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 Started 28 June 2007
("- via H.L. Menken" refers to: A New Dictionary of Quotations;
 On Historical Principles from Ancient and Modern Sources,
 selected & edited by H.L. Menken)
Quotes Basket 2

---

The road was white and glaring through Paea, for the
road gang had been putting fresh coral on it.
(The road around Tahiti, with a surface of crushed coral rock.)
(From You Could Do It, Too!, by Hester Parsons, 1939 - page 272)

---

Garlands of leis, the typical decorations of Hawaii, were brought forward
 and hung about their necks, while the members of the committee
vied with each other in expressing their admiration of the exploit....
(First Stop Honolulu, or Ted Scott Over the Pacific - by Franklin W. Dixon, 1927, page 194)

---

"Hula hula oe," I told her, and stood back to show her I would be
her audience. She pulled a red hibiscus flower and stuck it over her
right ear; another went into the front of her dress; she loosened her
long black hair from its orange comb so it tumbled down over her
shoulders to her waist; she tied her red pareau about her hips
so the long ends would swish in the manner of a grass skirt.
(You Could Do It, Too!, by Hester Parsons, 1939 - page 46)

---

Ted Scott thrust his head out of the cockpit with the inimitable smile
that had endeared him to the whole world. "Hello, folks!" he exclaimed.
He got no further....
(Arriving at Wheeler Field, Hawaiian Islands.
First Stop Honolulu, or Ted Scott Over the Pacific - by Franklin W. Dixon, 1927, page 193)

---

"Stay back there," yelled Ginger, "or I'll drill you like - like a...
("Fifty-Fifty")
(Crooks in the Sunshine, by E. Phillips Oppenheim, 1932 - page 101)

---

(The beach) was white sand, a rarity here (in Tahiti).
A small island, 200 yards off-shore, looked romantic with palms
leaning over the water. It wouldn't be romantic to go to though,
for these small islets have no water, are rat-infested and there's
no place to walk or sit for they are covered knee-deep with
broken coral. Better to enjoy them from a distance.
(From You Could Do It, Too!, by Hester Parsons, 1939 - page 263)

---

Excitement mounted as the starting hour approached,
with the sea in co-operative mood. Promptly at 8.00 a. m.,
the starting maroon shattered the peace, setting all the gulls
screaming their derision.
(Monaco race, 1914 - The Schneider Trophy, by David Mondey, 1975 - page 56)

---

It was a metal flying boat of the high-wing monoplane type
...painted black. Faired into the leading edge of the cantilever
wing were eight engines, fitted with gleaming metal propellors.
(Major James 'Biggles' Bigglesworth (RFC, Ret.) observes a night intruder.
Biggles and the Black Peril, by Captain W. E. Johns, 1935, page 27)

---

"...Flight Lieutenant Hope...had been airborne for only a few minutes
when a section of the engine cowling began to blow loose, and he decided
it was wise to make an immediate landing before it became detached....
As the seaplane touched down the floats hit a sea-swell, throwing the
machine some 20 feet (6m) into the air. Before Hope could collect her with
a burst of throttle, the port wing dipped and N.248 cartwheeled
but did not sink. The water-logged and despondent pilot
clung to the floats until picked up...."
(Flight training in the Supermarine S.6A racing seaplane.
The Schneider Trophy, by David Mondey, 1975 - page 267)

---

"Aren't you overdoing that stuff a little?" her companion asked
coldly. "I've seen you in Delaney's cellar, tuning a mandoline,
I think you were, and smoking a cigarette, with three men
stretched out, whom you knew slightly better, I fancy,
than your late passenger."
The girl made use of a violent French epithet. "I had drugs then,"
 she muttered. "I wish to the good God I had now."
("The Seven Taverns of Marseilles")
(Crooks in the Sunshine, by E. Phillips Oppenheim, 1932 - page 193)

