaper jokes while attempting to find atmospheric conditions at Girard, Kas., a few weeks ago that would permit me to make a successful demonstration of my airship, but it was no joke with me. I am thoroughly in earnest and the plans I am working on will prove to the people that no joke has been perpetrated on them by me."
Mr. Call intimated that may seek some other place to experiment with his new airship, though he may decide to make a public demonstration at the same place. You can't talk anything about wheat growing, cattle raising and dry farming with Mr. Call. It is all airships with him and he says he is going to stay right with it until he has mastered the art of air navigation.
"A fellow should never become discouraged over one disappointment," Mr. Call said. "That isn't the way things are done in Kansas. When a thing is possible, and we know the airship has been successfully demonstrated, the only way to make a complete success of it is to keep trying. That is what I propose to do."
Mr. Call already has begun the construction of his second airship, and before the end of another year he hopes to be sailing over the plains of Kansas. He says that if his ship is successful he will stay in America instead of seeking foreign plaudits.
