Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1908-09-25
WASHINGTON LETTER.
[From Our Regular Correspondent.

from ouf Regular correspondents
Washington, D. c., Sept. 19.-The
disaster to the air ship of Orville Wright
in which the inventor was badly
wounded and his companion killed is
felt keenly in Washington where the
experiments were being made The Of
fetal test was to have been made this
week and Mr.. Wright and the officials
of the war department as well as the
crowds who have daily attended the
trial flights were confident that the
aeroplane would easily pass all of the
tests. 1t lies now in the shed where it
had been kept, a mass of broken wires,
splintered wood and torn muslin. Lieut.
enant Selfridge, who accompanied Mr..
Wright, is dead and Mr.. Wright with
a broken leg, several broken ribs and
many bruises, is lying in the army
hospital at Fort Myer in the suburbs
of the city, still unaware that his COM
panion in the flight was killed. OF
course every one has a reason why the
propeller should have broken and why
the machine should have fallen but t
takes little technical knowledge to see
that when flying machine gets any
thing wrong with its machinery while
in air it has but one thing to do and
that is to obey the laws of gravity and
reach the earth by the shortest line.
When an automobile stalls on a hill it
may be annoying but it is not danger
Gus. When flying mechanism fails
it is not only dangerous but probably
fatal.
This fact postpones by many years
| the time when flying machines will be
| useful either for war or transportation
and before that time it will doubtless
demand heavier vital toll than those
| who have already fallen victims to the
experiments. Lieutenant elfridge was
a clever promising young man OF twen-
| ty-one. III had for several years taken
the keenest interest in all air ships and
had many ascensions He was also the
inventor of some of the parts of the
Baldwin dirigible balloon and was
fearless in experimenting with them.
His death, happily, was painless as he
never regained consciousness after strik-
ing the ground.
| The converting in Washington of
three important Congresses almost 81
mulaneously will inaugurate ''small'
social season. A reception at the White
House for the delegates of two
of the conventions, a reception by the
Secretary of State, another by Secre-
tary Straus and private view in the
evening of the pictures in the CorcOran
art gallery will be the most important
OF the unusual features of the early au-
| tumn weeks. AS a consequence many
prominent people are hurrying home
and among the distinguished ones ar
irving today are Postmaster General
| Meyer, the Belgian Minister, and the
family of Senator Elkins. Miss Kath-
arine Elkins, who is supposed to be en-
gagged to the Duke of Abruzzi has been
much feted this summer but she pre-
serves an absolute silence as to her ma
trimonial plans Society is very eager
to know if the King of Italy, is really
going to allow the match but the fami-
ly of the Senator and the crusty mill
lionaire himself are exceedingly touchy
on the subject and newspaper cores
pondents prefer any assignment than
that of interviewing the Elkins on the
subject.