The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-05-25

/ face of danger, which would appall the
/ stoutest-hearted man in the world, the
absolute Indifference to risk which this
young man has displayed time and again
in his flights with his airships, one ex-
poets to see big, lusty, blood-eyed fell
low with a gigantic frame and muscles.
! The contrast of this ideal to the real
Santos-Dumont Is so great as to be ridi-
/ culous.-
| Santos, as he prefers to be called, Is
little thin, swarthy-skinned chap of 5
feet and maybe 4 or inches. His face
would be effeminate were 1t not for the
thick, though closely cropped, mustache,
which shades his upper lip, and lends
strength to his whole face His chin
shows, however whence he gets the dog
| ged sticktoitiveness, and the wonderful
! grit which has enabled him to keep on
working until at last he has reached his
present eminence. The lower jaw bone
| is long and angular, and when he closes
1t the protrusion of the muscles denoting
determination Is very pronounced. The
roof of his mouth is inclined to protrude
also and his lips are trihe thicker than
the average. He is not a handsome man.
His teeth are, however. beautifully white
and regular and his smile is charming. 1t
spreads all over his face, beginning with
his eyes, and as it steals over his fea-
lightfully.
Santos talks with an accent which is
just foreign enough to capture the heart
| of any girl, abetted by his big black eyes
| These are his best features, and tell with
his black hair of his southern origin
1t is his voice, too, which is low and
! strangely gentle, which somehow conveys
| the idea of effeminacy which one cannot
help but feel no matter how often one is
reminded of his daring feats of courage
| This effect is added to by a gold bracelet
which Santos wears on his wrist although
| his sleeve hides it, except occasionally
| when some gesture of the arm shows it
for moment. This is rare, however, for
Santos thinks much more than he GEES
lures. This Is rather rare in a man of
his education and breeding, for he was
born In Brazil and educated in Paris. OF
one trait which is practically universal
In humanity he has, to Judge from his
past life and his talk since he has been
in America, not an atom. This is avarice
That he neglects to patent any of his
machinery or his ideas in the construc-
ton of his airships is really wonderful
in this age of commercialism.
Santos is not only the man who has
solved the problem of the navigation of
the air, but he is the man without the
| desire for money.
odllOSI WIZ 10 Hpl quite 81 years OF age
| has been experimenting with airships in
Paris since 1897 his training previous to
! that having been obtained in Brazil His
| first ascent was made at the Jardin d,Ac-
| climation on July 4, 1898, and he kept at
| 1t continuously, with. varying success.
until July u. 1901. when he suddenly at
| tanned fame by flying in his machine from
| the Aero club park. across the Seine to
the Lonchamps race track ten times
| around the track, around Effel tower
and back to the starting point. His trips
since then have been merely corrobora-
| tive of his success at that time, and UNI
| dertaken solely the purpose of proving
that an airship can be steered and pro-
| PEELED at will in the atmosphere regard
| less of wind currents On October 1s, 1901,
he won the Deutsch prize of $4,000 for
sailing his machine over a prescribed
course within the time limit of thirty
| minutes. Santos gave the money to the
| poor of Paris. and thus proved that he
is not sailing his airship for financial pro-
fit.