The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-09-22
FLYING MACHINE
BADLY WRECKED
WRIGHT AND COMPANION HURL'
ED TO GROUND
Lieut.. Selfridge Dies Later-Inventor
Sustains Severe Injuries But
Will Recover.

cr and having established new world
records for hcavicr-than-air flying
machines, Orvillc Wright today met
with Il tragical miShap while maxine
a two-man flight. The acrpIanist was
accompanied was Lieut.. Thos. T.. Sci
fridg" of the signal corps Of the
army.
l"rut. Sclfridgc was fatally injured
and died at $40 'clock tonight. Mr..
Wright was seriously injured, but is
expected TO recover
While the machine vas rncirrlinr
the drill grounds Il prnrciIrr blade
snapped off hittin" some other part
OF the Intricate mechanism t.lusrd it
TO "v"rturn in the air and fall to ihn
ground "nv"Inpir" The two occupant :
il tie debris.
Soldiers and spectators ran Across
the field 10 where the arroplanc lad
Fallen and assisted in lifting Mr..
Nri"h! and Lieut.. S"lfrilwc from TN
der the tangled mass Of machinery.
rods. wires and shrcdS of muslin.
Mr.. Wright waS conscious and said :.
"Oh, hurry and lift the MOTOR -
Lieut.. Scltrid"r was unconscious and
sad apparently struck the ground
with great force. His head was cnv-
cred with blood and h" wnS chokino
when the soldiers rxlricntcd him from
ondrr the machine.
DR.. Walters. New York phvsi-
rian, wnS one Of ihr first to reach
the spot and rendered first ni, to thr
injured men. When their wounds
had been hauIa"r,l Mr.. Wri"ht ard
Ihcul Sclfri,l"r were taken ln the
Forth Meyer hospital at the other
end "r the field. 1t WAS feared that
Mr.. Wright WAS suffering" from III
trrnal injuries. He had lapsrd into
state Of Srmi-rnnScin,lSnrsS bv the
time he reached the hospital, while
Lieut.. Srlfridgr did no, regain con-
seriousness at ALL He wis SUFFERING
from Fracture ut the base Of The
skull and was in critical condition.
AFTER Il hurried surgical examination
II was announced that Mr.. Wright
was not dangerously injured. lie is
Suifrrin" from Il fracture Of his LEFT
thigh and several ribs on the rich,
sud" are fractured.
Both men rrrrivrl deep cuts obont
IN" head. Mr. Wright rc"ni,rl con-
seriousness nt the hospital and diclat-
"d a rNhlrgiam to his brother u, l,r-
mans. France. and requested that the
same message be sent tn his sister
and father at Dayton. Ohio. assuring
them that he was all right.
Large Crowd Sees Start.
Fully 200 person had gathered in
anticipation Of a flight by l.3O this
afternoon. The arrnplanc was still in
ITS shed. but Mr.. Wright arrived !,
Few minutes later and ordered it
taken t" Ihr northern end of the field
|" be- placed ON the >iarlin" track in
readiness for II flight.
ENrrNh"Ly WAS ordered back from
thr machine and Mr. Wright turned
{" Lieut.. Srlfri'l"r and said:
"I"n might is we'll get in. Well
start III couple of minutcS.
Mr. Wright announced several davs
ago that he would take Lieut.. Sci
fridge. Wh" is secretary Of the Aerial
tNrrrIm"n, dissertation and an aero
pianist himself. ON his n"Xl flight
the Young officer waS delighted tn
nave an opportunity to fly in the
nrr"nlAnr. lie WAS 10 leave Satur-
day for 81. .]">cph, Mo-. where Inc
WAS t" assist Lieut. Foulois in opcrai
ing the Baldwin airship at the com
lng army manoruvrcS.
Lieut.. Sclfridgc took off his coat
and hat and took his place in the
extra seat next 10 that occupied by
Mr.. Wright. Mr.. Wright later start,
cd the motor by means Of q storage
battery. his assistant, Taylor and
Furnrss. turning the propcllcrs tc
gel them going. At 5.1l ihc acroplant
was released and ii was noticed that
II did not rise as quickly from thC
ground rs on previous two-man Flights
Lieut.. Srlirid@c weighed about II:
pounds. making the weight create,
than The machine had ever carried
before.
After gliding over the ground OF
It's runners for 30 feet the machin,