VNEW YORK

ON Monday morning, June 13, Lindbergh rose at dawn and reached the Mayflower Hotel at 6:45A.M.for breakfast with the National Aeronautical Association, which conferred a life membership upon him.

He reached Bolling Field outside Washington at about 7:30A.M.Here rose the only incident to mar his otherwise flawless happiness in the welcome he had received. His plane refused to “mote.” It didn’t actually rebel. But there was sufficient irregularity in its engine to discourage him from risking delay when New York City was almost every minute voicing its impatience that he hurry to the celebration awaiting him there. A pursuit plane was quickly obtained from an army field and he was soon in the air with his escort of more than a score of ships.

The course of the group led them over Baltimore, Wilmington and Philadelphia. Eyewitnesses later reported that demonstrations took place at every one of these places as the air cavalcade went by. Of course those in the planes, thousands of feet in the air and deafened by the roar of their motors, heard nothing of the bells and whistles that saluted them as they passed.

Lindbergh arrived at Mitchel Field about noon. As he had flown in a land plane and was to be met in the lower harbor by the mayor’s yacht, he had to make a quick change to an amphibian. This ship happened to be theSan Franciscowhich had but recently returned from her “good-will” flight to South America.

She took-off from dry land and a few minutes later volplaned down to the water just above the Narrows.

Here a sight met Lindbergh’s eyes that old harbor inhabitants declare was absolutely without precedent in the marine annals of New York. Even the famous Hudson-Fulton Exposition with its vast water parades and maneuvers was exceeded.

In the sparkling sunshine of a perfect Junemorning was gathered half a thousand vessels of every kind and description. Excursion boats, yachts, tugs, motor boats, launches, fireboats, even dredges, formed the spectacular array of shipping gathered to meet the man who had made the proudest of surface craft, the ocean liner, a back number on the sea.

A police launch swung up to theSan Franciscoand took Lindbergh aboard. He was brought to theMacom, yacht of the Mayor of New York, amid a deafening chorus of whistles. Indeed, so great was the din that conversation among the welcoming committees was quite impossible and remained so throughout the hour’s voyage to the Battery.

As theMacommoved forward the huge disorderly fleet of crowding vessels swung into rough column behind her. Massive ocean going tugs and fireboats clung close aboard to guard her from too curious craft who sought to wedge their way in toward the yacht for a better look at the bare-headed boy standing atop her pilot house.

As in Washington, the air was well filled with planes. Their motors’ roar lent a sort of solemnundertone to the shrieking chorus of whistles and sirens.

There was an interview below decks. It was not very successful. The whistles made too much noise and Lindbergh very properly refused to discuss his “feelings”, which are meat and drink to the writing man.

It was estimated that 300,000 people were massed in the vicinity of the Battery when theMacomhove alongside. Lining the streets clear to Central Park was a multitude that was variously estimated from 3,000,000 to 4,500,000. Scores of people were in their places before eightA.M.on upper Fifth Avenue. Lindbergh did not pass them until threeP.M.Traffic was disrupted. Police control was strained to its utmost.

As evidence of the almost unanimous turnout for the occasion, the Police Department of the City issued special instructions to all citizens about leaving their houses protected against thieves, something that hadn’t been done for a generation.

When the cavalcade with Lindbergh leading started up Broadway there came the famous New York “snow storm” consisting of a myriadpaper bits and confetti streamers floating downward from the skyscrapers. Photographs do scant justice to the spectacle.

At the City Hall Mayor Walker expressed the city’s sentiments with a felicity that deserves their record here. He spoke more informally than most had spoken in Washington; by the same token he echoed through his easily forgivable eloquence much that the inarticulate thousands waiting without the lines would like to have said.

He struck right at the heart of things when he began:

“Let me dispense with any unnecessary official side or function, Colonel, by telling you that if you have prepared yourself with any letters of introduction to New York City they are not necessary.

“Everybody all over the world, in every language, has been telling you and the world about yourself. You have been told time after time where you were born, where you went to school, and that you have done the supernatural thing of an air flight from New York to Paris. I amsatisfied that you have become convinced of it by this time.

