Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-14
CLIFFORD AMOW READY
-zOHHHEA AlGHT

ray. Admiral Potter and Maj. Squier OF
the signal service all gathered about the
machine and examined its mechanism.
Made a Perfect Landing.
Several thousand people had gathered
TO see the landing, and as the aviator
brought his machine down from 30 feet
in a quick descent. many held thei
breath. fearing the machine would
sWerve into the lamp posts and fences
which line both sides Of the street
Straight into the narrow thOroughfare
came the biplane and lighted easily on
the asphalted pavement, running easily
on its wheels a distance Of two hundred
feet
One of the first things Mr.. Grahame-
White did after his reception was to
light cigarette. He then made pho
tOgraph of the machine in the narrow
street and then took a picture of Adj
miral Dewey. In company with the high
officers of the Army and Navy, stand
ing beside Admiral Dewey, Mr. Grahame-
Whites picture was taken with the
bipiane as a background
Mr.. Ora hame- White lunched az the
Metropolitan Club as the guest OF the
Aercnautical Reserve and later went back
to Bennins in his airship-
Return Flight to Benning.
from the confined space east of the
Navy Department The machine rose
easily amid the cheers of swarms of
clerks who filled every window and bal
cony of the big building. and other spec
tators. The saeroplane did not rise as
high on the return as on the trip 10 the
city, and passed to the south of the
Washington Monument little more than
half as high as the shaft.
The aviator repeated his tactics OF
skirtng the water front till he had
reached the entrance of the Eastern
branch and could be seen as a tiny sreck
above the roofs of the House and Senate
office buildings, as he worked back IN
the teeth of a strong breeze toward the
race track He passed to the north OF
Benning circled once and descended
gently in the infield of the track.
The start from the War Department
was made at LII O'Clock ard the aviator
disappeared from view OF the watchers
on the downtown buildings at les, takinS
Just about the same time to make the
return trip as he had taken to make
the trip from Benning TO the city
A Stiff Breeze Blowing.
Mr.. Grahame-White, when he landed
at Benning, expressed himself as thor
oushly pleased with the trip. He said:
II should estimate that there was
1t was rather sitter breeze than is
usually met in a cross-city flight. As
a matter of fact, / did not follow the
water front as 1T looked from the
ground. but laid my course by the rail-
road tracks.
left cards for the President of the
United States, Admiral Dewey, Gen.
Leonard Wood, Gen. Allen and MAI
Judson. 1t was really a very pleasant
sH. f0f
politan Club. and met lot of officers
and members.
Two Fly at Benning.
Washington had a sight for the first
time yesterday of a monoplane In the
air. Claude. Grahanie- White made the
first of his public flights at Benning. The
crowd was small and the waits were
long. but eventually there Were two ma
chimes in the air at the same time. White
drove a Bleriot monoplane and Clifford
B. Harmon flew the big Farman biplane,
and both gave exhibitions of skill that
showed the aeroplane to have passed be-
yond the experimental stage and to be q
machine of practical value.
OF course, Washingtonians are familiar
with the looks of biplane from the
many flights that the Wrights made
around Washington. but the French two
plane machine is as different from the
wright mdcnlne as i summer car Is from
an omnibus. When il comes to the little
monoplane the difference is still more
marked for the machine under the skill
full handling of White appears to be in
different TO weather conditions and when
ii gets high in the air looks more like
dragon fly than il does like man-built
and man-directed piece of machinery. 1t
is faster machine. too, than the biplane
and can make rings about ii when it
comes TO speed.
Grandstand Not Popular.
The flights at Benning yesterday were
scheduled for $50. but it was after $50
when White was ready to take the field.
Meantime there had been a constantly
increasing crowd. There was a fair
seated group In the first two rows OF
the srandstand. but the time has come
when seats in a covered stand are at
q discount. for the air man. though he
aims to entertain the crowd so far as
possible. has to circle the stand and
keep out of sight of what were once the
privileged spectators about half the time
The members of the Washington Aero
Club were the guests of honor and con-
Gen. Allen and Maj. Squier were both
there on behalf of the War Department.
DIR. Allerton Cushman, DR.. j. w. Bovee,
DR.. Walcott of the Smithsonian, DR.. Har-
occupied the clubhouse. which had been
reserved for the invited guests
There were scores OF autos, many Of
which were parked on the east side of
the race track. and there was what In golf
would have been termed a large gal
lery, consisting Of unlimited and nom
paying guests who lined the railroad en-
bankment outside of the race track and
enjoyed the spectacle il they did not add
TO its financial success. In fact, one
thrifty railroad man had pre-empted q
nat car and turned a more or less honest
penny by renting out seats to spectators
Monoplane Is Fast.
1t was after $50 O'Clock before Ora
hame-White took the field with his mono
plane Then II was seen what a differ
ence there is between 1t and the Wright
machine. to which Washington had be-
come accustomed. difference both in the
machine itself and the method of han
ding 1t. The little mono has not more
than half the wind surface Of the Wright
machine, and looks on the ground Ike
q flying fish out Of it's element, with
disproportionately large wings There
was an eight-mile breeze blowing I'D the
1nfeld when the machine was nut In rSosi-
ton, and those who were used to the care
with which the Wrights always faced the
wind were surprised to see that Mr.
White paid no attention apparently to the
weather. Indeed, there was considerab l,
more wind than on the two memorable