Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-02-17
Aviators in California.

| Ia lGlleT FeCelVeu ny w. L. " Neal IE0Il his
| daughter, Nettie, in California.l
My Dear Father-No doubt you
have read with much interest the
dispatch reports of the Aviation
Meet, which has been held here
for the past ten days, but | thought
you would like an account of how
| saw it. 1t is no longer a ques-
ton of can man fly? but, to what
purpose and extent? This being
Americas First Aviation Meet, it
has attracted much attention of
not only our country, but the whole
world, especially France, as Louis
Paulhan, the daring Frenchman,
has won new honors for himself.
Of course, this is an ideal place
to hold such an exposition, owing
to the climatic conditions, and it
is astonishing that city the size
of Los Angeles could furnish a
continuous succession of audiences
running into tens of thousands
daily. One day there were said to
be fifty thousand present. The
total cash receipts on ticket sales
alone amounting to S137 ,520.30, the
largest sale for any one day being
$40, ,442. So.
The up-to- date aeroplane differs
from the dirigibles, or cigar shaped
airship that we saw at the Worlds
Fair in 1904, in that there is no gas
bag; in fact they are such frail,
light looking structures that you
marvel at their enduring the
slightest breeze. When they are
in the air the driver is the most
conspicuous part-I say this ad-
visedly, having no personal inter-
est in the "man-bird." Serious
| ly, few miles away they remind
me of a butterfly, the man the
body, and the framework and
canvas appear to be gauzy wings.
AS [ watched them sailing so
evenly in the sky smiled as | re-
called my wonder at first seeing
man successfully ride a bicycle, ,and
how | gazed in astonishment when
you pointed out to me in Forest
Park, one of those "horseless car
riages," the first | had ever seen.
Here my reflections ended for |
saw on the score board, which
recorded the events; "Paulhan
now flying!" and the announcer
called through the megaphone: !:
'sPaulhan and wife now flying ~
AS they swept past the grand
stand the little woman in the air
waved good bye to US and the
thousands rose as one and cheered
and waved till the machine glided
farther and farther, then out of
sight. They had sailed away to
the beaches and returned, dis
tance of 21 miles, in 33 minutes,
45 seconds. We had seen heroic
flying, theatrical effectiveness, and
now this was romance, for woman
flying added new zest to the
science of aviation, and as the
great bird gracefully alighted in
front of the grand stand there was
a buzz of excitement. A host of
friends, reporters and photog-
lraphers rushed to get word or
| picture for publication. Paulhan
then took a number of passengers,
one at time, for sail in the air,
among them, William Randolph
Hearst.
| have written at length upon
the "hying" of the Frenchman be-
cause he dared more and therefore
held the center of the stage, but
there were other features. Never
did we lack entertainment. There
were balloons, dirigibles, mono
planes and biplanes. The dirig-
ibles being guided only by the ut
most skill.
Glenn Curtiss had his biplane on
the field, butt to the disappoint.
ment of all he made very few
flights and seemed ever avoiding
any risk. He does not possess the
instinct for dramatic effect as does
the Frenchman and has suffered
by comparison, but the last day
of the Meet, when it came to g
test of speed, Curtiss ran the
foreigner down and passed hin
again and again. With true
American loyalty the watching
throng cheered loud and long
The Curtiss Biplane is very light
and graceful but has practically
the same horse power as has the
Farnham machine which th'
! Frenchman drives.
The masses have held theil
breath when the aviators wer'
i high in the air and all have
queried, "what would happen /
] the engine broker" Charles K
/ Hamilton answered that query
yesterday when he broke crank
Y shaft, 200 feet from the ground
l but instead of turning topsy turv,
4 he glided gracefully to the ground
| have Witnessed races on lanC
] and sea but to me they seem tam
as compared with those Of the air
: and if l have conveyed to you, il
the least, my enthusiasm, an
glad | have troubled you to rea,
another of my long letters.
Am enclosing chatty letter t.
mother.
Your affectionate daughter,