Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-09-15


behind the trees and houses just south
in from the southeast, and with an
other wide turn crossed high above the
crowd from the southwest. Though he
had descended somewhat he was still
high enough to appear no larger than
dot, and his salute to the crowd was
barely distinguishable.
| People Find Voices
| AS the airship hummed over their
heads the watchers found their voices
and. sent up cheer after cheer Ely
continued on his way northeast till be-
yond the grounds and then gradually
turned to the north, going as far as
Ninth avenue before again heading for
the starting place. He came in from
the west till almost over the place
from whence he had risen and then, at
height of 400 feet he suddenly shut
| OF his motor and shot for the earth.
The descent was the most thrilling
part of the whole performance. Like
a streak, with a slight undulating mo-
ton, the air craft fell till within few
feet Of the ground. Then Ely turned
his rudder slightly upward and finally
met the earth so gently that there was
not a jar. For half a block the ma
chine ran on its momentum and when
it stopped the crowd was there. So
eager were the people to congratulate
the aviator that it looken for mo-
he
wreck the ship. BY much effort, how
ever, the exposition police succeeded
in preventing damage.
Baked by Cross Wind
The flight earlier in the afternoon
was baked by cross wind, such as
with the ascension Tuesday.
After getting fair start the breeze
struck the airship and It came down
suddenly at the west end of the
grounds, striking a tent in which
negro jockey was sleeping, knocking
the tent down, damaging the aeroplane
and frightening the negro almost to
death.
After the second flight Ely, asked why
It was possible for him to fly at one
time and not at another, said that was
one of the things that no aviator can
explain. At Minneapolis few weeks
ago four aviators tried for three days
before any Of them were able to get
away from the ground. He was the
first to try and fail. Two others did
likewise. and then Curtiss himself
made the attempt with no better sue
cess Later when one was able to fly |
all got into the air.
Feels Worst of All
Nobody feels as badly as the avi- |
ator himself when he falls Ely said.
ct is so much easier to knock than to |
boost, you know. When we fail we are
always condemned, told that our air
ships won't fly and that we are afraid to |
go up, anyhow. When we succeed we |
are the heroes of the hour and nobody |
can do enough for us. 1t is part of the |
business. We meet with the same
thing everywhere.
There are two common difficulties
that interfere with the getaway One
is atmospherical conditions that at
times prevent the engine from deliver
Ing maAlLHuH VI power, WHICH IL
must do In order to sustain a fight.
Then the air currents close to the
ground, because of distractions, are so
that 1t is impossible to calcu-
late their direction or velocity until we
hit them. Once free from the lower
flying is comparatively
simple matter, as rule.
ITO charge that an aviator Is afraid
10 go up is folly. All he wants is
Nance to get up. The danger does not
lie in going up. but in coming down.
Will Compete I'm Big Contest
Ely yesterday accepted an offer to
compete in the Chicago to New York
contest to be started Oct. 8. The prize
q $4,000 offered by the Chicago Post
md the New York Times. This will I
,e the greatest contest ever attempted.
ely has two dates for exhibition flights I
@ fill between now and Oct. s, one in