The Lindbergh Saga

Last week the New York Times and the New York Herald-Tribune tried to solve the Lindbergh saga.

Retirement. Lieut. Lester J. Maitland in the Herald-Tribune said that Col. Charles Augustus Lindbergh "is through

. . . . Most of all, he wants to see his old friends and sit quietly with those who have been his pals." Russell Owen in the Times said that he is not through, that he is merely going to stop making public appearances. He will go to San Diego, Calif., to inspect a plane that is being built for him (see p. 28). Perhaps he is pondering another spectacular flight, said Mr. Owen. All this is not very consistent, and the conclusion is that no man, not even Col. Lindbergh, knows what he is going to do.

Fortune. From prizes, newspaper articles, the book We, salaries, Mr. Owen estimated that Col. Lindbergh must be worth $337,000, and may be worth as much as $400,000, but certainly not $1,000,000 as rumored.

Irritation. Lieut. Maitland told of Col. Lindbergh's entertainment at a Long Island country club. "A plump matron rushed across the room to his table, flung her arms about his neck and kissed him.

" 'I just had to kiss you,' she gushed, 'for I have a boy of my own who says he's going to be an aviator like you when he grows up.'

"Colonel Lindbergh rose with a suddenness which disconcerted her and threatened the stability of the table. He and his party started to make their way to their cars. On the way a bevy of young women surrounded Colonel Lindbergh, who was rescued from their clutches with some difficulty by his companions."

In Washington, D. C., a young man rushed up the street, put his hand on Col. Lindbergh's shoulder, cried: "There, I touched him."

"Lindbergh flushed angrily and drew away. For a moment I [Maitland] thought he would strike the man. After a struggle with himself he regained his well-known composure and we walked away."

Bruises, etc. Col. Lindbergh does not read the newspapers. He often has black and blue spots on his back, caused by mauling crowds. At first, he had difficulty in getting money for his transatlantic flight. "He even went to the makers of a famous cigaret and asked them to finance the flight to Paris in a plane bearing the name of their cigaret." So said Lieut. Maitland.