Makes Another Trip From Texas to Mexico.
Seen Navigating the Air Above Brownsville Sunday Morning, Disappearing Over Tamaulipas -- Speculation as to its Object
The mysterious airship that has been seen twice going over Brownsville towards Mexico, and once returning to this side, was seen again yesterday morning between eight and nine o'clock navigating the air above this place, flying serenely over the Rio Grande, and disappearing in the atmosphere above our neighboring Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The craft was very plainly seen by a number of our citizens yesterday, being described as cigar shaped, and with a good-sized car attached to it. The occupant or occupants of the car could not be discerned, however.
The strange aerial wanderer continues to excite wonder as to its probable object in making trips back and forth between Texas and Mexico, as well as regarding its probable starting place and destination. Some of the customs and immigration officials are of the opinion that the ship may be engaged in smuggling, or in bringing over Japanese or other persons who have failed to pass the immigration officials along the border. This is quite possible, of course, and the frequency of the trips gives some color to the suspicion. In any event, whether on pleasure bent, or whether engaged in illicit traffic of some sort, the fact remains that the owners and operators of the car are violating the laws of both Mexico and the United States, by crossing the border into either country without reporting to the customs or immigration officials.
This incident gives rise to speculation as to the possibilities of smuggling or illegally entering the country by airship, and the impossibility of the government's preventing it, except by the establishment of an airship service, in which event our customs and immigration officers will have to be aeronauts, in addition to the many other requirements of the service.