The Washington herald., 1909-07-31

TO the right OF the President stands
OrViIe and NJ
passed the starting derrick. with
rush OF explosions it stsrted away as
straight as an arrow. and the crowd
gulped a couple OF times and whispered
70 itself:
Hes goingl He's goingr'
The flyer was of Down in the center
OF the field stood Wilbur. a red and white
flag in his hands. He was directly on a
line between two other flags. one on the
wall OF Arlington Cemetery and the other
near the stables. At the flag on the side
near the stables were Maj. George o.
Squier. chairman Of the board Of judges
OF the Official flights. and Lieut. Lehm. Of
the Signal Corps. The other members or
the board, with the exception Of Lieut.
Foulols. up IN the machine, were down
on Shooters Hill-Ileut Maj Saltzman.
Lieut.. Humphreys. OF the Signal Corps,
and Lieut. Sweet, OF the navy.
signal Il Gives.
AS the biplane swept across the start
ing line at 6:S:S0 o'clock Wilbur Tipped
his flag and the time was noted. At the
Signal Corps telephone to Shooters Hlll.
Eve miles away. that the flyer had
started
Explanations OF intense admiration
were heard IN a rising wave Of acclaim
from the crowd as the bipiane, bearing its
human load. sped southwark toward the
distant sky. At that time 1t was about
100 feet in the air, and was still rising
Like a homlng pigeon, It chose its course
and held true to f. Past the aeroplane
shed. where Miss Wright waved her
handkerchief in the air; past the chin
new OF the crematory, and Tar above the
top OF il: past the successive groves OF
trees beyond tire biplane went, growing
smaller and smaller IN the distance.
Fades I'm the Distance.
As II bv magic the earthliness OF the
contrivance fell away from it with the
noise Il made. until as the silence once
more descended on the parade ground
with its watching thousands the disap-
pearing creature Of the air seemed truly
a part OF its own element
For a while the revolving propellers
could still be made out. two pickering
circles between the black lines OF the
planes. They looked Ike the strange
lpinwheels one sees on going into a dark
room from one brightly lighted.
Then the definite form OF the fleeing bird
faded into indehniteness. A mere speck
was left against the sky. so small that II
the eve once left it. II could not pick It
out again against the slate clouds.
| The little pin point was absorbed into
the Ereat background, and the biplane
was gone. swallowed up by the wide
southern sky,
Spectators I'm Suspense.
! The Yankee tars Of Commodore Preble' $
fleet. who hung In the chains and watch
ed the dim figure Of the powder-laden
ketch bear Richard somers and his band
Of thirteen into the hRrbor OF Tripoli on
their mission OF destruction never strain
ed their eyes with greater fear across
/ the water than did the watchers at Fort
! Myer across the oninous carpet OF tree
| tops beyond which. somewhere. was the
| Wright aeroplane.
| A minute passed Men with strong field
! glasses reported the progress Of the flyer
I for a few moments. then they fell silent
/ The crowd waited Two minutes passed
| Three minutes passed.
/ Then a man shouted:
Il see herl She is comingi'
! A few second later, above the most
| distant line OF dim tree tops. a minute
shadow appeared for moment It dis
appeared, then Teappeared- It grew
larger. larger. until II was quite plain q
the naked eye. Then, with a steady
down slant. It went out Of sight.
Moment OF Anxiety.
That was the most dramatic moment
in the entire flight. The machine had
gone down on what appeared to be q
steady decline What had become OF Il
was a matter Of conjecture entirely. II
II had lost its means OF propulsion and
! been forced 10 land In that ugly success
sion OF ridges and gullies. the men aboard
| had small chance 10 get out without IN.
! jury 10 avoid an uglier word. Second
after second clicked its way into The
! great eternity Of the past. and still the
carpet OF tree tops held its secret.
Again there came the glad shout OF:
Il see herl"
I Again came the breathless suspense OF
| those who, having no field glasses, were
depending on their naked eyes. Again
came the great shout from 5000 threats.
over a nearer line Of trees the oncom-
ing figure could be seen distinctly enough
I 10 make out the LWO-plene construction
1t was flying very low on the return trip
not high against the sky as on the out.
ward course.
Crowd Becomes Joyous.
Still without a murrnur OF noise the
whirling propeilers came into view-the
same two Pickering circles, revolving
| just as before. The shout from the
crowd rose louder and louder, and became
continuous.
With a rush in which the fusiIlade OF
tho exhausts suddenly sprang ahead ..
It and tore the atmosphere into a culver.
ing uproar. the machine swept over the
south end OF the parade ground, I'D the
field directly toward the crowd. AS Il
ripped IT'S way past the center OF The
field Wilbur. standing coatless down be.
low. brought his red and white flag dowr
! With a vicious sweep. Officially, tn,
flight had passed into history
The swiftness OF the biplane became
apparent az it lunged into the curve L
the left and circled in front OF the spec
tators. who were now cheering madly