“And it is not my purpose to reiterate any of the wonderful things that have been so beautifully spoken and written about you and your triumphal ride across the ocean. But while it has become almost axiomatic, it sometimes seems prosaic to refer to you as a great diplomat, because after your superhuman adventure, by your modesty, by your grace, by your gentlemanly American conduct, you have left no doubt of that. But the one thing that occurs to me that has been overlooked in all the observations that have been made of you is that you are a great grammarian, and that you have given added significance and a deeper definition to the word ‘we.’

“We have heard, and we are familiar with, the editorial ‘we,’ but not until you arrived in Paris did we learn of the aeronautical ‘we.’ Now you have given to the world a flying pronoun.

“That ‘we’ that you used was perhaps the only word that would have suited the occasion and the great accomplishment that was yours. That all-inclusive word ‘we’ was quite right, because you were not all alone in the solitude of the skyand the sea, because every American heart, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was beating for you. Every American, every soul throughout the world, was riding with you in spirit, urging you on and cheering you on to the great accomplishment that is yours.

“That ‘we’ was a vindication of the courage, of the intelligence, of the confidence and the hopes of Nungesser and Coli, now only alive in the prayers and the hearts of the people of the entire world. That ‘we’ that you coined was well used, because it gave an added significance and additional emphasis to the greatest of any and all ranks, the word of faith, and turned the hearts of all the people of the civilized world to your glorious mother, whose spirit was your spirit, whose confidence was your confidence, and whose pride was your pride; the ‘we’ that includes all that has made the entire world stand and gasp at your great feat, and that ‘we’ also sent out to the world another message and brought happiness to the people of America, and admiration and additional popularity for America and Americans by all the peoples of the European countries.

“Colonel Lindbergh, on this very platform are the diplomatic corps, the diplomatic representatives of all the countries of the civilized world; but before you and around you are the peoples themselves of all the countries of the civilized world, foregathered in this city, the greatest cosmopolitan institution in all the world; the peoples who have come from the forty-eight States of the Union and from every country of the civilized world; and here today, as Chief Magistrate of this city, the world city, the gateway to America, the gateway through which peoples from the world have come in the search for liberty and freedom—and have found it—here today let it be written and let it be observed that the Chief Magistrate of this great city, the son of an immigrant, is here to welcome as the world’s greatest hero, another son of an immigrant.

“What more need I call to your attention, in view of the busy life that you have been leading and have the right to expect to lead? What more can we say as we foregather in the streets of this old city? And today, not by the words alone of the Mayor, or the beautifully written words of a scroll, as you stand here I am sure youhear something even more eloquent and glorious. You can hear the heart-beats of six millions of people that live in this the City of New York. And the story they tell is one of pride, is one of admiration for courage and intelligence; is one that has been born out of and is predicated upon the fact that as you went over the ocean you inscribed on the heavens themselves a beautiful rainbow of hope and courage and confidence in mankind.

“Colonel Lindbergh, New York City is yours—I don’t give it to you; you won it. New York not only wants me to tell you of the love and appreciation that it has for your great venture, but is deeply and profoundly grateful for the fact that again you have controverted all the old rules and made new ones of your own, and kind of cast aside temporarily even the weather prophets, and have given us a beautiful day.

“So, just another word of the happiness, the distinction and the pride which the City of New York has today to find you outside this historical building, sitting side by side with your glorious mother, happy to find you both here, that we might have the opportunity and a close-up, to tellyou that like the rest of the world—but because we are so much of the world, even with a little greater enthusiasm than you might find in any other place in the world—I congratulate you and welcome you into the world city, that you may look the world in the face.”

