The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1910-06-23

of the time"
DO you think" Hamilton was ask
ed. that YOU have demonstrated that
such flights as YOU made today are
practicable2 Would il be safe for
Skillful aviator TO plan a journey like
that almost any day2''
1T would be perfectly safe for him
70 plan it," Hamilton chuckled. but
that's not saying he would do it, He
could not do II every time, anyway"
NEW YORK Special Charles X.
Hamilton was born in Connecticut
twenty-nine years ago. He is said TO
have started on his air-Skipping ca
reer at the age of eight by attempt
ing a flight from the roof OF a barn
using his mothers best parasol as a
parachute. He next invented a kite.
which carried him 100 feet in the air
and nearly paralyzed his parents with
fright In 1906 Hamilton heard that
Israel Ludlow, a young attorney, of
New York, had built a big kite, and
he came to New York and offered TO
fly it. He made about forty ascen-
SionS from Riverside drive over the
Hudson, the apparatus being towed by
tugboat.
once the men who were steering
the boat became so interested in Ham
iltOn that they allowed the tug TO
run into a ferryboat. and Hamilton
took tumble of several hundred feet.
But Hamilton can swim like a fish
as we'll as fly like a bird, so q cold
plunge only added excitement to the
situation.
Rescued When Unconscious.
A few months ago, when Hamilton
was doing fancy flying in an aero
plane over water at Seattle. he lost
control of the machine, which took a
SOmerSault and threw him 100 feet
With a part of the broken wood inn
bedded in one OF his legs, he heroical-
~ swan until he became unconscious
and was rescued by a boat. He was
taken to hospital, where he remain
ed several weeks.
In 1906 Hamilton made ascensions
in the California Arrow, a dirigible
balloon invented by Captain Thomas
S. Baldwin. One of his most exciting
experiences was with this airshiU. He
was billed for an ascension at Pater-
son, y. J. Right after he had left the
ground he lost his ballast. and the
balloon shot up to an altitude of 5000
feet, and continued to soar. Hamil-
ton struggled with the valve cord.
which had failed to respond. He had
found 1t easy to get up, but how to
come down was giving the aviator lots
of trouble. He had the presence of
mind to climb to the top of the frame
and cut the bag with a knife The
rush of gas further increased the size
of the hole, and the balloon was de-
scending at a terrific rate. Again his
cool head stood him in good stead.
lie climbed back on the frame, and.
with his two hands, held the cut parts
together until the balloon lowered
over three-story building.
Had to Slide Down Rope.
Hamilton, who is as nimble as an
acrobat, leaped from the frame on
TO the roof. According to Hamilton's
story. the owner Of the building took
offense because Hamilton had scraped
off some fresh gravel, and refused
TO allow the aeronaut the privilege
OF coming dew through the skylight.
Hamilton said he tied a rope to the
chimney and scaled his way TO the
ground.
In 1907 and 1908 Hamilton drove
Stroebel balloon and gave exhibitions
in the United States, Mexico and
Japan. Hamilton had another hair
breadth escape in 1908, when making
a balloon ascension at Brighton
Beach. He was cruising about coo
feet above the water when the guide
rope caught in the propeller and
caused il TO snap. Hardly had the
accident occurred when a squall
struck the craft and carried it almost
three miles out in the water. After
he had battled with the wind and
water for about twenty-five minutes
and was exhausted he was taken off
the frame by a yacht.
Last November Hamilton returned
to this country from Japan, where he
had been giving dirigible balloon
flights. He went to the Curtiss aero
plane factory, at Hammondsport. The
first day he took a seat in a machine
he flew four miles before he stopped.
The next day he made a flight of
thirty miles.
Accident Leads TO "GIides."
In January he took a prominent
part in the Los Angeles meet, and set
up a record for quick starting, leaving
the ground SIS seconds after a run of
20 feet. He also holds the record for
a glide of 1900 feet. Hamilton saws
an accident to his engine in midair is
responsible for his spectacular glides
1t was while he was trying to beat
Paulhan's heigh record in California
that his engine stopped several hun
dred feet above ground, and he skill
fully guided his machine back to
earth. Hamilton's most notable aero
plane flight prior to the one made to-
day was in a flight from San Diego,
Cal, in January, when he flew a dis
lance of &c 12 miles across the Mex
lean border and back again without
stopping. Thirty miles of the trip
were flown over the Pacific Ocean.
Hamilton's sensational flying was
not appreciated in the East until re-
Gently, when he took his machine to
the Hampstead Plains aviation field
and gave some startling exhibitions
of diving from an altitude of several
hundred feet to ten or fifteen feet. No
other aviator in the world has per-
formed such spectacular feats in MAX
ing dives. At Governors Island, in
making preliminary tests of his BIZ
plane for his long cross country flight
he braVed a drilling rain and flew in
wind estimated from twenty-five to
twenty-five miles an hour. He is the
only aviator who flies over water with
out the protection of floats.
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