The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-18
FEARFUL PLUNGE TO DEATH IN
 ORYILLE WRIGHT'S AEROPLANE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1.)

| |
 dust. No effort on the part of the
 aviator could possibly have averted the accident. Planes and rudders were ab- 1 solutely incapable of fighting the ma chine when 1t had turned in that man | ner. Several officers who were stand 1 ing around the starting apparatus, or l dered the mounted soldiers over to the wreck, but spectators, soldiers, officers l and newspaper men were already run ming across the field. It was fully minute before any one reached tho | tangled mass.
 The mounted soldiers formed a cor
 don around the wreckage, while others
 frenziedly endeavored to lift the heavy
 mass of machinery and wood that pinioned Wright and Selfridge to the
 ground. Lieut.. Selfridge's face was covered with blood and he was grooming
 and ch oking from the internal hem-
 orrhage. Orville Wright lay by his
 side, his face as pale as the mass of
 white muslin overhead. He was con-
 scious and asked that the machine be lifted off his leg.
 "Oh, but it will hurt when they touch that leg" said MT. Wright.
 As soon as they could be extricated. the injured men were taken to one side and physicians from the crowd of spec tators went to their aid.
 As soon as possible MT. Wright and Lieut.. Selfridge were laid on stretchers and carried to the hospital Soldiers on Guard. As the gasoline tank had been
 pierced when the machine crashed to the ground. there was great danger that some person might come too near
 with lighted cigar or cigarette and add an explosion to the disaster. A of crowd at a safe distance. After a surgical examination 1t was an-
 nounced at the hospital that Lieutenant Selfridge was in a critical condition, hay ing suffered a fracture at the base Of the skull. It was said then that MT. Wright was not severely injured. The army surgeons attending the ln- | jured men stated that Mr. Wright had fractures of the left thigh and several ribs on the right side. He was much | shocked but reacted well.
 At 10 minutes after o'clock Lieutenant ] Selfridge died. He had not regained con- 1 scousness. He was expecting his mother
 who lives in San Francisco, to arrive in Washington this month. He is nephew
 of Admiral Selfridge and has brother l who is an officer in the navy. l Glenn H. Curtis of the aerial experi-
 ment association called up by long dis tance phone as soon as he heard of the l accident He notified Lieutenant Self 1 ridges family In San Francisco.
 New Propelers. 1 MT. Wright yesterday replaced the pro- ] pellers which he has been using with an- 1 other pair, the blades of which are six inches longer. They were used for the 1 first time in todays disastrous flight, ana | many who have witnessed MT. Wright l flights at Fort Meyer believe the change l of propellers caused the accident An examination of the broken blade l showed that 1t had been snapped OH at d point one-fourth of the distance from the hub. A deep indentation of the broken l piece indicated that 1t had struck some l other part of tie aeroplane. l Only this morning MT. Wright had been l asked what the result would De II one or l his propellers broke while the machine l was in flight. 'The other propeller would
 tend to turn the machine around, ne said, "but I would stop the motor and 1 glide to the earth.'
 l Among the eye witnesses was MT | Charles R. Flint of New York, interna- tional representative of the Wright broth 1 CTS MT. Flint came over from New 1 York today to see the flight and was accompanied to Fort Myer by Admiral | and Mrs. Brownson. MT. Flint said to- night that the mishap would not cause l the Fort Myer n1SnlS to po eoonuoiiSN' 1 They will be resumed, he said, as soon as ! MT Wright has recovered and the ma 1 chine has been repaired.
 No Life Insurance. Several days ago an admirer Of the l Wright brothers made application to a Washington insurance agent for life
 police in favor of Orville Wright. The
 agency applied in the regular way to 1 inc home office Today the agent received | a letter from the officials of the company | saving that i've cannot issue policy in | favor of MT. Wright or anyone else Tn | his line of work. We consider the hazard | foo great at this time, but 1t is possible
 that in the future aerial navigation will l reach development which may change
 this view"
 | Reuresentatives of accident insurance l companies would never consider policy in his favor.
 officers of the signal corps and other
 enthusiasts at F ort Meyer were inclined
 to express the belief that today's accident
 was not due to a faulty principle, but
 a defective propeller which was made Of
 spruce.