The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1909-07-30

MACHINE IN WHICH no Mduc tnS Trip
Small Affair-Torpedo Boat Destroy.
er Left Far In the Lurch-Eye Wit.
ness Describes the Approach and the
Landing of the craft-Dover Ex
periences Thrill OF Generation.
The sleepy seaport town OF Dover.
experienced the keenest thrill known
in generation when white winged,
bird-like machine with loudly hum
ming motor swept out from the haze
obscuring the sea toward the distant
French coast and circling twice above
the high chalky cliffs of Dover, alight-
ed on English soil.
A calm Frenchman, Louis Bleriot,
portly and red mustached man of thir-
ty-seven, descended from the saddle
limping on a bandaged foot, which had
been burned on previous overland
flight.
Bleriot left Les Baraques three
miles from Calais, on one of the small
est monoplanes ever used. He
crossed the channel in little
less than half an hour, twice as
swiftly as the fastest mailboat His
speed averaged more tnan forty-five
miles an hour. Sometimes it approx
mated sixty miles. He kept about 250
feet above the sea level and for ten
minutes, while about midchannel, was
out of sight of both coasts and the
French torpedo destroyer which follow
ed him, with his wife and friends
aboard.
Described by Eye Witness.
An eye witness of the landing thus
describes it:
"Only a few minutes after the wire
less announcing the start, the laconic
message. out of sight, was received at
Dover. Hardly had this been trans
cribed when the keen eyed coast guard
scanning the sea with his telescope
shouted that Bleriot was within sight.
"Hastening to the cliff east of the
bay, was fortunate enough to arrive
just moment before the airship,
which was flying fast like a gigantic
hawk. The craft approached the cliff,
growing larger every instant. The
noise of the engine was audible in
moment, so swiftly did it come. Be
riot swooped overhead, glancing from
right to left, and then turned his ma
chine to the east and came to the
ground in the meadow"
By his achievement Bieriot won the
prize of $4,000 offered by the London
Daily Mail for the first flight across
the English channel. and stole march
on his rivals, Hubert Latham and
Count de Lambert. Bleriot said:
Gracefully Dipped Toward Water.
''For few minutes could not see
either coast. nor any boat. | tried to
keep at an average height of $50 feet.
might easily have gone higher, but 1t
was about the right height, / thought.
to clear the Dover cliffs safely
ssThe machine dipped toward the
water several times. I put on more
petrol once The first objects saw
were ships off the English coast, then /
observed Deal and / discovered that
the wind, which was southwest, was
carrying me thither. veered to the
southwark TO Dover castle, and then
saw friends flourishing flag in val
ley suitable for landing I made two
circles while lessening the speed and
then dived down.
Bleriot's friends took him quickly in
an automobile to the old Lord Warden
hotel, by the pier, from which mail
boats depart. In the meantime his wife
arrived on the destroyer. She embrac-
ed him weeping, but they were soon
sitting at breakfast, the center of
proud gathering of French people.
The mayor and other Dover officials
called early and welcomed Bleriot in
the name of the city and nation, as the
pioneer of International flight.
Parts of Framework Damaged.
Parts of the framework of the mono
plane were splintered on landing.
Everyone expressed surprise at its
small size 1t is no more than twenty
feet across the wings, and its weight
is about four hundred pounds; the
motor being twenty-five horsepower.
The machine is fitted with an alright
sausage-shaped rubber bag so that it
would float if it descended to the sea-
Bleriot's feat has aroused the most
intense enthusiasm. The French Aero
club and the Parliamentary Aviation
commission telegraphed their con-
CALCULATIONS, the latter adding:
"Hosanna, for the peace of the
world"
Bleriot is one of the oldest and most
popular aviators IN France and is the
winner of the Osiris prize of $4,000, in
conjunction with Gabriel Voisin, the
sieroplane manufacturer, for their con.
tributions to the progress of aviation.
On Saturday he was decorated with
thn cross of thn ,ooiOn of Honor IIa