The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-09-30
Wright Circles Statue OF
Liberty,
ONE FALLS INTO THE RIVER
Captain Baldwin Is Rescued BY Al
Marship.
Glenn Curtis. and Wilbur wri<At GIVE
Remarkable Exhibstiens Of Mod
ern Iaventive Geaiss N
America.


New York. Sept 29--wnbur wright
circled the great statue Of liberty ~
the entrance of New York harbor IA
his aeropIane today. while In the up-
per part of the city two hugh diri9Ible
balloons failed tngloriousiy In tneir
task.
This. the first day of flight, at the
Hudson-Fulton celebration, was Z VIC
tory for the heavier than air machines.
both Wright and Glenn H. Curttss
scared successfully from the aero.
drome of Governors Island In their
motor propelled bi-planes; both great
dirigibles. manned respectively bv
Captain Thomas Baldwin and George
I. Tomlinson. and entered In the New
York worlds $4,000 New York to
Albany race. were forced to descend
because OF mechanical difficulties be-
fore they were well under way.
Wilbur Wright made three sensa.
tional flights and Curtiss made one
prief, though successful test spin of
thirty seconds duration. Baldwin with
his dirigible, landed In the Hudson
river less than an hour after the start,
while Tomlinson. after remaining In
the air from 1l.3e q. m. until 1850 D.
M, came to earth near White Plains
N. Y, twenty-five miles from the start
Ing point Neither OF the dirigibIe
pilots was injured nor was either
craft seriously damaged.
curtiss was the first to leave the
earth. At o'clock In the morning
he made q brief flight Two hours
later Wright made his first ascent,
encircling Governors Island and re-
naming in the air for seven minutes
After an hours rest Wright again
went aloft, this time remaining In the
air for six minutes and thirty seconds
attaining a speed estimated az ftfty
miles an hour and with a glorious
sweep out over the bay. passed entirely
around the great emblem OF liberty
on Beiloe's Island.
Seen ny Millions.
Not content with this spectacular
feat, Wright made o third flight at
SEQ o'clock this afternoon befeee a
crowd OF 100000 peraons- Yachts.
f&xeusesion boats and various craft had
! gathered on both sides OF the fiil,
| which Is being used as the aviation
field, and they footed their whistles
noisily as his machine arose from the
ground for the last flight of the day.
He did not attempt to fly over the
water. nor did he go to any great
height, but executed two complete cir
Giles in the air, then made an excel
lent landing. while the crowd, inciud-
Ing his rival Curtiss. commented on
the ease with which he manipulated
his craft
In all thfee Of his flights today the
Wright machine showed greater speed
than that OF Curtiss. but the Curtiss
flier seemed to keep Its equilibrium
better and remained on an even keel.
Wright. In fact, met with one slight
mishap In his first flight when
wing tip struck the ground on landing
and considerably Jared his machine.
The start of the dirigible BALBOA
race to Albany was considerable or
fiasco. but It is announced that the
balloons will be made ready for an
other attempt at the first opportunity.
TomIinson was the first to start on
the trip which he hoped would end at
Albany. He got away at 1896 and
headed north on the easterly side OF
the Hudson.
Baldwin I'm River.
Baldwin arose at I1:52, shot out
directly over the middle of the Hud-
son and began travelling toward the
state capital. In a few moments he
was lost to view in the slight mist
which hung over the river. but in his
elevated seat he was being bothered
by cross air currents. A puff of wind
snapped one of his rudder ropes and
he was forced to begin his descent on
the water, $50 feet off the Jersey
shore opposite 10Th street.
The balloon came down easily
Captain Baldwin threw out drag nets
and sailors from the battIeships Rhode
Island, New Jersey and North Caro-
lima, who saw his plight. swarmed to
his rescue In launches. They seized
the drag nets and managed to hold up
the balloon so that only the motor
was wet. Baldwin swung himself into
boat without getting wet
gang of sailors then pushed the
big bag ashore, where 1t was loaded
in a wagon and returned to the start
ing point. Baldwtns maximum height
was 500 feet.
Meantime Tomiinson, at a height OF
about 300 feet. had been going north
ward overland when both his gasoline
and oil tanks began leaking. Fearing
an explosion, he was forced to come to
earth on a country estate near White
Plains. This feat he accomplished
without mishap. Tomltnson was
found sitting calmly in his seat trying
to stop the flow of oil and gasoline
from their tanks. He was greatly put
out that the leaks should have caused
him to abandon such good start
toward the $4,000 trophy.
wright's action in circlIng the
statue of liberty today is taken as a
challenge to Curtiss. for Curtiss, Il
will be recalled. was the first to men
tion such a flight.
From now on II is expected that the
two aviators will strive to Guido each
other although neither will do any
thing reckless.
Both aviators hope to fly mp North
River as far as Grants Tomb. using
a. warship for a stakeboat. Every
thing. however. depends upon the
weather. but Wright expressed conf
ience tonight that conditions would
be favorable tomorrow for flights.
TELLS OF MURDERS