The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-10-24
1 VISIT WITH
 THE WRIGHT BOYS What Their Fellow Citizens
 Think of Them ALWAYS WRIGHT BOYS" Their Factory in Dayton, O., Not Very Different From Any Woodwork
 ing Shop in the
 Country
ALWAYS WRIGHT BOYS'
From the St. Nicholas Magazine.

From the St. Nicholas Magazine.
 twill you kindly direct me to the
 factory of the Wright brothers?" I re-
 quested of a policeman soon after
 arrived at the railroad station in Day
 summer just past.
 | He meditated for a moment, as ii
 puzzled. and then happy thought seem-
 ed to strike him as he exclaimed:
 | "Oh, you mean the Wright boys who
 have flying machines. don't your"
 | I at once admitted that I did, and
 later adopted the Dayton custom of re. l ferrlng to them as "the boys"
 l Before the day was over had met the
 boys" but not until after an aged
 resident, of whom had inquired as tc
 how the epoch-making invention came tc
 be originated in Dayton, exclaimed:
 Because they were just the kind of
 boys to do it. Their father was a bishop,
 so they didn't have to help in bus
 mess. run errands for store, or be kept
 busy, as clerks are. They had plenty
 of time for their studies and for outdoor
 projects. They liked to tinker and fuss
 around, as many other boys do." Do you think they have been trying I for many years to invent a flying
 machine?" I asked
 ''No, not so very long; but they al | ways were fond of kites and such things they also liked the bicycle and had a
 fever for the printing press. First they
 had a printing office; a good many boys you know, have a fancy for that. Oi course they called 1t a 'business,' but l always felt as If 1t was only boy style | amateur perhaps you would call it." How long did they continue at that? | Not long. Next they had a bicycle store, chiefly, l suppose, because they were fond of the machine. Then later I often saw them sliding down hill on the air They would take a big box kite and go up to the top of hill and slide | off, not many feet from the ground, ot
 course you understand, but high enough for them to land pretty hard at times.' "I wonder how they come to think | of putting in an engine"
 Quite naturally, l should judge You see, as I said, they had a bicycle store A bicycle is run by the feet, so Is a l glider; 1t runs in about the same style l as a bicycle coaster You start 1t with l your feet anu lllCu lcb it BO itooiAs Now T reason 1t out this way: an automobile, for instance, Is big four wheeled bicycle that has an engine in 1t so you can sit still and go uphill as well as -anywhere-except at | tlmesr'
 | The old man laughed, and continued: Its my philosophy that the flying ma chine is about the same-a glider with an A.,1 N111 a so you can go up as well as down, most
 anywhere in the air, right over the tops
 of trees and telegraph poles sailing in | air-except at times!' ----.-~-f | When I first met 'the boys" In the even- | ing on the porch of their neat and attrac-
 tive, yet unpretentious, home in side
 street of Dayton, repeated to them
 something of this old residents philosophy
 and they seemed much pleased by It, and laughed heartily at my surprise in learn 1 ing of their being generally called the boys" I accepted their invitation and spent half of one day at their factory in the southern part of the city. The wreck of the machine In which Brookins l hs but a few days before met with his l s( lewhat serious accident had just ar l rived. The Wright brothers greatly en- | joyed telling of the earliest acquaintance with Brookins, and how he was once greatly frightened by the Tapping of some sheathing paper tackled loosely on a win dow-a decided contrast they thought to his present daring bravery. The factory | is not much different in appearance from any woodworking shop with carpenter s benches, power blaming and saving ma- chimes and lathes. | The lumber, which is pine, Is selected with the greatest care, seasoned for at | least a year. and then worked out by | skilled worwmen. The greatest strength must be secured with the least material. | The greater part of another day I spent | at the testing grounds at Simms. O.. which Is on the traction road, about eight miles north of Dayton. Here I found a skilled young man of somewhat limited experience teaching another young man who had been in a flying machine only a few times. It was explained that by Labor day, then about two weeks off, he must be sufficiently trained to put up and operate a machine. That afternoon the manager arrived and told me that there were seven appointments for public ex- hibitions on Labor day, and only six men to operate the machines
 In starting a flight the aeroplane is dragged to the smoothest part of the field usually to a place where the ground Is somewhat inclined. Two men hold it back | from the rear, others start the propellers. When the engine is fully in motion the current of air from the revolving blades | is strong enough to blow an attendant s hat off and good many feet away. but quite refreshing after pulling the machine up into place for starting. Sometimes the roughness of the ground and the abund- ance of weeds at the bottom of the slight incline interfere so that the machine does not rise. In that case the aeroplane has to be pulled back to the higher ground and another start made. But to the aviator all the patience and work are for many reasons worth while; to the spectator the machine in air, sail ing above the trees, is beautiful sight.