The Washington herald., 1908-08-29

Cone take a t-Ip n ny airship;
Wen visit the Ean ID the nom
Popular Dirty.
There were large doings" at Fort
hyer yesterday. II was a banner dav
for the Signal Corps and the Baldwin
/ airship. The atmosphere was surfeited
with excitement. and tense moments
were not lacking.
/ In addition 10 making five flights in the
dirigi5le. while Capt. Baldwin was in
HammoHdsport. y. Y. the three aero
nautical school boys. LIeuts. I.ahrn.
F'oulois. and selfridge. gave a brother
oflcer his first taste Of air sailing. and
capped the climax by stampeding troop
OF cavalry Truly. il w-z a gala day.
with the unexpected always happening
Owing 70 the fact that the elements
had been on the rampage for several
days. the signal Corps officers were pre-
vented from flying in the dirigibIe. As
result OF their repeated disappofut-
ments earlier IN the week. ali Of them
were on edge fo- a flight yesterday. and
shouted with glee when thev saw the
sun break through the clouds over the
western hills.
Lieut. Lahm in Charge.
Capt Baldwin. who has been IN New
York several days. said he would return
yesterday afternoon. He was not on
aand al O'Clock. The usual hour for
flights. but Lieut. Lahn. who has charge
Of the dirigible. now that II Is the prop
erty Of the S.gaal Corps. was determined
that this should not interfere with q III
tie aerial junket arounI Fort AIyer.
HHHHH TfH= 90
towed out OF the wall tent Tssy-
Seifridge took his position at the engine
and Lieut. Lahm went 10 the rsdEe-
Since the War Department ACQUIRED he
airslip the rud5er ropes are operated by I
means Of a steering wheel. similar 10 4
those used on automobiles. save FOR the I
fact that f. Is perpendicuIar instead Of /
horizontal Sitting behind the wheel. with !
his military cap Well down over his eyes
Lieut. Lahm looked Ike q yaaderbUt Crn
contestant ready for the race Of has lie
Within remarkably short tine the /
two officers balanced the craft perfectly
and soon were soaring toward the sky
After clrcling the dr!u field twice. they
descended. remaining in the air two min
Utes- A second ascension was made b,-
the same officers This trip lasted seven
minutes The airship scared 10 q. height
y almost S1o feet. and Lieut. SeIfridge
,nanged The speed several times Tba
highest speed was nearly eighteen mile
per hour, or Just 81 miles less than The
rate at which Capt. Baldwin sailed the
craft on HIS speed tests.
All Flights Were successfuI
Lieut. FouIois then cook the engine seat
with Lieut. Lahu srul a. the rud5er
They made two flights. one OF sever. and
the other OF four minutes duration. On
he first trip they sailed far owe. .A-linR-
ton Cemetery, and almost down 10 the
pistol target range
On the next trip Lieut.. SeIrrfdra went
10 the rudder. with Lieut. FouIois A. The
.ngire- This fight was u four minutes.
iIration. Lieut. SelfridCe sailing II fur
her beyond the bounds Of the drill fe1d
han ever before The even keel OF. which /
ne vessel sailed, Wit a light officer in /
ront, and the heavy one In the rear. was
! great compliment to all three Uertar-
,nts- Il established the fact that the
Baldwin airship vas not difficult 10 han
lie even by strangers. and that the 81
icers have quickly mastered the knack Of
ailiug the craft
While Lieuts- Foulois and selfridge
we're preparing for their second flight.
apt Phillips started across the easter 7
'orner OF the drill field with his troop ]
/, Of the Thirteenth Cavalry. The troop !
rs were on their way to the Virginia :
Ills for night march Of thirty miles. S
Cavalry Routed by Craft.
When the Curtiss motor began sputte--
~ IN the center Of the drill field the spir-
ted cavalry horses pricked up their ears
nd began TO pyance and charge. Riders
atted their horses on the necks and
uieted them for tie nonce: but when
be whirring Of the propeller and the gut q
lral noise Of the gasoline engine drew \
carer the horses. pandemoniurn reiSned
IS the airship SCARED 10G feet over the =
-oop the horses stampeded-
The frightened horses reared and
lunged and exerted every muscle 10 m c
Eat their riders and run away. ATsnv ~ J.
hem Whirled round and round. while
Tiers turned tail and ran. one horse in
le last set Of fOurs refused to go for
ard but, instead. whisked around and
an city block 70 the rear. where the ,
.ooper was thrown to the ground. Cant .
hillips finally decided that the best thing g
DO was TO give the airship q wide a
ertn He gave the command. Gallon % ?
"a tne routed cavalry disappeared over m
e crest OF hill in short order
Navy Up in the Air, y
Up TO this time the American navy had
.ver been up IN the air speaking III
fally' Lieut.. Creecy, a popular and OBJ
rVant officer from the Marine Csorns
no has been watching and working IN
ings aeronautical since Capt. BaIdwin-s ~
went az Fort Myer, received his jnitfs- en-
N after Lieut. Foulois returned from {
S second flight with Lieut.. seifridge. -
Lieut. Creecy is a broad-shouIderaS ev,
od-iooking. and nervy young man. and teS
adily accepted Lieut. Lahm's invitation q
make an ascension He knows rnucb an
out gasoline motors, spark plugs. car !
fetors- and mechanical whatnots ana 20
d a close watch on Engineer Glen ~
russ when the latter operated the en- 81
le and planes Although he had never {
ace an ascension in a free balloon
ptive balloon. dirigibIe. or anv Ma
Der alr-sailing vessel Lieut.. Creecv p
)k 70 aerial navigation ike
cS 70 water His flight was moss s
cccssful. and. as compared with rhe d0'
tai ascension Of the other officers
* nigh rank He experienced. No. trou-
with the motor. and after a moment
the cirig1ble, got good control over ire
mes he manipulated the, plane so as aul
io"er tne arship 10 within fifty fea-
Ine ground, and then scared llp u1o-a -
an 20 feet Throughout the first few Pr
'llents Lieut. Creecy, complying U-irh
cut SelIridge's request. kept his .x,a,.
Ine latter When he saw thar e,-s--