The Washington herald., 1910-08-28


New York, Aug 2T-Horten was the
wireless operator on the roof Of the
sheepshesd Bay race track grand stand.
brisk. clean-cut young man. who plays
the wireless g2me for the good sport
there IS in Il. McCurdy, aviator and
wireless operator, was the driver Of
bic Curtiss blplane. which was swinging
a mile away over Barren Island, 800 feet
above the water.
The 1000 persons in the stands and on
the lawn. who had been watching the
flying man play ring-around-the-rosy all
afternoon. did not see Horten unclap the
receiving headgear from his ears and do
q buck-and-wing down the pigeons front
yard. They did not know that the wire
less man in the flying machine and the
wireless man on the grand stand roof
had made worlds record-sendinE and
receiving the first wireless telegram
without wires. Even the spectators with
field glasses had no notion that anything
so wonderful was forwarded. for Nc
Curdy's firm grip never left the steering
wheel Of his machine. He did not have
10 move the fingers Of his right hand an
inch TO get Horten's ear, for Horten had
rigged up an ingenious sending apparatus
70 the steering wheel itself
Horton Originates scheme.
Horton. who served as signal man
in the Spanish war. and who has been
playing with wireless ever since, was
hard nit more than a year ago by q
J. q.
ible. he said. 10 use aeroplanes as wire
less stations? Make a go Of it and the
possibilities would be endless in war and
peace. But the weight Of perfected ap-
paratus was so great that he knew he
couldn't attach them TO flying machines.
so he worked out a vest-pocket battery.
spark coil. and key. the whole weighing
only twenty pounds, and lay in wait to
catch his bird.
He got Glenn Curtiss interested.
Sure said CUrtiss. go as far as you
like" Beginning Friday. week ago.
Horton has practically lived on the
grand stand roof, tasting the air. as he
called it. His receiving station. a thirty
foot zinc pole, and ground wire. with
batteries. caught half of the whispers
that the sea was sending to New York
and New York was waving toward the
sea.
To-day all conditions were fine and
dandy. The necessity Of taking up
passenger and overweighting a light
powered machine was obviated when II
was discovered that McCurdy had been
a telegraph operator in the days before
he knew the feel OF large money. Would
he obBge with a little dot-dashing?
Would he2 Would an aviator miss a
chance like that TO bust into the papers?
Not a chance said Jim McCurdy. But
how could he watch front control and
wing controls and throttle and oil pump
and a few other little things that mean
life or death 10 flying men while sending
aerial dispatches
Wires on Steering wheel.
Horton puzzled over that for a few
minutes. but his big idea piled his in
genuity He trained an insulated wire
from the seat frame Of McCurdv's fly
about TO the steering wheel. and attached
it so that the aviator could send with
out lifting a finger from the wheel or
disturbing the balance Of his body by
hairs weight.
few minutes before o'clock Nc
Curdy slipped into his wire cage. re-
versed the visor Of his cap. waited till
his ear told him that the engine was
running true and sweet, tapped down his
hand in the getaway signal. shot forward
and took wing.
Rising steadily, with the wireless coun-
terpoise, fifty feet Of telephone wire and
a lead weight. trailing after him as
bird trails stolen silk thread. McCurdy
hurried toward the naach. He passed
over stables and cottages, saw the sheen
Cnnffnn~I n