Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1908-09-24

LIEUT.. SELFRIDGE is KILLED AND
ORVILLE WRIGHT SERIOUS
LY INJURED.
A PROPELLER BLADE BROKE.
Aeroplane Is Wrecked While Encirc-
ling the Drill Grounds at Fort
Myer, Va, and Carrying
Two Passengers

Two Passengers.
Washington, d. C.-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,
Orville Wright on Thursday met with
a tragical mishap while making
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 a propeller blade
snapped off and, hitting some other
part of the intricate mechanism,
caused it 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:
oh hurry and lift the motor"
Lieut.. Selfridge 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 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
bandaged 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-conSciousness by the
time he reached the hospital, while
Seliridge 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
the hospital and dictated 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
ali right
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
We're used for the first time in Thurs
days disastrous flight and many who
have witnessed Mr.. Wright's fights at
Fort Myer believe the change of pro-
pellers caused the accident An exam
ination Of the broken blade showed
that it had been snapped off at point
one-fourth of the distance from the
hub. a deep lndentation in the broken
piece indicated that it 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 Orvile Wrieht's
flights, examined the wreckage. He
said that if the Wrights had used but
one propeller instead of two the re-
suit would have been at least as Sc
rious.
Only Thursday morning Mr.. Wright
had been asked what the result would
be if one of his propellers broke while
he machine was in fight. The other
propeller would tend to turn the ma
chine around he said, but would |
top the motor and glide to the earth"