Mayor Walker pinned the Medal of Valor upon the lapel of Lindbergh’s coat. Whereupon Lindbergh for the first time gave in some detail his sense of the size of the welcome he had received:

“When I was preparing to leave New York, I was warned that if we landed at Le Bourget we might receive a rather demonstrative reception. After having an hour of Le Bourget I did not believe that anyone in New York had the slightest conception of what we did receive. Again, at Brussels and at London. At London thirteen hundred of the pride of Scotland Yard were lost in the crowd at Croydon as though they had been dropped in the middle of the ocean. With the exception of a few around the car and around the plane, I never saw more than two at any one time.

“THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS” AFTER HER RETURN©Wide World Photos“THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS” AFTER HER RETURN

©Wide World Photos“THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS” AFTER HER RETURN

©Wide World Photos

“THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS” AFTER HER RETURN

AFTER THE FLIGHT TO WASHINGTON©Wide World PhotosMITCHEL FIELD, L. I.—AFTER THE FLIGHT TO WASHINGTON

©Wide World PhotosMITCHEL FIELD, L. I.—AFTER THE FLIGHT TO WASHINGTON

©Wide World Photos

MITCHEL FIELD, L. I.—AFTER THE FLIGHT TO WASHINGTON

“At Washington I received a marvelous reception. But at New York I believe that all four put together would be in about just the position of those London bobbies.

“When I landed at Le Bourget I landed looking forward to the pleasure of seeing Europe and the British Isles. I learned to speak of Europe and the British Isles after I landed in London. I had been away from America a little less than two days. I had been very interested in the things I saw while passing over southern England and France, and I was not in any hurry to get back home.

“By the time I had spent about a week in France and a short time in Belgium and England, and had opened a few cables from the United States, I found that I did not have much to say about how long I would stay over there.”

Lindbergh paused for the laughter to subside. This point always tickled people greatly.

“So I left Europe and the British Isles with the regret that I had been unable to see either Europe or the British Isles. When I started up the Potomac from theMemphisI decided that I was not so sorry that I had taken theAmbassador’s advice. After spending about an hour in New York I know I am not.”

The parade now formed again and moved up Broadway, through Lafayette Street, to Ninth and over to Fifth. At Madison Square it halted at the Shaft of Eternal Light. The ceremony was touching and impressive. The tall shaft topped by a crystal star, imprisoning light everlasting, was a fitting memorial to the men who gave up their lives in the World War. Lindbergh here laid a wreath in their memory.

Fifth Avenue had been packed with people since morning. It was now mid-afternoon. As in Washington a wave of cheering marked the progress of the car which held the city’s guest of honor.

At St. Patrick’s Cathedral he stopped, got out of his automobile and met Cardinal Hayes.

In Central Park the official city welcome ended amid a gathering estimated at above 300,000 people. Bands were playing and automobile horns added to the din.

Governor Smith of New York was waiting there with his staff on a specially built reviewing stand. He pinned on Lindbergh the State Medalof Honor: adding again to the ever lengthening list of honors. There was again an exchange of speeches met by salvos of applause. A sky writer wrote “Hail Lindy” high in the air. Policemen wrestled with swaying crowds. More than on the avenue it seemed as if the city were concentrated for a Lindbergh it would never forget.

Near five the great demonstration came to an end. For a few hours the center of attraction could escape to the refuge that had been prepared for him and his mother in a private apartment. But this escape was qualified by the fact that it took a large guard to hold in check the many people who sought access to Lindbergh for one reason or another.

At 8:15P.M.he rode out on Long Island to the beautiful estate of Clarence Mackay, head of the Postal Telegraph Company. The place had been transformed into a fairyland of colored Japanese lanterns, fountains and illuminated shrubbery. Eighty of New York’s most prominent people attended the dinner which was kingly in its appointments. Later several hundred guests came in for dancing.

It would have seemed that this first terrific day might have exhausted the ardor of the city’s welcome. But there followed a kaleidoscopic week that was, if anything, more trying. Not only did Lindbergh move amid a growing chorus of business offers, but his social engagements jammed tighter and tighter as the hours passed. Moreover, his plane was still in Washington, although he was scheduled to fly it to St. Louis for the week-end.

