The Washington herald., 1909-07-21

and then devote your time 70 picking
Latham out Of the whitecaps. couldn't
you?" was asked OF the older brother,
forts
Wilbur grinned, but made no comment.
At the zenith Of their success in their
own coUntry-a success which required
years OF heart-blood effort-the men from
Dayton were as quiet and well poised as
ever A crowd quickly gathered about
them. but after speaking briefly with the
newspaper men Chey disappeared Ike the
smoke OF a smokeless gun, and the crowd
gave itself over 10 its Old pursuit-that OF
wondering what manner Of men they
were. anyhow.
Largest Crowd Yet.
Attracted by the reports Of the success
full flights OF Monday. the largest crowd
which has journeyed out to Fort Myer
/ this year was on hand. More than 5000
! persons lined the parade ground. most OF
them along the north end. outside OF
the sacred yellow badge arena about the
! tents men and women stood IN ranks eight
deep and a continuous line OF automobiles
was ranged along the wall OF Arlington
/ Cemetery. The windows and balconies
OF the barracks held their quota OF
watchers.
And as far away as the Speedway and
the Highway Bridge persons who saw on
/ In the distance the white figure OF the
mechanical bird circling about high IN
the air stopped IN their tracks 20 see It's
evolutions. The height reached by tho
areoplane made Il visible 70 a large por-
ton OF the city, and its flight was wit
messed by other thousands Of unknown
number.
IN the throngs At the parade ground
were Postmaster General Hitchcock. Sec
retary OF the Navy Meyer, Attorney Cen
eral Wickersham. Senator Elkins. Sena-
tor Kean, Dr. Zahm, OF the Catholic Uni
Iversity. secretary of the Washington
Aero Club: Gen Allen chief signal off,
Ger; Cen. TOrney surgeon general OF the
army; Gen. Aleshire, Guartermaster gen.
eral: Mrs. Nicholas Longworth, and the
ministers o. Guatemala and Costa Rica.
Shortly after $50 o'clock the wind
dropped sufficiently for a flight. and the
laeroplane was taken from the shed and
wheeled up the field 70 the starting der
rick. There IL was adjusted over the
monorail and the engine was started for
a preliminary warming up run A little
trouble was experienced IN getting II 10
start. but after the first blare OF eXplO-
sions from the exhaust broke the quiet
OF the afternoon. the iron-throated motor
never baked.
The "huskies" OF the Signal Corps ther
lined Up along the rope connected 70 The
falling weight. and started the SLOW
march back from the machine, while th'
/. 1.600-pound mass OF metal rose slowly II
the derrick.
Rope Snapped in Two.
While the men were holding the rope Il
allow the mechanician, Charles Taylor
and Wilbur Wright 10 fasten the end o.
the rope TO the framework OF the aero
plane. there was a sudden snap. and tn,
heavy weight came crashing 10 N,
!, ground.
A shout from somebody who saw tn
rope part made two men standing nea
the derrick jump backward Although
they were outside the framework OF tn,
tower. and out OF the way OF danger. tn
mass thudded TO the ground not eight fee
from them.
The unexpected delay would have beer
more serious II TWO naval officers had no
happened TO be johnnie on the spot.
with a knowledge Of the fine points o
long splices Although they learned th'
equal 20 the emergency.
With Rear Admiral Cone. chief Of tn,
Bureau OF Steam Engineering, standing
By to see that the naval regulations gov
erning long splices were not violated
Lieut.. Commander Proctor, set TO worl
mending the break. Lieut.. Sweet Of tht
navy, who is ,One OF the board OF Judge:
or the official flights, was on the ground
but he had his arm in a sling and wal
not asked to show his knowledge. recoI
lection, or belief OF the habits OF three
strand manila rope
When the repaired rope had been ad
b justed and the weight again raised, IN,
engine was started and almost immedi
ately Orville climbed into his seat III
touched the spark control and the bias
Of explosions leaped up until the drum
ming was practically incessant Onl!
Wilbur was left at the machine. standin,
IN a tense attitude with q stop watch il
one hand and his other resting on th
right upper wing tip.
Orville reached down and touched tn
releasing mechanism. AS the weigh
dropped to the ground, the aeroplan
leaped down the monoran. For ten fee
after leaving the end 1t flew so low tina
the skidS scraped and the dust few UP f.
little puffs.
OrviIIe Pressed Lever.
Orville pressed the lever governing tn
, forward planes. Instantly, and with NOR
, buoyancy than It has shown up to tn
J present time, the machine responded.
lifted its head, leaped upward at shar
: agile to q level OF twenty feet, went for
, ward on the horizontal for hundred fee,
it to the left at the south end OF the pa
rade ground, the aeroplane was abou
thirty feet above the ground 1t dippe
deeply on the inside wing tip. like a gien
, gull IN strong wind, as it made III
curve and headed back up the field
! On the leg OF the circuit UP the parad
ground Orville gave the aeroplane It
: head, and It rose easily TO a height o
eighty feet, where It remained for severa
laps. The operator sought the extrem
limits Of the field on the south end. Eoin
far beyond the aeroplane shed. The cir
cults required about one minute and si
seconds.
AS round after round was added to tn
rapidly growing number, Orviue sough
still higher attitudes until finally he wa
soaring 800 feet above the surface OF tn
: earth. II was significant OF the view h
gets from that high level that he ex
, plained after the hight that he could tel
approximately how high he was by tn
width Of the Potomac River had appar
, entity assumed.
The weather conditions were perfect
] The air was still. and against a purpl
haze OF to the south what few areas o