The Washington times., 1908-10-14
AVIATOR HERRING
DEPARTS SILENTLY
Left Fort Myer Last Night
With His Aeroplane,
Packed.
PRELIMINARY TESTS
WILL BE IN SECRET
His Destination UnknOwn-Refus-
ed to Talk or Pose for
Photographer

Photographer.
A. II. Herring. the aviator. who
brought his aeroplane 20 Washington in
a trunk and two suit cases on Monday
morning, folded his miniature airshIp,
strapped UP his trunks and sllppzI
away from FOtt 1Iyer last night with
out informing anyone where he was ~
ing.
8Ir. Herring apparently did not inform
even the officers oE the aeronzGticaI
board just when he would leave or
where ne expected 10 make his prelim-
mary fight. Keeping up the air OF mys-
tery with which he has surrounded him
self for many weeks. Mr. Herring evil
IDENTIFY returned 10 Fort Ayer late IN
the evening and put his machine away
IN his trunks when no one connected
wiz. the post was present
lie said yesterday evening that ha
W0uli iufcrm Major Squier by letter as
10 the place where he would make his
preliminary flights but the War De-
p&rtment had received no such com
municauon Up to. late Aour tais after
noon.
May Be IN New York
M Herring. however. is believed 10
have gone 70 New York, and il IS
probable that he viii leave that city IN
a few days, either Tor Indiana or At
lantic City. which he has named as TWO
places fitted for his trials
Little did these poor, old ancient
far-removed Egyptians. who read their
hierOsIyphICs before Mark Twain dis
Z
FOR games Of chance and cigarettes,
and VINO worked and sweated in ths
hot sun for many ages without ever
knowing aDour sheath skirts. vaudeville.
and other adJuncts of civilization I'm
agiEe that even in their one pre-eni-
nent line America would O'ert0D them.
For long, Ions centuries. the Sphinx
has been standing on the burnin = sands
Z OF .hat olG country, the incarnation Of
silence, and year after year. people
{ hav- been going there and thinking
thal perhaps il was the most silent
thing IN the world
Sphinx Outdone.
But then came a VI. Herring. one
Of our most widely advertised inventors
Of aeroplanes. and III one instant. he
sends the glory OF the Sphinx hurtling
-Dhf II AA4AEA-A L-lE ass anu A4l-NAE-A
the press. and through the army Of the
United states, and through Washington,
until Sphinxy looks as gloomy as the
inside Of the Monument on a cloudy
afternoon
Herring has the Sphinx beaten 50
many ways that It's quite probable he'll
60 into the sphlnxiug business. II his
aerOplane doesn't come up 70 the Gov
ernmenC requirements In the frsr
place the Sphinx was born on a desert
the work Of a dOwnrodden and silent
people. and was placed under the in
junction Cf silence
No one knows just why Herring was 50
silent All the other aviators, balloon
lists, airshipisJs, and other sailors Of the
air, who have invaded Fort AIyer for
many weeks past during the army tests
! have been quite willing TO converse. and
I let the world know through the news
papers just what they expect 70 do in
aeronautic5 Most Of them have been
glad 20 know Of the interest in the
flights taken by the public
Silence Oppressive
Herring came into Washington clad in
mystery He kept himself surrounded
I by cloak Of impenetrabIlity ever since.
lie did not even take rooms in this city
under his own name. but stopped with
his friend, Hugh l. WillOughby.
Ohcers Of the army explain Her
rings silence by saying that much OF
his machine IS not patented, that he
has not even a description paper
of many Of its parts, and that. con-
/ sequently, he is afraid that some ir-
responsible person viii borrow some
Of his ideas Last night Herring
I T-r~ -
spot. where he viii make his
preliminary flights, and then viii re-
turn to Washington TO make the final
tests. He will be compelled 10 make
the last tests in public; at least. Gen
eraI Allen. chief sssignal officer, said
weeks ago. when OrVllte Wrights 5
coming was under discussion, that the
army would not permit the official
trials to be made In secret
Aviator's Appearance.
Herring is a young man. tall. well
built. with fairly clear eyes, a face
much lined for a man so young, and
with the general air Of a man who
pays much attention TO his work he
talks with a deep voice and IS quick
with his answers
But he viii not be photographed
That's another place where the
Sphinx Of the Ancient and Honorable
Order OF Egyptian Cigarette Namers
is beaten ny herring can Ac-E
being photographed Herring can, and
sTen the people I look like anyone
else"
Long Examination
The board. consisting Of Major George
o. Squier, Captain Wallace, and Lieu
tenants Lahm. Fulois, Winter. Sweet,
and Creecy, found the machine so in
teresting that it took three hours ex-
animation last night before as a board
there were ready 70 say that there had
been actual delivery Of an aerOplsne-
During our conference with Afr- Her
ring" said Major Squier after the
boards visit, we found enough 10 con
vince us that the Government viii
make no mistake In trying out this
machine Every assistance possible
will be given him The board cannot
prevent his taking the machine away
from Fort Myer, as there Is nothing IN
the specifications 70 require him 70 get
rerr0ferf0-1 n rna