Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-09-18

who lives in San Francisco, to arrive
in Washington this month. He is a
nephew of Admiral Selfridge and has
a brother who is an officer in the navy
Glenn II. Curtis of the Aerial Expert
ment Association, notified Lieutenant
Selfrdge's family in San Francisco.
DR.. Howard w. Bailey, who attend
ed Lieutenant Selfridge, made the first
announcement of that officers Geath.
Just after the lieutenant had passed
;.Nay. the doctor came out of the room,
and to those waiting in the hall said:
He is dead
His DEATH" said the doctor, was due
| to compound fracture at the base of
| the skull. He never reSained conscious
ress from the moment he struck the
ground, despite the heroic remedies which
were administered. There was absolutely
no response to the treatment given him.
He passed away peacefully.
Major Squire advised the family of the
leutenant's death, ana some word is eX-
pected hourly as to whether they will
come here or have the body sent to the
Pacific coast for interment. We have to
| abide by the army regulations, which pre-
scribe that the war depa rtment shall be
first advised The adjutant general has
been notified and the body will not be
removed from the hospital until word is
received from that officer
Mr.. Wright yesterday replaced the pro-
rellers which he had been using with an
other pair, the blades of which are six
inches longer They were used for the
first time in today's disastrous flight, and
many who have witnessed Mr.. Wright's
flights at Fort Myer believe the change
of propellars caused the accident. An eb-
animation of the broken blade showed
that it had been snapped off at a point
one-founrth of the distance from tine hub.
A deep indentation of the broken piece
indicated that it had struck some other
part OF the aeroplane. Octav Chanute,
the father of aeronautiCs in America, who
came to Washington several days ago for
the purpose of seeing Orville WriShts
flights. examined the wreckage. He said
that :f the Wrights had used one propeller
instead Of two the result would have been
at least as serious. Only this morning
Mr.. Wright had been asked what the re-
suit would be if one of his propelers
broke while the machine was in hight.
The other propeller would tend to turn
| the machine around" he said. but I
would stop the motor and glide to the
earth.''
Major George o. Sqrier. chairman of
the Signal Corps aeronautical board
and acting chief signal officer OF the
army was one of the first to see Mr..
Wright after his injuries had been
dressed. The first words Mr.. Wright
uttered We're:
II guess we won't take dinner to-
night together Major"
They had dinner engagement for
this evening. Mr.. Wright's remarks to
those about him indicated that the
shock which the news of the accident
would cause his family was his chief
concern.
He was evidently also endeavoring to
determine the cause of the accident
While the surgeons We're at work set
ting his leg. he asked an attendant to
carry word to his assistant, Mr.. Tay-
lor, to ask him to examine the wreck
ed machine to ascertain if there was
anything wrong with the transmission.
Mr. Taylor. after examining the wreck,
stated that he could find nothing
wrong.
Among the eye witnesses was
Charles f. Flint Of New York. inter-
national representative of the Wright
brothers. Mr.. Flint came over from
New York today to see the flight. and
was accompanied to Fort Myer by Ad-
miral and Mrs Brownson. Mr.. Flint
said tonight that the mishap would not