St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1910-09-21

the propeller start and like some
thing alive she proudly sped away
! down the field After about zU0 feet
on the wheels Willard began giving
his controlling planes surface and
| like a mighty bird the beautiful craft
left the earth amid a tumult of APP
| plause that deadened even the roar
1 of the engine. BY his manipulation
of the forward planes he gained
both speed and altitude and from a
roar the sound died down to the
| whirr of partridge and finally was
| still, and man and bird were grace
| fully circIing between the hills along
| the Passumpsic and all the while in
sight of the people. The machine
was seen to dip once or twice and
Mr. Willard afterward explained
| that this was caused by the differ
ence in density of the air. When
| near George Gray's farm he turned
| to the left and crossed the river in
a sweeping circle and bore north
| alongside the hills, which were lined
with people. He gained speed on the
return trip and at one time was traV-
cling at nearly a mile minute. So
| close did he run to the trees on the
| Laid hill that he was forced to make
a quick turn to avoid striking He
waved his hand to those on the hill
stone. into the car. Keeping to the
north he made the turn back to-
ward the grounds nearly above the
National Flooring Co. mill and
crossed the fence below the grand
stand completing the circle with
a perfect glide to within a few feet
of where he made his getaway. He
was gone six minutes and made hVe
miles in as perfect fight as has
ever been made in the history of avn
alton.
For a while the police were power
less to keep the crowd pack and the
only thing tnat worked to this end
was the announcement that if the
field was cleared he would go up
again in ten minutes. Although there
was a little confusion arising from
the fact that horses were out for
heat and wanted the track, the
crowd was finally gotten out of the
danger zone and the man-bird made
three-minute circle of the grounds
He gained about the same altitude
as on his first trip, between 500 and
600 feet, but the flight was more
sensational in every way. The turns
were shorter and the landing was the
most spectacular piece of work i'm
aginabIe He started down so
straight that he was standing almost
upright in the foOt-braces, and he
kept this angle until so near the
ground that many thought he had
lost control of the machine. When,
at the right time, however, he gave
his controllers the proper surface,
he settled to the ground so easily
that the wheels seemed hardly to
touch. This time the crowd was
bound to carry him off, but H. A.
Stanley got in ahead of them and
he was taken to the judges stand
where much against his will, he was
introduced to a crowd that were his
friends to man. He acknowledged
the ovation by removing his cap and
blushing like school girl In order
to realize fully what Mr.. Willard
accomplished in his two perfect
flights one must imagine how it
would seem to be landed on the fair
grounds perfect stranger and look
off over the surrounding country for
a nice level stretch on which to land
should the engine stop or anything
else happen to the craft. Mr.. Will
land deserves great credit for even
attempting flight over what he
says is the worst course he has ever
seen. These drawbacks are not the
fault of the management who did
their best, but natural difficulties
which cannot be overcome. The
enclosing hills cause a variation in
the density of the air and counter
currents, that, although not a breath
of wind stirred, kept the biplane in
a futter during the whole distance
and made it extra hard work for the
aviator.
Did as They Advertised.
Another thing that st. Johnsbury
people can congratulate themselves
upon is that they we're able to full
fill that part of the program which
claimed that here the people would
see the first fight of an aeroplane
ever made in Vermont When this
announcement reached the other
scale city in the western part of the
state they at once began to dig
around and see if it was not possible
to get a weeks start. They did we'll
as far as they went Two machines
were in readiness to fly Thursday
of last week, one owned by the Smith
brothers of Rutland and the other
by the professional, Stanley Y.
Beach. At the appointed time the
aeros were gotten ready but refused
to bulge from the ground. Hurry
calls were sent to Boston for gas
engine man to locate the trouble in
time to beat out the Caledonia
county Ialr. II IS not known WneCRor
the trouble has been located yet,
but east-siders and west-siders too
for that matter, know that President
Gam" Kicker and the efficient board
of directors gave the people just
what they said they would and those
who were grumbling about the lack
of vaudeville are the loudest in their
praise of the best fair ever held in
the state of Vermont
Summaries of the races
Results of Races.
$50 Stake Pace.
Purse, $500.
Lady Bingen, brm, by Bin
gen (Thompson) "A Ill
Dena, BIN, by Happy God
dard (Pierce) .......1 2