---

Shura's visitors, like all the youngsters on The Truck, wore
flower garlands with their best clothes of spotless white,
the girls in thin, sleeveless dresses, cut low in the back,
island style, and the boys in white duck (denim) suits."
(Young relatives and high school students visit their former grade
school teacher on a Summer holiday in Tahiti.)
(From You Could Do It, Too!, by Hester Parsons, 1939 - page139)

---

They brought us flower crowns, for we must deck ourselves
before starting. Taking our paddles with us, we joined the group
on the beach where two big outrigger canoes were waiting for us.
Nephews, nieces, sisters, neighbors, friends; all in picnic attire,
the boys in swimming trunks, shoulders shining with coconut
oil, the girls in brief shorts and "bibs" just as you might see
on any California beach.
(Tahiti. From You Could Do It, Too!, by Hester Parsons, 1939 - page139)

---

Sometimes at night there were rattles and bangs and thumps
from the village. This meant the locals were practicing 'Items',
native songs and dances -- hulas for the girls and men, Manihiki
drum dances -- to be inserted in concert programs or among
European dances at parties. They were always called 'Items'.
(On Aitutaki, Cook Islands, in the 1950s. From Pieces of Heaven - In the
South Seas, by Nancy Phelan, 1996 - page 160)

---

From the canoe she took a half-coconut shell and showed me
how to beat a syncopated rhythm on the side of the outrigger.
She was pleased when I struck the rhythm correctly
 the first time - she couldn't know it was the same kind
I'd heard so many times on the dance floors of America.
(Hester, in You Could Do It, Too! by Hester Parsons, 1939 - pages 46-47)

---

It began to rain in a determined way. Ari looked worried. He crouched
over a smoky fire in the cooking shed, shivering in his wet pareau.
He peered at the thick clouds which had gathered suddenly
and looked anxiously at the river....
(Hester, in You Could Do It, Too! by Hester Parsons, 1939.
A trip to the Papenoo Valley, Tahiti - page 313)

---

His elation was short-lived. With a sudden explosion of sound, bits of
engine came hurtling past his head and almost before he could take breath
NW-2 hit the water, catapulting him clear of the cockpit at something like
200 mph (322 km/h). Unbelievably he was quite uninjured and rescued....
(USA floatplane flight test 1923. The Schneider Trophy, by David Mondey, 1975 - page 127)

---

Hawk-faced, slim of features and of person, Jake Arnott
came into the room with his usual stealthy tread, a panther-like
effigy of a man, notwithstanding his correct dinner attire,
the monocle which hung from his neck and the signet ring
upon his little finger. He closed the door carefully behind him.
("The Salvation of Mr. Timothy Ryan")
(Crooks in the Sunshine, by E. Phillips Oppenheim, 1932 - page 18)

---

The Royal Air-Force's 'flying squad' had cleaned up the 1929 contest,
bringing great credit to Britain's aviation industry. Scotland Yard's Flying
Squad hadn't done so badly either, picking up a long-sought eight-man
gang of international pickpockets working their way through
the skyward-gazing crowds of enthralled spectators.
(The Schneider Trophy, by David Mondey, 1975 - page 242)

---

She looked steadily out towards the launch, a very magnificent affair
piled with red cushions and with all the appurtenances of nautical luxury.
Two very smartly dressed young women in bathing costumes and peignoirs
were lying in wicker chairs heaped with voluptuous-looking cushions.
A third in pyjamas of the latest cut was leaning over the side,
smoking a cigarette....
("The Salvation of Mr. Timothy Ryan")
(Crooks in the Sunshine, by E. Phillips Oppenheim, 1932 - page 8)

---

On and on it sped, forging its way ahead, passing now
one plane and then another until it came abreast of the
leader. The thrill, the intoxication of the race
took possession of the young aviatrix, and she
urged it on to its fullest speed.
(Linda Carlton, Air Pilot, by Edith Lavell, 1931 - page 244)

