The Washington times., 1908-09-20
SOLDIERS GUARD
SELF RIDGE'S BODY
Troops Pace Back and Forth
Before Vault in Arlington.
No Funeral Plans.
INJURED AVIATOR
is DOING NICELY
Cheered by Visits of Sister.
Backer Says Wright Will Not
Accept Money for Machine.

4
ing alongside, the body of Lieut. Thomas
Z. Selfridge was placed in the Govern
ment vault In Arlington Cemetery yes
terday.
Last night a guard of the sOldiery Of
which he was so proud, paced about the
Place where the lieutenant is taking his
last, long sleep, and today the same
ceaseless tread keeps up about the
vault, showing TO the world the honor
in which the army holds its dead.
All arrangements tor the funeral
have been held in allegiance in eXpecta-
ton Of the arrival tomorrow or Tuesday
OF the parents of the dead officer. II is
now considered likely that the funeral
will take place Thursday or Friday, and
an impression to this effect was preva-
lent about the War Department yester-
day. II is believed that the Lieutenant
parents VIII desire full military fu-
neral. with interment in Arlington.
A telegram expressing the deep regret
of the Aerial Experiment Association Of
HammOndspOrt. N Y. was received
yesterday at the War Department.
Lieutenant Selfridge was a member of
the association. of which Prof. AleXan-I
del Graham Bell and Capt. Thomas ;
Baldwin were also leading characters
The association, which numbers only a
few choice aeronautical spirits in addi-
ton TO those named, will come TO Wash-
ington for the funeral.
Aviator's Mind Busy.
While the army surgeons who hover
about the bed of Orrville Wright in the
post hospital at Fort MyeT have pre-
scribed quiet and entire freedom from
mental worry, have kept from the side
OF the injured aviator all persons eX-
cept those closely connected with him
or with his work, and while the pain
from his injured thigh racks his whole
body. neither the orders Of men nor the
call of his aching body are enough TO
keep this quiet, modest, but ever think
ing, ever alert inventor from thinking
of the aeropIane that lies a broken mass
of wreckage in the shed few hundred
yards away.
Not only does Mr. Wright undoubtedly
think of his machine. and that he does
so think is evidenced by his call for
men who can talk intelligently to him
about the aeroplane, but he discusses
it with those who do get in TO see him,
and If they were not. forbidden by the
doctors in charge to talk at length about
this subject so all-important to Mr..
Wright. he would spend his entire wax
the incidents leading up TO it.
Seeks a Reason.
His busy brain. say those who have
seen him since the accident, is already
casting about for all possible clues to
the reason for that fall which proved
so disastrous to Lieutenant SeIfridge.
to him. and to the machine itself He
has decided what was the primary cause
no coll hut ha DO 4.
that he has accounted for every move
that the aeroplane made before it struck
the ground with terrific force.
The surgeons have realized that they
cannot stop Mr.. Wright thinking
about the airship, nor can they abso-
lutely order him to refrain from con-
versing about ii, when some one is adj
mitted whom he knows and trusts well
enough to make such technical dis
course worth while.
1t is only when his sister comes-and
she has been by his side most Of the
time since her arrival Friday after
noOn-that Mr.. Wright forgets the aero
plane itelf for a minute or two and talks
Of the things that any man will con-
Jure up when some one from home
comes to his sick bed.
But neither the thinking of the aviator
nor his snatches Of conversation with
his mechanics. Taylor and Furness. or
other men well versed in practical
aeronautics can stop his steady trend
toward recovery and. in fact. his desire
to discuss his fall and the wreck, while
# may be baked. is nevertheless taken
as a good omen by those in attendance.
Contract Not Fulfilled Yet.
He has an interest left in living and
he is immensely alive to the fact that
he has not yet fulfilled the contract with
the Government.
Those who know him best say that
neither he nor his brother Wilbur will
ever take a cent from the United States
until one of them has complied with
every requirement set forth in the con-
tract.
And so, friends say. Mr.. Wright THINKS
Of the time when he or Wilbur can com
plete the work that he undertook and
launched so successfully just a few
days ago at Fort Myer. He knows prob
ably by this time that he cannot get out
of the hospital for weeks: that he can
not walk for months, and that he can
not fly again for almost a wear.
When his sister arrived at Fort Myer
yesterday morning after an automobile
ride through Washington in an army
machine with Lieut.. Frank p. Lahm,
Mr.. Wright was in very good shape.
Miss Wright Visits Him.
Miss Wright stayed at the bedside of
her brother and told him Of home and
the things he loved and she did not
leave until almost 1 o'clock, and then
she only sped back to the city To keen
luncheon engagement with Charles
r. Flint, one OF Wright's hackers. and
Mrs. Flint at the Arlington Hotel.
Once again in the afternoon Miss
Wright went out to the hospital. and
this time she told her brother that she
would remain at the post or near IT
If she cannot be accommodated in auv
OF the houses OF the post she will OBJ
tain lodgings as near as possible TO the
hospital, and beginning today she Will
no more be compelled to travel back
and forth In her visit to the cot of the
injured aviator.
Charles r Flint, the man who is
accredited with backing the Wrights,
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