New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-05-30
DOES $50 MILES IN 2 HRS. 54 MIN.
Average Breaks Record 81 % Miles HOur-SoPs POug
keepsie Then Upper End Of Manhattan, and Ends
Trip Governors Island

start. he SCARED past Rhinecliff ferry.
miles from Albany. Here there
is a turn in the river and Curtiss turned
again to the west, passing overland TO
shorten his course Staatsburs marked
the sixtieth mile point and the watches
showed he had covered this distance in
sixty-nine minutes.
With Staatsburg behind, the giant
bridge spanning the river at Pough-
keepsie pervaded the scenery
What will he do with it?" queried
excited members of the party on the
ridiculous looking train rs it over or
under do you think? Eth? Look at the
machine. will you? He's going over the
bridge with three hundred feet to spare"
Makes His First Stop.
And he did. The bridge is 212 feet.
Thence he turned westward and. with
all the pretty little ways of a bird. he
settled softly in the field five miles south
Of Poughkeepsie at S:26 o'clock He had
flown seventy-fve miles from Albany in
eighty-three minutes.
He wanted to fix a wire that had been
singing out of tune and he wanted to
replenish his stock of gasOlene- Except
for the discordant wire, nothing had
gone amiss. Nature and the farmers
had greeted him with smiles along the
way. If he had been a French aviator
he would have told of his feelings in
purple prose. A modest man, he drew
out his watch and seemed pleased at
what he saw
Only once had he deserted the river
for the land. when, for d short cut, he
flew over an ice house and cross ed a
hill just below RhinecIiff Ferry Once
he flew directly over lighthouse placed
in the middle of the stream before flying
machines were so common Two fisher
men above Staatsburg startled by the
specials unscheduled rout of their Sun
day morning peace, jumped to their feet.
gaped at the laundering express trains
speed and unsophisticatedly wondered
at the cinder beaten faces of the queer
persons hanging out of the car windows.
and continued TO cogitate. with their
faces in that direction, entirely innocent
of the free show that Curtiss was con-
Quoting up above them and at their rear.
They may read about the flying machine
later in the week and know why the train
was there. Curtiss saw the fishermen
but he couldn't secure their attention, SO
he left them behind with the rest of the
scenery.
Gasoline from Autoists.
He had aIighted at a place hereafter
historic, but hitherto known only as
Gill Meadows. He selected il last week.
but, because of the pos.ponements Cur
tiss was not expected yesterday morn
ing and there was no gasolene or oil
awaiting him Two automobile tray-
ellers urged their favorite brands and
MIR. Curtiss accepted gladly.
Curtiss's tanks were filed with ten
gallons of gasolene before the start from
Albany. Examination showed that three
gallons remained, and that was enough
to carry him to West Point. But Cur
tiss was taking no chances and the
timely arrival of the autoists with sup
plies saved the aeronautic day.
Fire alarm bells were rung as the
aviator neared Poughkeepsie, but his
progress was so rapid that only a few
persons reached point Of vantage.
On the Gill Meadows a little group
sighted him coming in the distance and
sent up a cheer. From above he saw
them as black specks, and was thus
guided to his landing place.
The special train meanwhile brought
his wife, who rushed from her car.
climbed valiantly over the hills from
the railroad track and hurried to her
husbands side. She greeted him jul
bilantIy. while the crowd cheered again
Curtiss. for one hour. tried TO look as
IL he wasn't a curiosity, and then. with
tanks refilled and every wire and screw
tested, he took his seat for the final
dash to New York.
West Point Cadets Cheer.
The biplane ran along the meadows for
about two hundred feet. then shot from
the ground with nose pointed toward the
river.
In a moment more the air craft was
again over the Hudson. and CurtisS
turned his course south and soon ms
enthusiastic hosts saw him no more
The start was made at OPS O'Clock ON
the dot The United States Military
Academy at West Point was passed at
1902 o'clock officers and cadets alike
looked upward and sent a cheer after
Curtiss. who could not hear il. but he
said afterward that he felt it was there
The gunner forgot TO fire salute. He.
too. was occupied
The most sensational incident of the
trip occurred at famous Storm King
Curtiss was flying high at this point-a
thousand feet, he Standardization a
shifty wind caused the machine TO drop
and tilt. He dropped forty feet. He re-
gained control quickly and soon in turn
was passing Peekskill, Ossining and
Dobbs Ferry.
Yonkers was reached at 1870 and he
was flying about level with the Pail
sades. three hundred TO four hundred
feet up. Curtiss says that here he got
his first glimpse of the Metropolitan