---

"To-day's value," Monsieur Debeney declared, "is entirely due
to the foresight, the sagacity and the enterprise of the Syndicate.
Look at the money we have risked--the money we have spent.
The Casino might have been a failure. Le monde chic might
not have responded to this new craze for summer bathing
and warmer atmospheres...."
("Fifty-Fifty")
(Crooks in the Sunshine, by E. Phillips Oppenheim, 1932 - page 98-99)

---

"The three shots into the body," she objected, "was rather
a mistake. Only American gangsters do that sort of thing."
The Commodore raised his cap as they parted, and his smile
of farewell was both genial and affectionate.
"I like to make sure," he said.
("No Red Ribbon For the Commodore")
(Crooks in the Sunshine, by E. Phillips Oppenheim, 1932 - page 138)

---

"Lay on ground; light fuse; retire quickly."
(Traditional safety phrase printed on the labels for common civilian firecrackers.)

---

Bob, interested in our money-making, suggested another trade,
calabash carving.... Then Bob demonstrated us to carve figures
and fish on the calabashes with the carving tools Mr. See generously
lent to us. We had a good laugh, his coming all the way from
Cleveland to teach us to carve Tahitian gourds!
(Sound of the Stars, by Frances M. Parsons, 1971 - page 282, 10 April, 1940)

---

The girl seemed to have forgotten her sunbathing. She stood on
the edge of the raft--a magnificent figure in her scanty but elegant
swimming costume--shading her eyes with her hand. Not once
did she look away from the boat...."
("The Salvation of Mr. Timothy Ryan")
(Crooks in the Sunshine, by E. Phillips Oppenheim, 1932 - page 10)

---

"Finally le truck straddled in, steered by a woman. Never before
had I rode in such a heavily-laden vehicle. Pineapples, bananas,
mangoes, coconuts, papayas, jams, breadfruit, fei, chickens, fish,
and pigs for tomorrow's market. M. Larousse helpfully hoisted
our bikes into the waiting hands of a swamper.....
(Public transport in 1940 Tahiti)
(Sound of the Stars, by Frances M. Parsons, 1971 - page 373, 23 November, 1940)

---

The boat...swept on towards the long tongue of land known as
Mosque Point, wheeled round it and out of sight. That was the last
anyone ever saw of Ned Loyd, better known amongst his
college friends and the new world into which he had made
tentative entrance as "Lord God Ned."
("The Salvation of Mr. Timothy Ryan")
(Crooks in the Sunshine, by E. Phillips Oppenheim, 1932 - page 10)

---

"Au revoir, Mr. Van Deyl. I am going with my friend Commodore
 Jasen to lunch at his Château. I see he has come for me."
The little man in his business suit, so out of place in such
an environment, descended the stone steps with pompous
bearing--an object of amazement to everyone. He stepped
into a dinghy and was rowed out to the motor boat
which was hovering around. . . .
("The Obstinate Duke")
(Crooks in the Sunshine, by E. Phillips Oppenheim, 1932 - page 165)

---

"Smoooooooth!"
(Spontoon Archipelago ceremonial saying. From demonstrations - via Bob Tucker.)

---

(Speculation on the effect of tourism from cruise ships - 1940)
...Future tourists will flock to visit the real never-never island
but it will be gone. The day will come Papeete is
commercialized like Honolulu!
(Sound of the Stars, by Frances M. Parsons, 1971 - page 334, 15 August, 1940)

---

(Speculation on the effect of tourism from cruise ships - 1940)
Once the tourism is firmly established, the Tahitians will make
new and better living on curio-selling. More dancers will be employed
to meet the demand of more floor shows for the tourists. Artists will
have a brighter outlook in selling their dust-covered paintings....
(Sound of the Stars, by Frances M. Parsons, 1971 - page 333, 15 August, 1940)

---

"Marry an island woman, and you marry the whole island."
('Irish proverb' via H.L. Menken)

