The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1909-01-29
AN INVENTOR
AND BUILDER
Investigator of all Things Per.
tanning to Mechanical Devices
|MR. II. |. W|LLOUGHBY
Largely Interested in Motor Boats and
AerOpIanes and has Made Number
of Balloon Ascensions in Paris.

ely" the national aeronautic mag
bzine of America, published in Phila-
&lclphia, contained the following article
Hfoncerning Lieut.. Hugh l.. Willoughby.
"a well known resident of Sewalls Point,
in its January issue:
q "Who is Hugh l.. Willoughby?" is
the question that has been asked over
and over again by the readers of the
S{November issue of ely.
~ He is gentleman and a scholar, is
The way the office boy answers all such
,fqueries.
"a Mr.. Willoughby is an investigator Of
al things pertaining to mechanical de-
He is interested in every
thing that moves mechanically from a
carriage to the latest style flying
{machine. He is one of those fortunate
human beings who is situated so COM
HOrtably from a financial standpoint
That he can devote all of his time to in
kentoE without any fear of the wolf
<tormenting him while he is so occupied.
III He was one of the first men in Amer
lea to become interested in the bicycle,
f&utomobile. submarine boat. motor boat
/ hnd aeronautics.
81 In bicycling Mr.. Willoughby was a
pupil of Mishan, the inventor of the BIZ
Cycle, who taught him to ride in Paris,
And his machine was among the first
Seen in the United States.
E lie was president of several bicycle
clubs organized in this country, and
zSNas Il founder member and first treas
irer of the League of American Wheel
nan.
In automobiling, his machine was
among the first seen on American
foads. He drove Il car in the first race
$ver held on the OrmOnd Beach, taking
"a cup. His was the first auto that ran
6between Washington, ID. c., and Rich
6jnond, Va.
u Mr.. WllOughby vas founder men,
Der of the American Canoe Association,
And an old member of the New York
Yacht Club, his membership number
being "a out of 2,436 members.
a He made experiments with John ?.
Holland in his first submarine, 1.-The
HOLLAND, and later made many voya-
& es under the Atlantic in the 'Por-
.poise," adder" and "Shark" sub
marines belonging to the United States
Navy. =.
4 He organized the Naval Reserve of
Rhode Island and was in its command
FOR three years.
While in this service he spent two
wears studying with officers at the
limited States Naval War College, tenn
porariy attached to the line by MCGEE,
bf the navy.
He built the first high-speed motor
boat in the United States, 1.-THE Semi
hole" forty feet long with beam of
Two feet, in which the first four-cylin-
Ter automobile engine was installed,
hnd has designed and built many motor
boats since.
His latest productions along this line
being his cruising motor boat, Sea
Otter" sixty feet long, the first motor
boat to be installed with wireless tele-
graph Che being the operator) the
twenty-fOur foot race boat, "Possum,
which has run several races at Palm
Peach, Fla, and the "Flying Fish,
lust finished at his winter home, Sew
bills Point, Florida.
In aeronautics, Mr.. Willoughby en-
Toys the distinction of being one OF the
Founder members of the Aero Club OF
america He began the study of aero
planes as far back as 1888, and now
has several models of his own design.
He expects to have man-carryng
machine of his own make ready for use
by next spring. He has made many
discussions in spherical balloons in Paris,
St. Louis and Philadelphia, and balloon.
Ing he considers the king of all
Sports"
Mr.. Willoughby graduated from the
University Of Pennsylvania, as an en-
kineer, in the class of IT. He was
Founder member of the Athletic Ass0-
fiation, of that institution, and the first
Sman entitled to have a letter on his
Sweater. He was the first man to wear
The Red and Blue, as a college color,
h pom an athletic field. He played with
The first u. of P. football team, and
WAS stroke oar of his class crew.
Ten years ago, Mr.. Willoughby ex-.
blored. the interior of the Everglades OF
Florida, and made a survey line, the
result of which is told in his very, sue.
eessful book, ''Across the Everglades,
published by j. B. Lippincott & Co,
We expect that Mr.. Hugh l.. Will
)cughby will be the first man to take
trip to the moon, when such journey
is first undertaken.