The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-26
FLEW ACROSS
THE CHANNEL
IN AIRSHIP
Louis BIeriOt Made the Trip
from Calais to Dover
Without MiShap.
WINNER OF $4,000 PRIZE
OFFERED BY DAILY MAIL
TRIP ACCOMPLISHED IN LESS
THAN HALF AN HoUR-MOD-
EST ACCOUNT OF AVIATOR.

Dover, July 25.-Louis Bleriot a
Frenchman, has at last succeeded in
crossing the English channel in an air
ship.
This sleepy seaport town experienced
the keenest thrill known in a genera
ton when at sunrise white-winged,
bird-like machine, with loudly-hum-
ming motor, swept out from the haze
obscurIng the sea toward the distant
French coast, and. CiTCling twice above
the high Chalky cliffs of Dover. alighted
on English soil
Bleriot, portly and red-mustached,
calmly descended from the saddle, limp
ing on a bandaged foot which had been
| burned on his previous overland flight
Immediately two compatriots, who had
/ been waving a big tri-cOlOTed flag as a
signal for the landing place, fell upon
him enthusiastically, embracing him.
shouting and pounding him on the back.
They with few soldiers and others
who happened to be on the scene, were
the only persons to witness the finish of
| a remarkable feat.
Half An Hours Flight.
Bleriot left Les Barreques, three miles
/ from Calais, about 4.30 a. m. on one
| He crossed the channel i'm less than half
/ an hour, twice as swiftly as the fastest
mail boat His speed averaged more
/ than IS miles an hour though sometimes
/ 1t Appropriated so miles. He kept about
/ go feet above the sea level, and for
/ about ten minutes in midChannel was
| out Of sight of both coasts and the
/ French tOrped0-boat destroyer which
/ followed him, with his wife and friends
/ aboard.
/ The wind was blowing about twenty
/ miles an hour, and the sea was choppy.
| The aviator was sWathed in a single
! garment OF drilling impervious 10 the
| wind, which covered him from the top
/ Of his head to his feet. only his face
| showing. He wore also a cork Hfe-belt.
Landing Of the Aviator.
An eyewitness Of the landing thus de-
scribes il:
VERY early in the morning a wireless
message was received from Calais that
! Bleriot intended to make the flight
| Then in quick succession came the news
that ne had left land, that he was flying
/ high and was fast making Dover. 1t
! was expected that he would land west
| Of Dover. but from the direction taken
/ it was soon evident that he would fly
/ to the eastward. Only a few minutes
| after the wireless announcing the start,
/ the lacOniC message, out of sight was
! received at Dover. Hardly had this
! been transcribed when the keen-eyed
! coast guard, scanning the sea with his
! telescope, shouted that Bleriot was
/ within sight
Came Down Gracefully.
fastening to the cliff of the bay. 7
was fortunate enough to arrive just
] f-rr
/ fast, like a gigantic hawk. The craft
! approached the cliff, growing larger
| every instant. The noise of the engines
was audible in a moment, so swiftly did
! it come. BleTiOt swOOped overhead and
| then turned his machine to the east and
| came to the ground in the meadow It
/ circled with cOnsummate ease and made
/ the landing gracefully. but even though
it touched the land lightly, it was
/ slightly damaged"
/ BY his achievement, BleriOt won the
! prize of $1,000 offered by the London
/ Daily Mail, for the first fight across
/ the English channel, and stole a march
on his rivals, Hubert Latham and Count
/ de Lambert, both of whom had hoped
/ to make the attempt today. Bleriot de-
! scribed his remarkable flight very mod
| est1y
Story of Bleriot.
! 81 arose at 8 o'clock" he said. land
| went to the aerOplane shed Finding
| everything in order on the trial spin, 7
/ decided to make the flight. The French
| tOTpedO-bOat destroyer, which was In
/ attendance, was sigualled, and it put
/ out about four miles. Then I rose in
/ the air and pointed directly to Dover
| After ten minutes 7 was out of sight Of
/ land and had left the warship well be-
/ hind. For a few minutes 7 could not see
| either coast, nor any boat I tried to
! keep at an average height of $50 feet. I
might easily have gone higher but il
| would have served no purpose. This
| was about the right height, L thought,
| to clear the Dover cliffs safely.
THE machine dipped toward the wa
] ter several times. I put on more petrol
/ once. I estimate that the propellors
were going 1,2O0 to 1,4O0 revolutions a
minute.
''The first objects I saw were ships
off the English coast, then I observed
Deal, and I discovered that the wind,
which was southwest, was carrying me
! thither. I veered 20 the southwark to
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