---

"On Cranium Island, the fossils search for you!"
(P. Tomkin, Research Assistant)

---

...Even if they returned and caught him there, what could
they do? As a British subject and retired officer, he would be
quite within his rights in making inquiries....
(Major James 'Biggles' Bigglesworth (RFC, Ret.) contemplates a look-see,
Biggles and the Black Peril, by Captain W. E. Johns, 1935, page 27)

---

"They all had trust in his cussedness,
And knowed he would keep his word."
(from Jim Bludso, by John Hay, 1871 - via H.L. Menken)

---

...For a few seconds they stood there, then of a sudden
they began to act in the most startling manner.
Jumping up and down, waving their arms, laughing,
screaming, they vaulted over tables, knocked chairs
end-for-end and sent books and papers flying
in every direction....
(The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - pages 44-45)

---

"Five hun--five hundred dollars!" the girls exclaimed.
The sergeant stepped back a pace. It was evident that he
was in fear of the embarrassment which might come to him
by being embraced by three young ladies in a police station.
"I--I'll lock him up for the night," he muttered huskily
and promptly disappeared into a vault....
(The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - pages 236-237)

---

Once more he nosed over, and this time the Loening (amphibian seaplane)
sped downward  on a straight path into the wind, at an angle of 45 degrees.
At a point equidistant from the two rear seaplanes of the moored squadron,
Bill leveled off. A moment later, with hardly a splash his plane caressed
the water and glided forward under its own momentum until it
came to rest directly aft of the squadron's leading seaplane.
(Bill Boulton, Flying Midshipman, by Lieutenant Noel Sainsbury, Jr., 1933, page 246)

---

"I do not know anything about that...
I just came to Casino Island on the coconut boat."
(via 'Doogie' Fisher, disc-jockey and editor)

---

What was it all about? Were they innocently
checkmating, or appearing to checkmate, some
men in their attempt to perform some unlawful deed?
Were these persons moonshiners, gamblers, smugglers,
or robbers living in the dry dock?....
(Florence, in The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - pages 70-71)

---

"After that she drew the gas mask over her head
and plunged into the work."
(The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 44)

---

"I too am not a bit tamed -- I too am untranslatable;
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world."
(Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman, 1900)

---

"...Not a word more, Pitman. Very proper feeling on your part;
no man of self-respect can stand by and hear his alias insulted.' "
(Mr. Michael Finsbury, lawyer, in The Wrong Box,
by Robert Louis Stevenson & Lloyd Osborne, 1889)

---

"Thanks be! We are here. But, after all, where is 'here'?"
(Florence, in The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 190)

---

... he slid open the door to find himself in a roomy cockpit,
fitted with two pilots' seats and complete dual control of the
wheel and column type. A three-piece glass windshield gave
such protection that Bill knew goggles would not be
necessary under normal flying conditions.
(Bill Bolton, Flying Midshipman, by Lieutenant Noel Sainsbury, Jr., 1933 - page 144)

---

"I tried to buy it from the natives. They would not
name a price. Decamped that very night; utterly disappeared.
Thought we might steal it, I suppose. Suspicious.
Superstitious lot...."
(Ruthaford Cole,  archaeologist,
in The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 100)

---

...Tied up to the concrete pier was the larger of Martinengo's two
amphibians, a tri-motor seaplane of huge dimensions... she was
constructed with a windowed cabin forward to house pilots and
passengers. Aft of this and having a separate entrance was a large
freight hold... Now with her retractable landing gear drawn up to
the metal-covered hull, the big flying boat rocked gently at her
mooring. A mechanic tinkered with her central engine.
(Bill Bolton, Flying Midshipman, by Lieutenant Noel Sainsbury, Jr.,
1933 - page 74)

---

"Wish---wish I had tried getting a place to stay
nearer the university," she half sobbed.
(Lucile, in The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 25)

---

"The truth is... ONE of you... is a MURDERER!"
(Miss Tilli-li, investigative reporter, to the Usual Suspect; circa 1937.
Cartoon by Picklejuice, 29 December 2014, Spontoon Island website.)

