The San Francisco call., 1910-01-25

THRILL OF FLIGHT
GRIPS SPECTATORS
Daring Blrdman' Writes Record of Success
Against Glowing Sunset Sky
By RUFUS STEELE

san Francisco mas seen man ny
The spectacle was witnessed at sun
set last night by throng that had
waited through two days of wind
and rain with unequaled patience
for this unequaled sight. The unan-
imous opinion was that patience
never reaped fatter fee
After two hours of brief. wobbly
transits in wind which, according
to Prof. j. J. Montgomery, our own
aeronautical authority. shrieked a
sure call TO suicide, the gale relent-
Cd, diminished to zephyr, and the
peerless Paulhan. ready and wait
ing, seized his opportunity upon the
instant. He sat in the seat of an
engine driven box kite with a tall
they call it a Farman biplane-
which had moved from a shed to the
infield of Tanforan raeetrack upon
its small bicycle wheels. The motor
was started and the propeller. re-
sembling a double ended canoe pad
die, began to churn the air like an
electric fan. Paulhan gripped a
lever in either hand and commanded
his mechanicians to release their
hold upon the dahcing tail The
machine ran along the ground eX-
actly like an eagle does after
spreading its wings. A hundred
yards of this and the rudder planes
swung downward. Eagle-like the
machine with the man in it quilted
the ground and skinned the air in
an ascending parabola at terrific
speed.
The aviator made his turn above
a fringe of trees at the southern
end of the field and came back,
climbing higher and higher. First
the treetops could be seen beneath
him. then the hilltops, and at last
he swept along in glorious flight
outlined against nothing but the
open sky. As he sailed over the
throng he seemed lifted upon a wave
of cheers of wordless wonder. He
left the field and scared northward
through a gray vault whose tapes
try hangings were clouds When
the strange bird appeared no larger
than a mallard at long range the
aviator-he must have been above
Colma at the time-swung to the
westward and then TO the. south
ward and came down the line of
the hills that border the sea.
The weather god. propitiated at
last, had cleared. the western sky of
clouds and the setting sun had
plated it with gold. Across this
FURNISHED page the flying man wrote
the story of his triumph. The writ
ing faded as fast as ii was made,
but every man who saw will bear
witness as long as he lives. Paul
han made his turn, seemingly in an
angle of the peaks. swept eastward
and northward and landed. with a
kissing of wings. just as swan
swoops down upon the river, within
stones throw of the spot from
which he had left the earth.
The flight of miles had taken but
eight minutes. Paulhan leaped out
of the machine, acknowledged the
shouting crowd with a wave of his
hand. and trotted to the paddock
shed where the crowd could not fol-
low. He was greeted by Professor
Montgomery, who had said that the
flight was worth a journey around
the world to see. and a moment later
had the honor of grasping his
hand There was barely percep-
tible smile upon the great aviator's
face. There was but one man in all
that crowd who showed not the
faintest trace of excitement. The
man was Paulhan. He looked into
the eyes of men ready to give him
anything in their possession as a
slight mark of their homage and
voiced his demand. He asked for a
cigarette.