The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-09-19
Observation-Disclosures Death Was
Purely Accidental
ORVILLE WRIGHT RESTS EASY
Great Gloom Prevails at Fort Myer,
Where SeI.ridee Was Killed, and
the Wrecked Machine Has
Been Nailed Up In Shed.


Washington September 1S.-Fort Myer,
the scene of yesterdays aeroplane dls-
aster, which resulted in the death Oh
Lieutenant Thomas e. Seifridge of the
signal corps, and serious injury OF Or
Vile Wright. presented a cheerless as
pect today. The air of gloom was reflect
ed in the faces of the brother onicers
of the unfortunate lieutenant, when they
met at the fort this morning to make
an official investigation of the accident;
In the manner in which the usual morn
ing cavalry drill was gone through with'
over the very ground upon which the
ill-fated aerial ship was wrecked anu
in the words of appreciation spoken by
members of the signal corps balloon
squad which had been under the direct
charge of Lieutenant Selfridge.
| Lieutenant Selfridges BODY was today
removed from the hospital at Fort Myer
to an understakers, where it will remain
until the arrival of the young ofllcer
father who wired today from San Fran
/ cisco that he would like to have his son
buried either at Arlington or West Point.
A military funeral will be held and burial
probably will be at Arlington.
! Miss Catherine Wright, the sister OF the
injured aeroplanist, arrived here from
DAYTON this afternoon and visited her
brother. Octave Chanute, close triehd
and adviser of the Wright brothers;
Charles r. Flint, C. z. Taylor and q W.
t'urness, Orville Wright's mechanics
we're the o,,Iy other persons permitted
to see him today.
Official Inquiry.
Mai. George o. Squier. acting chlet sig
/ nal officer of the army, this morning con-
vened the board of signal officers Tor
| the purpose of making an official inquiry
into the death of Lieutenant Selfridge.
NAL Charles X. Saltzman acted as
chairman. and Capt. Charles S. Wallace
and Lieut.. Frank F. Lahm were the
/ other members present
| The wreckage of the aeroplane had
| been placed in the shed last night ana
the members OF the board accompanied
nv Octave Chanute and Prof. Albert
| zahm. of the Catholic university. both
| of whom are authorities on aeronautics'
/ inspected the tangled mass. 1t was found
that the broken piece of the propeller
was indented as though It had come In
! contact with a wire.
During the inquiry several eye-wit-
nesses were questioned, among them be-
ing DR.. Spratt, who was present during
! the earlier experiments of the Wright
brothers in North Carolina; Sergeant
Sweeney of the artillery corps; Sergeant
| Downey of the signal corps, and others
of the artillery. cavalry and signal corps
who were among the first on the scene.
Major Squier, as acting chief signal
| officer, reviewed the findings of the
! court, which were given out by Major
| Squier as follows:
Findings of Board.
"The board finds that the accident
which occurred in an unofficial flight
made at Fort Myer, Va, at about 5;1S
D. m. on September II, 1908, was due
| TO the accidental breaking of a pro-
peller blade and consequent unavoid-
| able loss of control which resulted in
| the machine falling to the ground from
a height of about rs feet.
"The board finds that First Lieut.,
| Thomas e. Selfridge, First field artil-
| lery, attached to the signal corps by
war department orders, and assigned TO
| aeronautical duty), accompanied Mr..
Wright by authority. on the aeroplane,
] for the purpose of officially receiving
| instruction, and received injuries by
| the falling of the machine which re-
suited in his death
The signal corps will proceed with
| its aeronautical work and 1t is under
| stood the Wright BROTH ers will be per-
mitted to make their official trials
| whenever they are ready, without en-
| dangering their chance of receiving the
contract price of $4,000 for their aero
| plane.
Mr. Wrights assistants Taylor and
| Furness took with them to the hos
! pital today two of the broken parts of
| the aeroplane; the piece of the pro-
| peller wh ch gave the first indication
to the spectators that an accident had
| occurred and the attach ment which
held one Of the controlling wires fast
TO the rudder They showed these to
Mr. Wright who said to Taylor:
THE machine was already recovering
its balance when it struck and I am
sure IL we had had 20 feet further to
| go, we would have landed on the skids
without serious damage
Wright's Story.
Speaking for Mr.. Wright, Mr.. Taylor
later said;
1.-The accident was caused by an eX.
traordinary vibration of one of the
wires running from the main planes to
the upper steel fitting of the rudder.
This vibration was so great that it got
in the range of the propeller and was
struck by the blade cutting a deep
cash in the edge of the propeller blade
about four inches from the end. This
cause the blade to break, the other
blade of the propeller few around and
in turn struck the same wire, breaking
1t. This made Mr.. Wright lose control
of his rudder entirely and the loss of
both blades of the propeller and the
breaking of the wire caused him to
lose control of the planes He realized
that something had happened and
thought his trouble was with the trans
mission gearing, which is cross chain
driven in steel casing. He shut aH