Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-12-29
The Airship Victories Of 1908.

French inventors, Joseph and Etienne
Montsolfier made the successful as
tensions which marked the real begin
nirg of the long struggle to master the
problem of aerial navigation. In no
one of the years since then has there
been more progress made than in the
year now closing. This is the con-
clusicn reached by writer in the Bos-
ton Journal who reviews what has
been accomplished and gives the
credit to the Wright brothers for the
greatest achievements.
This year the brothers Wright have
demonstrated that the swift and sure
fight of man through the air is no
longer a dream but reality; and
though the French are entitled to
much credit for the encouragement
they have offered Wilbur Wright
and the unselfish enthusiasm with
which they have followed his
wonderful performances, some COM
nlenOdtlOu iHuSt ue IeSei 'Su ioi
the enterprise that made Fort Myer
the scene of Orville Wright's no
less wonderful fights early last
September When these flights were
interrupted by the accident that killed
Lieut. Selfridge and disabled the
ayiator himself, Orville held the
worlds record for continuous flight.
Since then Wilbur has made a flight
lasting more than an hour and Il half
and covering sixty-one miles. These
and other achievements prove how
superior to all their rivals are the
modest young men from Ohio.
The Boston Journal points out that
year ago the Wrights We're al
most unknown. Farman was the
hero of the aeronautical world. He
had flown S43 yards on Oct &c. 1907. at
Issy in France. He was then. it
seemed, the coming man. He dedi-
Gated this great year by making a
new record of 1900 yards in l minute
5j seconds on Jan. II. Two days later,
with not quite SO good flight, he
Won a prize of $4,000. That accom-
plishment attracted more attention
than ever People began to realize
that the conquest of the air meant
both fame and fortune. In April
another Frenchman, Leon Della grange.
astcnished two worlds with a flight
Of miles 10 yards in minutes l.
seconds 1T Issy.
But the following month Wilbur
Wright let it be known that he had
covered t miles in little less than
minutes at Kill Devil Hill, \. c.. and
bewildered public didn't know what
to make of it. Farman gave the cue
by challenging Wright to come out
before the public and do anything
like what he claimed to have done
But the Wrghts, with characteristic
humility, declined to be drawn into a
contest. Time would tell. said they.
And it did. ON Sept. 5, at lie Mans,
France, Wilbur Wright swept aside
all the Farman records with flight
Of nearly II miles and lasting about
half an hour. Just week afterWard
Orvile Wright at Fort Myer,
eclipsed all records by remaining in
the air for hour II minutes and 20
seconds and travelling at rate of
nearly 20 miles an hour. Ten days
later OrVille's record was beaten by
Wilbur, and since the establishment
Df the new record of 81 miles in an
hour and a half Wilbur has made the
record for height, having flown $50
feet above The earth.
The work of Farman, Delagrange
and Zeppelin is remarkable, but it is
the work of the Wrights that has
made this year the greatest OF all in
the history of mans struggle to vie
with the birds of the air.