The City of New York gave Lindbergh a dinner of some 4000 guests at the Hotel Commodore. It was there that Mr. Hughes spoke the following unique tribute:

“When a young man, slim and silent, can hop overnight to Paris and then in the morning telephone his greetings to his mother in Detroit; when millions throughout the length and breadth of this land and over sea through the mysterious waves, which have been taught to obey our command, can listen to the voice of the President of the United States according honors for that achievement, honors which are but a faint reflection of the affection and esteem cherished in the hearts of the countryman of the West who distinguishedAmerica by that flight, then indeed is the day that hath no bother; then is the most marvelous day that this old earth has ever known.

“We measure heroes as we do ships by their displacement. Colonel Lindbergh has displaced everything. His displacement is beyond all calculation. He fills all our thought; he has displaced politics, Governor Smith.

“For the time being, he has lifted us into the freer and upper air that is his home. He has displaced everything that is petty; that is sordid; that is vulgar. What is money in the presence of Charles A. Lindbergh?

“What is the pleasure of the idler in the presence of this supreme victor of intelligence and industry? He has driven the sensation mongers out of the temples of our thought. He has kindled anew the fires on the eight ancient altars of that temple. Where are the stories of crime, of divorce, of the triangles that are never equalateral? For the moment we have forgotten. This is the happiest day, the happiest day of all days for America, and as one mind she is now intent upon the noblest and the best. America ispicturing to herself youth with the highest aims, with courage unsurpassed; science victorious. Last and not least, motherhood, with her loveliest crown.

“We may have brought peoples together. This flight may have been the messenger of good-will, but good-will for its beneficent effects depends upon the character of those who cherish it.

“We are all better men and women because of this exhibition in this flight of our young friend. Our boys and girls have before them a stirring, inspiring vision of real manhood. What a wonderful thing it is to live in a time when science and character join hands to lift up humanity with a vision of its own dignity.

“There is again revealed to us, with a startling suddenness, the inexhaustible resources of our national wealth. From an unspoiled home, with its traditions of industry, of frugality and honor, steps swiftly into our gaze this young man, showing us the unmeasured treasures in our minds of American character.

“America is fortunate in her heroes; her soul feeds upon their deeds; her imagination revels in their achievements. There are those whowould rob them of something of their lustre, but no one can debunk Lindbergh, for there is no bunk about him. He represents to us, fellow-Americans, all that we wish—a young American at his best.”

Only by reducing this record to catalog form could it possibly be made to include a fully detailed description of Lindbergh’s four amazing days in New York. Every night there was a banquet. Every day there was a festive lunch. Not hundreds, but thousands attended these entertainments; and at the speaker’s table there always sat distinguished men whose names were household words among Americans.

Lindbergh spoke at every banquet. Recurrently he paid gracious thanks to those who had helped make his visit such a gorgeous success; he usually ended by speaking on behalf of aviation, the welfare of which he never forgot even in the most crowded moments of his days.

The Merchants’ Association gave him a gigantic luncheon. The Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce entertained him at a banquet that filled to overflowing the famous ball room of the Waldorf.

On Wednesday night he gave an exhibition of his endurance that once more reminded the world it was fêting no ordinary hero. After dining on Rodman Wanamaker’s yacht and seeing a special performance of a light opera, Lindbergh attended a charity benefit at one of the big theatres. About 1:30A.M.he escaped through a back door and hurried to Mitchel field. Although still in his evening clothes he borrowed a helmet and hopped off for Washington at 3:05A.M.By 7:30A.M.he was back in New York with his own plane.

His last day was too crowded for him to take a nap after his sleepless night. He went to Brooklyn where above a million people gave him another moving welcome. He kept a public luncheon date. He attended a large tea and reception at the Waldorf Hotel where Raymond Orteig presented him with the $25,000 prize that had long stood for the first flight from New York to Paris. At eight, a little tired but still as fresh looking as ever, he followed Charles Schwab in speaking before a massed aviation banquet that included many leading pilots of the world.

ST. LOUIS’ WELCOME—LOOKING DOWN WASHINGTON AVENUE

MY MOTHER

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