The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-09-18
AEROPLANE FALLS;
DEATH FOLLOWS
LIEUT.. sELFRIpee IS KILLED AND
oRvILLE WRIGHT SERIOUS.
srp t5t ~ INJURED.
A PROPELLER BLADE BROKE.
Asfoplsne 10 Wrecked While Eneire.
Hna the Drill Grounds at Fort
myer Va, and Carrying
Two Passengers.

washington, Sept. 1S.--After having
drawn the attention Of the world to
his aeroplane flights at Fort Myer and
having established new world records
for heavier than air flying machines,
Orvflle Wright on Thursday met with
a tragical mishap while making a
two-man flight The aeroplanist was
accompanied by Lieut.. Thomas f.
Selfridge of the signal corps of the
army. Lieut. Selfridge was terribly
injured and died at $40 o'clock
Thursday night Mr.. Wright was seri.
ously injured, but is expected to re.
cover.
While the machine was encircling
the drill grounds propeller blade
snapped OF and, hitting some other
part Of the intricate mechanism,
caused 1t to overturn in the air and
fall to the ground enveloping the two
occupants in the debris.
Soldiers and spectators ran across
the field to where the aeroplane had
fallen and assisted in lifting Wright
and Selfridge from under the tangled
mass OF machinery, rods, wires and
shreds of muslin. Mr. Wright was
conscious and said:
"0h, hurry and lift the motor"
Lieut. Selfrldge was unconscious and
had apparently struck the ground with
great force. His head was covered
with blood and he was choking when
the soldiers extricated him from un-
der the machine.
Dr. Waters, a New York physician,
was one OF the first to reach the spot
and rendered first aid to the injured
men. When their wounds had been
bafdaged Wright and Selfridge were
taken to the Fort Myer hospital at
the other end OF the field. 1t was
feared that Wright was suffering from
internal injuries. He had lapsed into
a state of semi.consciousnes by the
time he reached the hospital, while
Selffldge did not regain consciousness
at all. he was suffering from a frac-
ture at the base of the skull and was
in a critical condition.
After hurried surgical examina-
ton, It was announced that Mr.
Wright was not dangerously injured.
He Is suffering from a fracture OF his
left thigh and several ribs on the.
right side are fractured. Both men
received deep cuts about the head
Mr., Wright regained consciousness at
theshospital and dictated a cablegram
TO his brother at lie Mans, France,
and requested that the same message
be sent to his sister and father at
Dayton, o., assuring them that he was
albright
Mr.. Wright on Wednesday replaced
the propellers which he has been us.
ing with another pair, the blades of
which are six inches longer They
were used for the first time in Thurs
days disastrous fight, and many who
have witnessed Mr.. Wright's flights at
Fort Myer believe the change of pro
pelfers caused the accident. An exam
ination of the broken blade showed
that 1t had been snapped off at a point
one-fourth of the distance from the
hub A deep indentation in the broken
piece indicated that 1t had struck
some other part of the aeroplane.
Octave Chanute. the father of aero
nautics in America, who came to
Washington several days ago for the
purpose of seeing Orville Wright's
flights, examined the wreckage. He
said that il the Wrights had used but
one propeller instead of two the re-
suit would have been at least as Sc.
rioHs.
Only Thursday morning Mr.. Wright
had been asked what the result would
be il one OF his propellers broke while
theomachine was in flight. THE other
propeller would tend to turn the ma
chine around" he said, "but | would
stop the motor and glide to the earth"
Among the eyewitnesses was Mr..
Charles r. Flint of New York, interna-
tional representative of the Wright
brothers. Mr.. Flint came over from
New YorR Thursday to see the fight,
and was accompanied to Fort Myer
by Admiral and Mrs. Bronson. Mr..
Flint said that the mishap would not
cause the Fort Myer flights to be
abandoned. They will be resumed, he
said, as soon as Mr.. Wright has re-
covered and the machine is repaired.
Marshes are Ablaxe.