---

With the care and skill of a trained athlete she swung
herself over the window sill, clung to the grating with her
toes; dropped down; gripped the grating with her hands;
slid her feet to the grating below; tested that as best she
could; trusted her weight to it; swung low; touched the
ground; then in her stocking-feet sped away
to the nearest street....
(Florence, in The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 72)

---

...neither of the girls wanted to try to talk. They were content
to rise higher and higher into the air, to feel the glorious
sensation of smooth flying, knowing that everything was
just right. Both of them began to sing.
(Linda Carlton, Air Pilot, by Edith Lavell, 1931 - page 167)

---

"I wish," said Lucile that night as she lay curled up in
her favorite chair, "that I could create something. I wish
I could write a story--a real story."
(Lucile, in The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 108)

---

"...Stay in the natives' homes and see how they live. You can
get lodging for a few francs a night, or better still, for a few trinkets,
for many of the islanders refuse money for hospitality."
(You Could Do It Too, by Hester Parsons (in Tahiti), 1939 - page 39.)

---

"Remember, remember! The Pies of November!
Pumpkin pies, spicy and hot!
I see no reasoning, why pumpkin-pie seasoning,
should ever be forgot!"
(Folk chant current on Spontoon Island in the 1930s, after the year's Pumpkin Sacrifices.)

---

"The order in which the planes were to start had been determined by lot,
and Ted Scott had drawn number five, the last but one. But as the racers
were to leave a two-minute intervals, the start that any one of them got
over the others would not count for much in such a long-distance race."
(Ted Scott Flying Stories, First Stop Honolulu, by Franklin W. Dixon, 1927 - page 140)

---

"...the hot oil leaving the engine traveled down one side of the fuselage,
was then carried to the top of the (tail)fin where it ran down the inner
surface of the skin under the control of ribs and gutters, before collection
in a tank and filter system at the base of the fin. From there it traveled
back down the other side of the fuselage to the engine."
(The Supermarine S.6, 1929. The Schneider Trophy, by David Mondey, 1975 - page 223)

---

...Around this time the name 'blimp' had become accepted for non-rigid
airships. It was popularly believed that this was an abbreviation for
'bloody limp', sometimes a singularly appropriate description. In fact,
however, the explanation of the origin of the name is far less romantic.
The earlier non-rigids had been designated 'A-limp'. Their successors
were called 'B-limp'.
(British WW1 airship types, 1915. The History of Airships, Basil Clarke, 1961 - page 81)

---

"...As perhaps only Ted Mackay realized, her ambition was to fly,
to fly so expertly that she could go to strange lands, do a man's work
perhaps, carry out missions of importance. She wanted to be known as
one of the best--if not the best--aviatrix in America!"
(Linda Carlton, Air Pilot - by Edith Cavell,1931 - page 21)

---

"The armed strangers were a swarthy, black-browed pair,
clad in sleeveless cotton undershirts and ragged cotton trousers
of no particular hue. Both wore the floppy, broad-brimmed straw hats
common in the tropics, both were barefoot and carried canvas
cartridge belts slung over their left shoulders. A more
villainous pair could not be found anywhere."
(Bill Bolton - Flying Midshipman, by Lieutenant Noel Sainsbury, Jr, 1933 - page 41)

---

"The days of grass skirts--except for dancing--are gone, and the pareaus
are worn only for bathing or informal use about the home. For 'dress-up'
the islanders demand American clothes."
(You Could Do It Too, by Hester Parsons (in Tahiti), 1939 - page 48.)

