The San Francisco call., 1910-06-14
FAST MAIL BY
AIRSHR, R,FEAT
Of HAMILTON
Flies From New York to Phila-
deIpE1ia With Letters
and Returns
BrOOkinS at indianapolis Goes
Higher Than Any Other
Aviator

had abruptly halted. much to the won
der Of his gallery. The sands were
I soft from the rains and the biplane,
running on narrow tires, sank in the
sand In the sinking one OF the
wheels kicked up the end Of a hidden
stick which came into violent collision
with the whirring propeller. A long
splinter four inches wide was torn
out of one Of the blades and the engi-
neer had 10 shut of his engine. Then
followed a delay while the propeller
used by Curtiss in his flight from Al
bany 20 New York was fitted.
At 1855 Hamilton was off again, this
time without mishap One minute and
half later word of his start had
flashed over the telephone wires TO the
Pennsy lVanla terminal in Jersey City
and the special train was after him.
Hamilton's route 10 Elizabeth. where il
was hoped the train would meet him,
lay for Is miles over the waters of the
lower hsrbOr and the Kill Won Kull,
behind Staten island. two miles farther
than the distance TO Eliza beth from
Jersey City by rail. No sight of an
aeroplane at Elizabeth No sight Of
one al South Elizabeth
DRAGON FLY SIGHTED
But at Railway. Is.4 miles out By
rail, the engineer glimpsed something
like a huge drag gOn fly far ahead of him
and Tar above him. He put on more
speed and The sense Of pursuit seemed
40 communicate itself telephaticaAy to
-HamiltQT's wife and TO his mother, Mrs.
n Bea udette. Mrs Hamilton was peer
ing out Of the window. her hair hutter-
ing in the wind
"Oh, Mr.. Ludlow" she cried to a
friend, we found him He's with US"
But the mother could not speak at all.
she walked up and down the swaying
aisle Of the parlOr car. wringing her
hands, her face flushed, her eyes moist
and shiny.
-Four hundred feet above the earth.
skimming directly above the railroad
tracks and straight ahead Of the rush
e ing locomotive was the aeroplane.
Hamilton proceeded At an average of
h slightly less than 50 miles an hour.
There was no question Of a race with
the train. Whenever the engineer
wished he easily drew ahead. but the
.-instant he slackened speed the aero
plane was over his head again.
OVER THE FACTORIES
The first point Of critical interest was
New Brunswick where they crossed the
Raritan river. with factory chimneys
all throughout the city TO fly over, with
possibilities of catastrophe should he
md il necessary TO make a descent
Hamilton held his pace straight across
/. the heart of the town. In passing
- through the city the engineer had
slowed down little and the aeroplane
began 70 gain. Mrs. Hamilton and Mrs
. Beaudette ran to the forward coach for
better view. An ambitious photogra-
pher climbed on the tender. Mrs. Ham
llton scrambled after him. Not to be
outdone. Mrs. Beaudette Joined her.
l.. Hamilton himself was barely visible
alOft The outline of his legs against
the sky could be seen and the hands
grasping the steering wheel were sill
houetted at certain angles but for the
most part It seemed as if the aeroplane
r was alive. guiding itself
When the train ran ahead Of him and
then slowed down 10 let him catch up
the incessant musketry fire of his ma
chane coulc be heard family. It seemed
little Irregular, but nobody guessed
the truth until Hamilton told it to his
mechanic.
When he was 1900 feet above the
waters OF the Kill Won Kull-so high
that he could not see the Jersey shores
through the fog-one Of his right eight
eight cylinders went back on him and
never picked up again for the whole
journey
NDLOW INDICATED
Nobody saw the flight with more
pleasure than Isaac Ludlow. a New
York lawyer who was crippled for life
when aviation was in its infancy in ex-
peNmenting with a gliding machine O,
his own invention. which he had towet
by an automobile. It was in Ludlowss
glider that Hamilton made his frs
ascent in q heavier than air machine
when he was only a boy.
This vindicates my faith,'' said Lud.
low. I am glad 1 lived to see it. Ny
own injuries were worth while if could
inspire another successful achievement
~ Hamilton planned going up zoos
feet in crossing Trenton. In fact, h.
rose only 500.
When 7 began to climb" he sais
later, 4 found the wind blowing heaS
Throughout my trip it was the sam,
way. That is. when ] aoated at
nearly uniform level OF 250 feet.
CROWDS ON HILLSIDE
Now the train was beginning to iii
thriugh the suburbs of Philadelphia
The crowds increased until they hie
the hillsides and fringed the roofs iik.
black netting. Hamilton left the trail
10 90 to the aviation field. Instead O
alightng. he circled the field foui
times, giving the people good chanc'
70 see him, and then settled with
lANE LAdL iIdQS the NLOWQ eaten IL
breath Men, women and children
rushed FOR him as soon as he settled
ano il took all the big squad of polio,
Z. 10 protect him and his machine.
Hamilton stepped to earth, boyisl
and difident. Mayor Hepburn an,
Governor Stuart were there to ex
change messages for those carried b,
. Hamilton from Governor Hughes an,
Mayor Gaynor
After luncheon Hamilton was bacl
TO the field and off again before TIT
special train could get out Of the yar'
where il was sidetracked. The specia
train was 10 minutes in getting away
Then followed the most exciting enci
dent Of the day. at least for the spec
tatOrs
For 80 minutes the specter afioa
was going at a speed near IS miles al
hour before Hamilton was sighted Il
the 80 minutes 40 miles was covered
At the end of the fortieth mile TIL
train was abreast of him. In the frs
hour he covered 52.l miles. II wa
noticeable. however, that when tn