The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1910-06-08
uAN-BIRD'S MARVELLOUS FLIGHT
FROM ALBANY TO NEW YORK.
With Only One Stop to Renew His
Oil Supply He Covered 1877
Miles i'm 152 Minutes.

Miles in 152 Minutes.
The world today acclaims Glen1
Fl. Curtiss as king Of the air. Flying
as gracefully as bird, in a small
hut powerful biplane, he speeded
down the lanes of air from Albany
TO New York, covering 1877 miles in
1872 minutes, and beating the speed
limit of the world for flight of that
character.
The flight was made to win a prize
of $4,000 offered last year by the
New York World to the first person
who made the Fulton fight" from
New York to Albany, or the reverse.
in a mechanically propelled airship,
either lighter or heavier than the air.
The conditions were that the trim
must be made within "a hours. with
only one landing between the points.
Last fall Custiss was unable to at
tempt the feat, but this spring no
obstacle interposed, and last week
the daring aviator went to Albany
to make preparations and bide a ia
yorable time for the effort.
The Start.
Ii came Sunday morning, and
shortly after Z O'Clock the start was
made from Van Rensselaer, Island, in
the Hudson river, short distance
below Albany. There was no pre-
liminary trial fight, and after taking
the air the biplane curved around
over the southeast corner of the city
so as to make flying start from
Albany proper, and then headed due
south. Straight up scared the aero
plane to perhaps 500 feet, which it
seemed only for a moment to hold
until, intoxicated with the excitement
of high life, it strove for an even
greater altitued and succeeded. Sew
en- hundred feet high was Curtiss
now, something he had never before
attempted in his life. The man be-
came blended with the machine.
Then machine and man dwindled to
the proportions of boys kite. The
drumming of the motor sounded like
the belligerent humming of an angry
wasp. In three minutes there was
only a speck in the distance. The
razor-shaped champion had invaded
a host of dangers for fame, for the
love OF the thing and for $4,000.
~ One Narrow Escape.
The winds were good to Curtiss on
his voyage. Only once did the air
currents become mischievous, and
then they nearly got him. The air,
warmed by an eager sun, ran twist
ways up the mountain sides. Swing
ing around Storm King his aeroplane
dropped some 40 feet like a plummet.
For seconds there was nothing under
it, and Curtiss had three seconds to
review his past. But the capable
bird slid off into kinder airs and went
on to the finish steadily about her
business.
Curtiss' only stop between Albany
and Manhattan Island was made at
Poughkeepsie, and he reached his
previously selected landing place at
S:26 a. m. There he renewed his
supply of oil, resting one hour, and
again set out for the metropolis.
while passing Spuyten DuyVil creek,
which separates part of Manhattan
Island from the Borough of the
Bronx, he saw a broad expanse of
greensward which made an ideal
landing place, and he turned on his
course so as to land there. To win
the prize it was necessary only to
land in Manhattan proper, and he
took the chance without risk of fur
Their fight to Governors Island or
the Battery, some 10 miles away.
His Entry Into New York.
But the weather conditions we're
so propitious and he was feeling so
gratified at the success he had won
that little over an hour later, or