Omaha daily bee., 1910-07-17

ing machines a matter of course
and ia consequence thereof,
kvPFgYav, nonctslant poise Is maintained
SN&k while the figurative glad hand
NEk6fkb Is thrust forward TO welcome
Glenn II. Curtiss and his aviation meet
opening next Saturday. IL requires some
thine more than aerial navigation TO bring
10 Omaha that awesome feeling so common
il communities of more limited horizon
Thea was time, however. fifty years ago
when Peter Sarpy and other pioneers were
blazing the trail into Nebraska, tourneying
by OK team and steamboat. that any prog
nostication concerning flying machines for
future generations would have been the
signal for a verdict Of mental arrangement
Frank Tillman. widely known in military
circles as child OF the army" because
Of the fact that he was born in Texan
frontier army post, where his father was
a captain. and knew no other home until
he was seEt away TO military school is
in Omaha as personal representative of
Curtiss. Tillraan once broke into the news
paper business, but the greater part Of his
copy related to aerial affairs. when as
a.matter of fact he should by all rules Of
the game have been writing news Of the
local courts. Therefore Il is we'll within
the limits Of eternal fitness for Tlllman to
now be covering the United states as
avant courier OF the coming airship for
he has made a study of aerial navigation
ever since his swaddlng raiment days. He
was with the Fielding and San Antonio
balloon when It made it's trumphal flight
two years ago. and soon after he became
identified with the Curtiss bl-plane aggre-
cation.
Dirigible balloons will also be a feature
of the aviation meet as indicated by cor
respondence which recently took place
between Victor Rosewater editor of The
Omaha Bee, and General James Allen,
chief signal officer, United States army,
Washington, ID. c. AS result OF that cor
respondence, General Allen gave authority
for balloons TO be brought from Fort
Omaha to participate in the demonstration.
IL is confidently expected that this meet
will bring to Omaha not less than 5000
visitors from various sections Of the coun-
try for the local authorities in charge
have spared neither expense nor energy In
widely advertising the meet. The grounds
on Military avenue. near Burdette street
are as slightly as any that could be found
in Omaha, and IL is the general consensus
OF opinion that no better place for the OK
hlbition could have been secured
Much interest. Of course, centers around
Glenn III. Curtiss. and while the newspaper
reading public the world over is familiar
with his name and fame, perhaps compare
lively few are informed as to the who's
who" side OF Curtiss
One day twenty years ago, a youngster
who was known around Hammondsport, N.
Y, as "Glennie" Cuftiss traded an old well
pulley, an iron wheel barrow that would
not wheel, and some other assorted junk
fap kNs.l -ts,.. \.
and only half handle bar Though he did
not know II. "Glennie" Curtiss that very
day took his initial step i'm aviation. on
the ramshackle frame OF the bicycle for
which he had traded he rugged up a strange
contraption that snorted and spouted flame
but such outburst was no terror to the
prospective aerial navigator so long as the
device propelled the wheels--and II did that
TO his satisfaction. Although he was sew
eral times scorched by gasoline flames, and
frequently unseated by explosions, the
youngster kept on doing something which
all of his neighbors characterized as
'crazy," In the end, he had constructed
motorcycle. and from that TO a vehicle that
would carry him through the air, was a
comparatively easy step, although il re-
quired years for contamination. For a long
while Curtiss was a motorcycle deyotee
and on the race course he had many mar
row escapes from death. 1t was he who
broke the worlds motorcycle record by
making mile in twenty-sx seconds at
oTmond Beach. Fla. few years ago.
In his boyhood days. Curtiss, who was
born in HammOndsport N " kept a
small shop In the rear OF his fathers house
in his native town There he worked day
and night. ''tinkering his time away" the
villagers said by way OF derislve comment
But the little shop by and by grew into a
factory, and before Curtiss reached his
thirtieth year. he was well-to-do in a fl
nanoial sense. from the manufacture of
motorcycles.
As a manufacturer of compact gasoline
engines Curtiss came to be looked upon as
an expert when experiments with dirigible
balloons were being tried In Europe and
this country ten years ago Several persons
with airships to be propelled came to Cur
tiss Hammondsport factory 10 confer with
him upon notifications OF the gasoline
motor for balloon purposes. Curtiss be-
San TO enter competition with Santos Du-
mont and other foreign avistors In the
manufacture Of lightweight aeronautical
motors
His interest in aeronautics increased as
he came more and more into touch with
Americans who were trying to solve the
problem OF flight with the lighter than air
machines. He built the motor that was
installed In Captain Thomas Baldwin's Cal
ifornia Arrow, tho dirigible balloon which
was accepted by the United States gov
ernment after lengthy trials at Fort Meyer,
Va Curtiss himself handled the motors
In some OF the army tests. This balloon is
now az Fort Omaha.
In the winter OF 1907. DR.. Alexander
Graham Bell. inventor OF the Reu tele-
phone. who had been making experiments
with various types OF gliding machines at
his laboratory in Baddeck. Nova Scotia.
moved his shops down TO Hammohdsport
aud interested Curtiss ia designing new