Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-09
VIEWS OF AN OBSERVER
Mr.. T. N. Waddell Witnesses Success
full Flight Of 2t Miles.
PATENT RIGHTS SOLD TO FRANCE
First Offered to United States Govern
ment and Declined-Possibili
ties Of the Machine.

The only man In Washington who has
ever seen a flying machine fly Is Mr.. T. N,
Waddeil Of the census ONCE. It was more
or less OF an accident that he was one OF
the witnesses, but he had that satisfaction
and saw the Wright Brothers' aeroplane
last fall when 1t made the longest flight It
had ever made up to that time. distance
of something over twenty-five miles. Since
then it has made even longer flights, and
It looks as though the problem of flying
machines has been practically solved. This
government was offered the rights to the
machine, but for some inexpltcable reason
would not even send an ofiicer to see wheth-
er the claims of the inventors were well
founded. Their invitation was laughed at.
so to speak, and the result was that the
rights have been sold to the French govern
ment. which sent commission all the way
from, Paris to investigate the device.
The achievement Of the Ohio men Is the
are not wealthy and have little except their
hands and remarkable mechanical faculty
for capital. They keep little bicycle re-
pair shop out in Dayton and earn a living
quite good living. but nothing extraor-
dinary-by working at their trade while
they experimenting with their machine.
They have been at 1t a number Of years
and have been In constant communication
with the leading scientists of the country
while going ahead with their work. In fact
they are probably better known to the
scientists of the world today than they are
to their fellow townsmen in Dayton.
Mr.. Waddell's Opportunity.
The accident OF Mr.. Waddelrs meeting
with them was that he was employed on
some work for the census Office in Ohio last
fall and, being in close touch with some of
the town officials who knew the Wrishts,
he was invited out to witness one of the
flights of the machine. 1t happened to be
the best and longest flight that had been
made up TO that time, and but for the over
sight of not entirely filling the fuel tank 1t
could have been continued hundred miles
further.
The machine itself looks like a street
car with the sides knocked out that Is
to say, 1t is about the same size and
proportions and has what would correspond
to the floor and the roof of the car con-
nected by a few slender uprights The
engine is about the size Of an ordinary Of
fee waste basket and drives two hgh-speed
propellers at the stern. In the front there
are two extended arms that bear a canvas
guide that regulates the flying height OF
the ship. It has pair OF runners under
meath more or less like sled and lights
on them without injury when the machine
comes down. On the day in question. when
Mr.. WaddeI witnessed the flight the fuel
gave out and the machine alighted q con-
siderable distance down the field from the
little house where it Is kept. Mr.. Waddeli
asked If he should come along to help
bring the machine back to the house, but
one of the brothers, taking up small can
of fuel. said to come on If he wanted to,
but there probably would be no help re-
CURED. They walked down the field to
where the machine was sitting, poured the
gasoline into the tank and, starting the
engine at slow speed. let the machine lift
itself clear of the ground and walked 1t
back to the house
ut was about the most uncanuy sensa-
ton 1 ever experienced" said Mr. Wad-
dell. except the other sensation of seeing
that machine with a man aboard flying
around In circles over our heads and re-
spending to the viii Of the operator
Possibilities of the Machine.
When asked what he thought of the
practical possibilities of the machine he
smiled and said:
well, 1t is a thing that one feels a
little hesitancy in talking about. l can
only tell you what 1 saw and the way the
thing appeared to me. 1t seemed SO far
as I could see, that the operator guided
the machine in the air just the same as
you or would guide an automobile on the
ground. 1t flew In big circles around what
would have amounted to about a half-niIe
race track. and there seemed no limit to
the distance It would go. except as TO the
amount of fuel.
THE engine they used is not bigger than
an ordinary waste basket and | cannot
see why. II they build a bigger engine and
bigger machine, that it should not work
just as well and carry more weight"
The Wright brothers are both quite young
men. They made number OF experiments
at Kittyhawk in North Carolina where
the ground was favorable for their earlier
trials. After they got the machine to its
present stage they able to continue
their work at Dayton. where their home Is
located