Los Angeles herald., 1910-11-11
OFFICIALS ENJOY
AIRSHIP FLIGHTS
Postmaster General Hitchcock
Ventures AIoft with Count
De Lesseps at Baltimore
BOMBS DROPPED ON TARGETS
Hoxsey, in Big BipIane, Performs
Amazing EvoIutions Above
Crowds of Spectators
BOMBS DROPPED ON TARGETS
ASSOCIATED Press)

BALTIMORE, Nov. 10-Sunbeams
shot with raindrops narrowed the en-
thusiasts at the aviation field today
Today's flights differed in many re-
spects from anything seen heretofore
They included bomb b-throwing and
target shooting from speeding air
ships, aerial gymnastics and trips
aloft made by government officials,
followed by official expressions as to
the sensations experienced and as to
the merits of aeroplanes of different
designs.
Postmaster General Hitchcock, after
a flight with Count Jacques de Les
seps, was so pleased that he asked
Arch HoXsey for a higher flight in the
Wright biplane. But Hoxsey had
found the upper air too gusty to make
passenger carrying altogether safe
and he asked the postmaster general
to wait until tomorrow. Mr.. Hitch
cock expressed himself as delighted
with his experience in the air.
After he had been brought safely to
earth, Gen. James Allen, chief signal
officer of the army, entered Count de
Lesseps 100-horsepower Bleriot and
was given the new experience Of a
fight.
OFFICIALS WITNESS FLIGHTS
In the party from Washington with
him and the postmaster general were
Secretary of War Dickinson, Gen.
William Witherspoon, president of the
army war college; Thomas Nelson
Page and several others, together with
q number of women.
The first of the flyers to take wing
was James Radley. shortly after 2
o'clock. he being followed Immediately
by Hubert Latham in his Antoinette
Both descended after brief flights. A
little later Count de Lesseps, in his
100-horsepower Bleriot, took aloft for
rifle practice Captain John P. Douw
of the state ordnance corps. After a
trip around the course to give the
marksman his bearings, Captain Douw
fired twice at the g target, u. S. a.
small arms practice, but the best of
the shots missed the mark by four
feet.
Latham then tried with a revolver
Covering the target in the circum-
ference of a circle of small diinen-
sions from his Antoinette he twice
fired four shots. OF these two were
hits, one scoring two and the other
three points.
Count de Lesseps then took up a
passenger, Lieutenant Dupuy of the
New York signal corps.
Just before 4 p. IN. j. A. DreXel be-
gan try for altitude, the wind at
the time blowing nine miles an hour.
In about ten minutes he had hoated
out of sight in the direction of the
city. He returned after trip of about
| a quarter of an hour. reporting the
wind too fluky for high flight His
| barograph recorded $40 feet although
the manner of his flight gave the i'm
preston of much greater altitude.
Ely, in a Curtiss biplane, went into
the air intending to try for the Com
modore Barry bomb throwing trophy,
1pCnnnHnH hpfOra rolpt n a a n
for the purpose of making readjust-
ments of his biplane.
DROPS BOMBS FROM AIRsHIPs
Latham made a score of fifteen
points with six bombs. One of these
would have dropped into the funnel of
a battleship and it therefore counted
as a bullseye. Under the rules gov
erning the Barry trophy contest,
bombs must be thrown from a height
of not less than 100 feet. Some of
Latham's fell from more than 200 feet
and against a rising wind.
DreXel from his Bleriot dropped six
of the missiles upon the outline rep
resenting the deck of a battleship,
but as none of them struck a vital
spot his score was only 6,
While he was preparing to drop his
second bomb, HoXsey, in a big Wright
biplane, flew across the grandstand
from the railroad station at Hazel
! thorpe, where his machine had been
assembled in record breaking time. He
circled the course many times, per-
forming brilliant eVolutions and di-
viding the interest of the spectators
with DreXel, who continued his bomb
! dropping.
Hoxsey flew his Wright in almost
every conceivable manner, now in
tapering longitudinal spirals, now
gracefully gliding from great heights,
then literally gliding over the surface
of the earth, only to rise again into
the upper air. He made three fights
in all during the afternoon.
Shortly after o'clock angry clouds
in the west spoiled further efforts and
less than fifteen minutes later came
the rain. Then the trio Of bombs sig
nailed the official close of the day.