---

"'Nobody falls out of an aeroplane,' argued Ray...."
(Miss Ray Middleton - The Crash Girl - by Eileen Marsh ,1937 - page 9)

---

"...as to the definition of being airborne, so far as a seaplane or flying-boat
is concerned, was to rage for long after the contest. Fortunately, the
Royal Aero Club Committee reversed their decision after only brief
argument: Baird was back in the race but he, of course,
was unaware that he had been out of it."
(Start of the race, 1923. The Schneider Trophy, by David Mondey, 1975 - page 129)

---

" 'But where did you get the odd candlestick?' asked Marian
as she followed Lucile. 'What a strange thing it is; made of some
almost transparent blue stone. And see! Little faces peer out at you
from every angle. It is as if a hundred wicked fairies
had been bottled up in it.' "
(The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 81)

---

" 'That's strange!' whispered Florence. 'Reminds me of something an
aged sailor told me once, something that happened on the Asiatic
side of the Pacific. Too long to tell now. Tell you sometime though.
Doesn't seem as if there could be any connection. Surely couldn't be.
But you can never tell. Better turn over and go to sleep.' "
(The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 35)

---

"Another thing that had to be taken into consideration was the number
of competitors in this Pacific flight. Already nine planes had been
entered and there probably would be more. He knew some of the airmen
by reputation; plucky skillful pilots who would give any man
a race for his money...."
(Ted Scott, pilot, in First Stop Honolulu, by Franklin W. Dixon, 1927 - page 114)

---

"Bits of Tahitian life flashed by the bus like pictures: Women washing
clothes in a clear stream, fishermen poised in their canoes with spears
upraised, little naked boys splashing in warm salt shallows, young girls
bathing in pools, their red and white pareaus clinging
to beautifully molded bodies."
(You Could Do It Too, by Hester Parsons, 1939 - page 39.)

---

"It was as they say among the thralls: <Wondering fetches a stick>."
(Zoltan, a former thrall-dog - The Gaze: The Glass Goose, by Warren Hutch - Part 33)

---

"A woman returned from her fishing along the outer reef, paddling strongly,
her 2-year-old baby asleep in the bow. She shoved her canoe up to its rack of
palm logs, and stepped out in the shallow water.
" 'Ioarana,' we exchanged greetings.
"I admired a string of red and blue-green beauties that looked as though they
might have been dipped up from a well stocked aquarium of tropical fish."
(You Could Do It Too, by Hester Parsons (in Tahiti), 1939 - pages 45-46.)

---

"Twin and I glued our eyes on Miri's professional (hula) dance,
figuring out each movement. Constant drilling left us hours smarter.
Samoa's hand dance fascinated us the most. By dinnertime, we were
exhausted, but happy how well we rated in Miri's eyes."
(Sound of the Stars, by Frances M. Parsons, 1971 - page 386, 28 December, 1940)

---

" 'It doesn't seem to matter much where you are nor what you
are doing, if you are destined for adventures you'll have them.' "
(Lucile, in The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 24)

---

"'Oh!' cried Linda, in a tone of deepest joy, although her companion
could not hear her for the roar of the motor. 'Oh, I'm so happy!'
"Up, up, up they went until they reached the clouds, where the
atmosphere seemed misty and foggy. But it did not matter to Linda
that the sky was not blue; nothing could spoil the ecstasy she
experienced in knowing that at last she was
where she always longed to be."
(Linda Carlton, Air Pilot - by Edith Cavell,1931 - page 11)

---

"Bill taxied (the big seaplane) round in a wide half circle until he got
her head into the light wind with a long stretch of open lagoon ahead.
A slight widening of the throttle sent the big bus hurtling down
the straight-away. Then Bill jerked her onto the step and
a moment or two later she was in the air"
(Bill Bolton - Flying Midshipman, by Lieutenant Noel Sainsbury, Jr, 1933 - page152)

---

" ' Pineapple! Sliced pineapple! ' the others cheered in unison.
Then the three cans of corn were speedily forgotten. But the empty can
lay blinking in the moonlight all the same."
(The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 41)

