The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-04
IERODRoME WOULDN'T BULGE
co. SAN PROF. LANGLEY. But
rur THING DIDN'T FLY.
, v,rle,, Who Was Goins Win tho Ma
chine. Pulled and Pushed the Lever In
vain some Girl spectators Glggled
Insane one Else said Damn Out Loud

lain some Girl Sprc'e'Ors skSVu
aud some one Else said Damn out Loud
Nrnr WArrR, Va, sept. 3 A refractory
orL,ra cod. a broken engine valve,
oleo. motor of almost human eccen-
,a,, and a touch of the active hoodoo
t,, for The las, lwo months has attended
49, osorr, or the Langley flying machine
,odi,ion Vero the most important factors
..d,y's attempted trial of the Langley
.;r,y.foor acrodrome
!, was announced publicly Yesterday
-. prof Langley and his assistant. Prof.
v,ney that th" long-eXpec'e test of the
.r,dr,ur would h" made to-day. ard
,,;,h, and carly this morning newspaper
.r,o.nondents. exClrsionists from Fred
or,rl;sh,Irc and every native along the coast
aha cnnld beg, borrow or steal salboat,
.o,b,,t or raft put out from shore and
,,cbored near IN" househoat Blizzard.
u,bongh the aerodrome did not soar,
and Developed serious trouble with its
,,.,r,or ilsi whan tho expectation for a
-n,ce..ful flight was AT It's highest, The
,,ay wa. memorable to- the spectators and
.,n no long remembered in the annals Of
Wlde Water
Promptly AT noon Prof. Langley climbed
,,oun the ladder from the superstructure,
amer long communication with barometer
srd other scient ific Instruments designed
II toll the direction. velocity and character
Of tho wind and the general possibilities
,e The weather. and gave the order to go
=, with the test, He looked anxious and
worried and Immediately retired TO a
b,rmocl, where he could direct the opera
lion. of his assistants. Prof. Manley, who
va, scheduled TO make the ascent, was not
n-s.en, during TIE preliminaries. The
bock and tackle were rugged. the turn
table swung around to point down stream
and in a short time the aerodrome was
hol.ed to the top of the snperstruc,ure
in sections and placed in the launching
car The sken wings were attached TO
tho steel body, he rudder was adjusted
and tie motors had preliminary warming
up spin.
When cvervt hing was in readiness Prof
Langley called an assistant and spoke
IN him briefly The assistant entered the
houseboat and moment later Prof Marley
appeared He was pale but calm He
wore no shoes. While the final prelimi-
naries we're being concluded, Prof Marley
conversed earnestly with his two brothers.
nrs William and John Marley, who
came 10 v de Water this morning 10 view
tho lest Then ono Of the Langley party
was stationed at the lever controlling the
spring cylinders. which were to start the
asrodrome on it's journey at tho rate of
scvpntv-fve feet a second Another man
got out an assortment of graphing irons,
boat hooks. cork floats ard life preservers.
Another of The party left the househoat
in launch and steamed down the river
in the direction toward which the nose
Of Tho airship pointed.
Government tug had previously taken
station a mil" away in the same direction
with steam ur. prepared TO race for the
airship in case il should show disposition
10 perform submarine stunts similar r.
those of the model flown some weeks ago
Wien the required stations had been
reached Prof Maney said word Of fare.
we'll 70 his brothers. shook hands with his
fellow scientific men, received an en-
comj ging slap on he back from Prot
Lang ley. and still pale but not so calm,
s'eWAed into his cramped quarters Just
IN front Of the frequently tested aluminium
motor. Tho crowd was truly interested
by this time and the silence was absolute.
Signal. said Prof Langley.
rocket shot up high in the air and ex
rIoded with loud report A Govern.
,,,iIa
long blasts Tho drawn faces of the
scientific men showed tho strain they
labored under.
60" said Prof. Langley. The man al
the release lever frightened his grasp, the
scientific men fell back against the house
boat rail and Prof. Marley, after a las,
glance around, SGT his teeth aud threw
hack III" lever. which started the fire..
oFnty tested high powered gasoene
motor. But the motor didn't start and
the propellers didn't rrvoIve.
The strain relaxed trif,. Prof. Manley
worked The lever back and forth first
slowly, then with emphasis. bur the pro.
peers remained stationary. TIE strain
reaxed some more. Half dozen girls
from fredericksburg, who were watching
the tra from a launch short distanC
away, started 10 gigge, and a low, but
sincere, damn" came from Prof I.anelev's
direction, Then everybody took a deer
breath and Prof. Marley CHM I'D ont OF
h'N cage TO seq what had happened
brief investigat ion showed that tho
sparkling coil Of the mucil-tested high
powered motor was or' Of order and that
one Of the important valves Of the right
hand cylinder was broken. After strug-
Cling with tho engine for three hours, Prot
Langley, Prof. Maniey and the assistants
decided that it would take a day for repairs
and the tral was postponed until tomorrow