The Washington herald., 1909-08-23

hneIInS, aug. Ill was Btcdl W NA45AN
triumph at the international aviation car
nival to-day.
Guided oy pupils Of the American wiz
ards Of the air. three biplanes built on
the Wright model vanquished all comers
to-day with deadly regularity. and one OF
them gained the signal honor Of being
chosen to represent France in the great
CUP race between the nations which is
soon 20 come
One Chosen by Brance.
The honor Of France has been conhded
to the man-bird Lefebvre, a Wright pu-
I'll, with an aeroplane built on the stand
ard Wright lines. The two others 70
whom the Gallo republic has pinned her
faith are Herbert Latham and Louis
Bleriot, who recently amazed the world
by crossing the English Channel in his
monoplane
All France bows before the prowess OF
the American biplane. It's showing to-
day in the hands OF French aviatOrs was
so conclusive that the mOnoplanists were
dumfounded. II was one. two. three for
the three Wright pupils - Tissandier.
Count de Lambert. and Lefebvre-in the
speed race. and the same trio won out in
the once around the track competition.
with Lefebvre leading.
The opening OF the French elimination
tests saw six machines flying about ST.
multaneously, for the Arst time in the
history Of aerial navigation. II was
remarkable and brilliant spectacle The
birds circle about gracefully making
swift dashes here and there. and keeping
clear OF each other with sharp and dart
ing sorties.
When the long line of French cham
pions appeared in view. including Bieri0t,
Delagrange. Latham. Paulham, and Fer
Der, few spectators IN the cheering mul-
tituds OWNED that the names Of Wilbur
and Orviile Wright would loom largest
OF all as the result of tha days tests.
The sensational performances Of Latham.
SOmmer and Bleriot had all but pushed
their achievements into the background.
Their absence from the carnival had al
most been interpreted as a refusal to
accept the challenge Of the Frenchmen.
Wright Pupils Respond.
But the Wright pupils Tissandier. de
Lambert, and lie Febvre, brought the
brilliant answer Of the Americans in the
days work. Wright-trained. the trio had
mastered the American biplane, and
knew what it could do. They were su-
perbly confident of its ability TO respond
to the call upon H.
The first intimation OF their sweeping
victory came when Lefebvre made an
eighteen-mlnute flight, flying ten mile.
The tests began at 1890 o'clock. when an
!
and failed to get or the ground. Ferber
made an attempt to fly. but without sue
cess. Louis Delagrange, in a Bleroit
monoplane, skidded around on the ground
Lefebvre made the only real fight, and
the crowd was dumfOunded at the failure
OF the others to do anything.
These were the tests to select the
French representatives in the lnterna-
tional cup race. The committee decided
that Lefebvre, who had covered ten miles.
and Delagrange. who had made three
fifths of mile. had shown the best form.
and were chosen as the French repre-
sentatives. while the third TO be selected
should be the one who did the best
twelve-mile In the speed race.
Before o'clock the wind came up and
stopped all further flights for three hours.
when the crowd had almost given I'D I'm
despair and was headed homeward
When the calm came again the arti-
hcial birds swarmed out. Latham came
first, and in the pretuest, II not the
longest, flight OF the day. rounded the
track twice at a great height He made
twelve miles IN 1888. thus becoming the
third representative for the international
cup competition.
In uick succession Sonnmer. Cockburn
Delagrange, and Gerber started follow
Ing each other at a few minutes inter-
walls. Then Lefebvre, Bleriot, and Bu-
nau Varilla followed When Lefebvre.
with Wright machine. finished. he
gave an exhibition OF fancy flying which
set the crowd wild with enthusiasm.
The Wright machine performed bril-
liantly In the speed trials, and the once
around-the-track race. taking first three
places in each. The following are the
summaries Of these races:
The Summaries.
Tissandier, 2s:59; Count de Lambert
2s:o2; Lefebvre, 1902; Paulham, S2:49; Som
mer. 39:33
For the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT prize
Lefbvre established a worlds record by
doing the six miles in s:5S As. The next
best performance IN this contest was that
Of Tissandier, who made it in 9:26 De
Lambert mashed in 9:33. and again three
Wright machines were first second. and
third. Latham was fourth in 9:47.
Lefbvre machine. which was entirely
made In France Is a slightly reduced
model of the original Wright biplane. its
smaller area giving less resistance and
consequently greater speed.