---

"There it bounced about for a time, spilled its contents upon the ground,
 then lay quite still, a new tin can glistening in the moonlight.
But watch that can. It is connected with some further adventure."
(The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 41)

---

"...yet they also illustrate the indisputable fact that the simplest
matters in the world, the casting of a tin can off a boat for instance,
may be connected with some interesting and thrilling adventure."
(The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 41)

---

"Something whined softly past them as they ran.
Steve looked at his companion and the gypsy smiled
reassuringly. Again Steve heard the whine, but this time
it was more of a hum. 'Bees of Death,' Savricas snapped. 'Go on.'"
(Venga Savricas - The Mystery of Devil's Hand (A Steve Knight Flying Story)
by Ted Copp, 1941 - page 185)

---

"...there is the smell of the land. This is the smell of ancient vegetation,
tropical plants, and the rind of the sea--mollusks, crabs, mussels,
seaweed, tidewater flats, mud."
(Eugene Burdick in Holiday magazine, circa 1960)

---

"...the sea has an odor. It is made up of iodine, algae, dried salt water
and occasionally the sharp smell of fresh water on hot flat salty water
when a rain squall passes."
(Eugene Burdick in Holiday magazine, circa 1960)

---

" 'Going to prepare some more gas,' Lucile called back over her shoulder.
'Nothing like having a little chemist in the family these days. Gas is
almost as useful in times of peace as it was in the days of war.' "
(The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 93)

---

"The anemic yellow eyes of 'le truck' bounced and joggled over
the grooves, ruts, & crab holes in the road. The still night sky
was heavily splattered with blazing stars. Drooping palm fronds
were seen against the lagoon, glimmered, then were left behind."
(Sound of the Stars, by Frances M. Parsons, 1971 - page 382, 28 December, 1940)

---

"...She took a deep breath before she finally blurted out her desire.
'And fly the Atlantic. Without a man!' she said."
(Pilot Linda - Linda Carlton's Ocean Flight - by Edith Cavell,1931 - page 37)

---

"They fell to heartily and rolled the Silver Streak out into the bright
sunlight. The gallant plane stood there quivering as though she
herself was as eager as her master to stretch her wings
and mount into her native element."
(Across the Pacific, or Ted Scott's Hop to Australia, by Franklin W. Dixon, 1928 - page 53)

---

"When the other girls had heard Lucile's story and had read the note
they were more astonished than alarmed.
"'Huh!' exclaimed Florence, gripping an iron rod above her
and lifting her full hundred and sixty pounds easily with one hand.
'Who's telling us whether we can stay here or not?'
"'I'd say they better not let you get near them,' smiled Lucile."
(The Cruise of the O-Moo, by Roy J. Snell, 1922 - page 21)

---

"'By the way, have you picked out your plane?' her father inquired.
"'Yes, indeed! It's a Bellanca--they call it Model J 300. Just built for
ocean flights! Oh, Daddy, it has everything to make it perfect!
A capacity for carrying one hundred and five additional gallons
of gasoline, besides the regular supply in the tanks of one hundred
and eighty gallons! And a Wright three-hundred-horsepower
engine, and a tachometer, and a magnetic compass--...."
(Mister Carlton & Linda - Linda Carlton's Ocean Flight - by Edith Cavell,1931 - page 73)

---

"Blazing slugs snapped through the night like a swarm of fireflies
 on a drunken spree. The pellets battered their way along the fuselage
 and tore the painted froth from the wolf's drooling jaws.
A curtain of flame lit up the arena of death.
The Bergamaschi seemed to crumple in mid-air and fold its wings...."
(African Patrol - by F. E. Rechnitzer in SKY FIGHTERS magazine, May 1941)

