The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1908-09-25
WRIGHTs AfROPlANE FAILS
Propeller Snaps and Machine Falls to
Ground, leut. Selfridge Is J.
Killed.

r. washington, sept; l0.--AIteF having
drawn the attention Of the world to
his aeroplane flights at, Fort Myer and
having established new worlds rec
ords for heavier-than.air flying ma
chimes, Orville Wright yesterday met
with a tragical mishap while making
a two.man flight. The aeroplanist was
accompanied by Lieut.. Thomas E..
selfridge Of the signal corps OF the
army. Lieut. selfridge was fatally in.
jured and died at $40 o'clock last
night. MI. Wright was seriously in.
jured, but is expected to recover.
Propeller Snaps OF.
While the machine was encircling
the drill grounds a propeller blade
snapped of and, hitting some other
part of the intricate mechanism, caus.
ed it to overturn in the air and fall to
the ground, enveloping the, two occu.
pants in the debris.
Soldiers and spectators ran acrosa
the field to where the aeroplane had
fallen and assisted in lifting Mr..
Wright and Lieut.. Selfridge from un.
der the tangled mass Of machinery,
rods, wires and shreds of mvs.in. Mr.
Wright was conscious and said: :;
ooh, hurry and lift the motor"
Setfridge's Skull Fractured.
Lieut.. selfridge was unconscious
and had apparently struck the ground
with great force. His head was Gov.
cred with blood and he was choking
when the soldiers extricated him from
under the machine
:; DR.. Walters. 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 Mr.. Wright and Lieut.. Self
ridge were taken to the Fort Myer hos.
pital at the other end of the field. 1t
was feared that Mr.. Wright was suffer.
ing from internal INJURIES He had
lapsed into state of semi-conscious.
ness by the time he reached the hos.
pital, while Lieut.. Selfridge did not
regain consciousness at all. He was
suffering from a fracture at the base
of the skull and was in q critical con.
dition.
Wright Badly Hurt.
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 broth.
er at Lemans, France, and requested
that the same message be sent to his
sister and father at Dayton, Ohio, as.
surfing them that he was all right.
Official Trials Later.
The signal corps will proceed with
its aeronautical work and it is under.
stood the Wright brothers will be per.
mitted to make their official trials
whenever they are ready without en-
dangering their chance of receiving
the contract price Of $4,000 for their
aeroplane.
Mr.. Wright's assistants, Taylor. and
Furness, took with them to the hospi-
tai yesterday two of the broken parts
of the aeroplane, the piece of the. pro.
peller which gave the first indication
to the spectators that an accident had
occurred and the attachment which
held one of the controlling wires fast
to the rudder. They showed these to
Mr.. Wright, who said to Taylor:
'The machine was already recover.
ing its balance when it struck, and I
am sure If we had twenty-five feet
further to go we would have landed
on the skids without serious damage"
Wright's Helper Explains.
Speaking for Mr.. Wright, Mr.. Tay.
lor later said:
"The accident was caused by an ex.
traordinary vibration of ~one of the
wires running from the main planes
to the upper steel fitting or the rud-
der. This vibration was so great that
it got in range of the propeller and
was struck by the blade, cutting a
deep cash into the edge of the pro.
peller blade about four inches from
the end. This caused the blade to
break. The other blade of the pro.
peller flew around and in turn struck
the same wire, breaking It,
Lost Control Of Rudder.
'This made Mr.. Wright lose control
of his rudder entirely, and the loss of
both blades of the propeller and the
breaking of the wire caused him to
lose control of the planes. He real
lied that something had happened and
thought his trouble was with the
transmission gearing, which is cross
chain drive in steel casing. Shutting
of power to stop the remaining pro.
reller, which tended to swing the ma
chine in circular direction toward
the left, he steadied the machine
somewhat, but the distance to the
ground was not great enough to re.
store the equilibrium" B.
u. = . . 5