The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-11
Mothers Friend"
HOW HE GETS RID OF CARS.
A Cleveland Boy sends the Tnbbies
S<yward, Attached to n Kite.
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

direction from his nome spencer GIdys
aged IA years, living in Cleveland, is
something more than d nine days wonder.
AS it has been in other cities, so kite
flying has been craze with Cleveland
boys this summer. Spencer Gray can
teach all of them. He not only makes
kites which excel any made by other
boys, but he couples with his kites amuse-
ments that are entirely original Spen-
Ger sends up parachutes attached to his
kites with all sorts of small live animals
in baskets attached to the parachute
There is no longer a stray cat in the
neighborhood.
The mode of their deportation is unique
indeed. Spencer's neighbors who have
cats they do not want take them to him.
He places the unloved creatures in one of
his parachute baskets, attaches the bask-
ct and parachute to his BLACK Tom," the
name he has given his largest kite, and in
fifteen minutes kitty is sailing in the air
high above the housetops. Spencer lets
out about 5000 feet of rope; he doesn't sail
kites with strings, because the kites are
too large, and IIen he pulls the string
which detaches the parachute from the
kite. Parachute, basket and kitty gently
descend to earth Laif mile or more from
home and it Is seldom that the cat comes
back. Occasionally Spencer sends up
chickens Is faVorite amusement is
sending up pigeons in basket and by
means of his guy string opening the bask-
ct and permitting them to fly out when
they are 1000 feet or more nearer heaven
than he is. Sometimes he sends up two
kites attached to one string, the kites, con-
nected by cross string on which are sus-
pended flags and streamers, or, if it is
night, japanese lanterns.
Spencer is the only boy in the city who
has enjoyed this novel form Of amusement
| because he is the only boy in Cleveland
who has as yet been able TO build kite
that would stand the racket" He makes
kites and sells them to other boys, and
other boys make kites that are exact du-
plicates of Spencer's in every way, except
that when it comes to flying them, they
won't work for some reason. He has re-
duced the kite building to a science, and
his eye in judging weights and distances
in the concomitant parts of his kites
beats any scale or measuring stick ever
constructed. There are several hundred
boys in Cleveland who Will affirm the
truth of this, for they have measured and
weighed their kites against his and could
not discover the slightest fraction of an
inch difference in size or fraction of an
ounce in weights but Spencer's kites
would fly with weights and theirs would
| scarcely fly at all without weights at
tached. Spencer mainly builds Eddy
kites, which are diamond-shaped. He also
builds box or Hargrave kites, which are
square, but he will not waste his time on
any kite which stands less than three
feet. Most of his kites are five or six feet
tall, his favorite one, Black Tom, being
seven feet tall and as many broad. He
holds in utter scorn kites with tails, such
as we and our fathers used to fly. An
other thing which he does not use in his
sport is a ball of Irvine. He has reels of
all sizes, his largest turning off six feet
of rope at every revolution.
PrOfS lynch and Weimer or the Central
| High School have for some time past been
conducting experiments in kits flying and
| delivering lectures on the subject before
| class interested in their scientific efforts
| They employed kite about two feet high
| with a tail attached and thought they
| were making progress. When they heard
| of Spencer's successful experiments, they
| were amazed. They extended him an In
vitation to speak before their class. He
| has not yet acted on the invitation. Spen>
| Ger received his first lesson in kite build
| ing couple of months ago at a meeting
at the Young Mems Christian Association.
| a gentleman delivered a learned discourse
! on the subject, telling the boys how he
| had constructed kites and sent them up
| with lanterns attached, and rockets GitA
| slow fuses. Spencer went home and the
| next day his mother called in vain for
| him to go to the grocery and get the Gus
| tomary article which she had forgotten to
| order when she was there about ten min
| utes before. He was building a kite.
| Much to Spencer's surprise, likewise that
| of his several brothers and sisters, the
kite sailed heavenward at the first at
| tempt, as though it were a thing of life.
Since that he has built kite after kite
! and has not made a failure once He
| has more orders than he can fill and they
! come from boys living in all parts of the
| city. He makes only the frame work
! The purchasers must furnish and put on
LIT do fav. p, fe.
own amusement are of the largest size
| He uses but two pieces of wood, the tips
of which are covered with tin and a
s1rong wire passes around the circumter>
ence of the frame. over this his mother
or one of his sisters ,sews a cloth cover
ing. Spencer never runs with his kites.
He simply places them fiat on the ground,
walks off twenty or thirty PAGES, gives
the roDe a SUDDEN jerk, the kite lifts up
and sails majestically off. When he at
taches parachute with kitten or other
animal in the basket Spencer has some
boy hold the kite
few days ago he placed a rooster in a
basket attached to the main string by
which the kite was anchored to the reel
with a pulley. After the kite had sailed
so high it appeared only as a mere speclx.
though the kite was as large as the floor
space of the average editors sanctum,
Spencer pulled his string and the basket
came down better than a two-muute clip.
The rooster underwent quite a shock when
the reel was reached, but he recovered
and is to-day the proudest cock I'M the
neighborhood. One day Spencer sent up a
chicken 5000 feet and let it come down
with the kite; the fowl was dazed and
bleeding at it's bill. the atmosphere at
1900 feet above the surface proving too
much for it. Spencer is a tender hearted
youth. and since then has not sent any
animal so high
Not an accident has attended Spencer's
parachute experiments so far as he has
been able to learn The parachutes de-
scend gently and strike the earth with
scarcely a perceptible shock. In kite
building Spencer is a prodigy. At school
he is bright but not brilliant, like most
boys Of genius in any particular line. his
mind not dwelling on his studies steadily.
At home he 5 a good boy and the pride