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"Trained aviator that he was, Bill Bolton knew the exact instant
that the pilot lifted his heavy flying boat onto her step. There came
an increased spurt of speed, as the plane skimmed the surface
of the bay and rose into the air with the smooth grace
of a bird taking flight."
(Bill Bolton - Flying Midshipman, by Lieutenant Noel Sainsbury, Jr, 1933 - page 16)

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"His heart was singing as the Silver Streak caught her stride and clove
the air like an arrow. Here was where he belonged, in the broad,
limitless reaches of the air. He felt akin to the eagle. All care dropped
away from him. Earth seemed far away. He was brother to the sun
and moon and stars. He was cradled in immensity. The clay of the
flesh seemed stripped from him. He felt as though he were a disembodied
spirit. He was pervaded with a compassionate pity for the great mass of
humanity doomed to walk the earth. They would never know the thrill
that ran through his nerves and made him tingle from head to heels.
"This lyrical strain subsided after a while, leaving a
more placid happiness in its stead. A glance at his instruments showed
that the plane was making more than a hundred miles an hour...."
(Across the Pacific, or Ted Scott's Hop to Australia, by Franklin W. Dixon, 1928 - page 55)
(Never let it be said that F.W. Dixon did not have an ironic sense of humor.)

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"In the opposing (seaplane racing) camps there were alternations of
elation and despair, brought about as first one and then the other side
 was seen to have an aircraft capable of breathtaking speed."
(David Mondey on the 1926 Schneider Trophy race over Chesapeake Bay;
USA vs. Italy. From his book "The Schneider Trophy" - page 175)

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"...If he could get Hennessey out of the warehouse,
then there would be four of them to stand off any attack.
'Yes,' he thought, 'and four of them to escape
in the nonexistent canoe.'"
(Steve Knight, aviator -The Mystery of Devil's Hand (A Steve Knight Flying Story)
by Ted Copp, 1941 - page 117)

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"It is better that you go slowly with stealth
than quickly with noise."
(Alfredo Hennessey - The Mystery of Devil's Hand (A Steve Knight Flying Story)
by Ted Copp, 1941 - page 115)

---

"...Isn't she as cute as a button?! But she's also line infantry,
and could likely break you in half like a frozen dog...."
(Anonymous modern-day historian commenting on a 1938 Rain Island
recruiting poster featuring Army Union Sergeant, Anne Norquist)

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"...the Assembly of the Province of the Rain Coast on this day,
 the twelfth day of June in the year of grace 1885,
 proclaims the severance of its ties with the Dominion of Canada
 and the British Empire and proclaims itself
 the Rain Coast Republic."
(Greg Montgomery - A Busy Half-Century: Part One: Proclamation
by Walter D. Reimer)

---

"What do you think of bathing girls?"
"I don't know - I've never bathed one!"
(as heard in the song The Man From the South by Ted Weems & His Crew)
(via Eric Costello)

---

"...Jim Baxter yawned. 'We still have a lot to talk over and plenty to do
before our next trip to the outside, but I'm too sleepy now
even to think of it or the Syndicate.' -- Nevertheless, he slipped
an automatic under his pneumatic pillow...."
(Jim Baxter - Stratosphere Jim and His Flying Fortress -
by Oskar Lebeck & Gaylord DuBois, 1941 - page 38)

---

"'Anything that led me to a bed like this is ab-so-lute-ly
one hundred per cent perfect--or better,' Steve answered
as he tucked his leather jacket under his head for a pillow.
'Pipe down and let the aviador sleep.'"
(Steve Knight, aviador -The Mystery of Devil's Hand (A Steve Knight Flying Story)
by Ted Copp, 1941 - page 71)

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"(Bess) hated Linda. She even went so far to wonder whether that
were her real name. It would be just like a romantic kid like that to
persuade her father to change her Christian name
in imitation of a hero like Lindbergh."
(Miss Bess Hulbert - Linda Carlton's Ocean Flight - by Edith Cavell,1931 - page 73)

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Earlier posted quotes are in Quotes Basket 1