Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

 “Route 158 – to Scott Field.”; Shortly after we had passed to the south of Belleville I felt a sudden check to the car’s speed, and then more & more and I realized we were out of gas. In our anxiety to find our routes, I had forgotten to refill – (having planned to do so at about 500 miles on the speedometer). We managed to coast over to the side of the road. Vast lonely country, no houses in sight.; But there were cars – the first one I signaled sped by without reducing speed. The next one, from the east stopped and said there was a man who tavern about 1 mile east where gas could be obtained. At that moment a car came from the west, who stopped at our signal. It proved to be a man who ran a station in the next village “Muscontan [sic]” – he not only gave us a lift there, but filled a can with gasoline & took us out to our car again, first I on the tank, and when I asked him what we owed him “1:00 [sic] for the gasoline” –“I pressed another dollar on him, which he was reluctant to take. Truly a good Samaritan.; (534 mi.) Reached the field a little before 9:00 – (20:54 at the M.P. wrote it on our pass). Some difficulty locating Art – finally they got him on the phone and he said we should meet him at a service club. Following directions (to which I as usual, hardly listened) I made my first blunder by driving right onto the landing field, stopped only by a warning sign “Only vehicles with yellow flags