The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-30
Daring Man Bird Flies from Chicago to Springfield
 and Wins Prize
Illinois Central Trains Are Left Far in the Rear By Brool<ins, Who
 Lands Safely After q Brill iant Performance

Springfield. H., September 29-Aviator
 Walter Brookins alighted gracefully in
 the fair grounds here at 4:27 p. m. today. ' hours and 12 minutes out from Chicago,
 after having sailed his Wright biplane the 1S7 miles with two stops. The stops were at Gilman, H., 75 miles from Chicago, at 11:30 a. m., and at Mount Pulaski, H., l6S miles from Chicago, at S:20 p. m. The first stop was for water. oil and gasoline: the second for the same and because his pump had broken and the engine became hot.
 Brookins thus broke CfArles K. Ham, uton's record for sustained cross-country flight of S6 miles from New York to Philadelphia. He also made the longest cross-country continued flight In America and thereby won s10,000 prize offered by the Chicago Record-Herald
 In both places where Brookins alighted crowds gathered to stare at him.
 Small Wheel Broken As Brookns swept up out of the field at Mount Pulaski. one of the small rub Der tired wheels, on which the aeroplane rolls in making headway before arising. struck an obstruction and was wrenched of. Brookins not knowing of the &C., cident, rose to height of 200O feet and heading for Springfield swirled away from sight leaving the Illinois Central special train far behind.
 This was the second engine the aviator had distanced in fair race. Engineer | w. F. Burt, who made the first attempt to defeat the air man, had to give up at Clinton. H.
 | Brookins reached the fair ground eight minutes before the station was reached by the Illinois Central fast special train. He made the dip to alight at APT D. n,.. making hours. 12 minutes elapsed time The actual flying time was hours, A minutes. an average flying rate of B miles an hour.
 | Brookins found some trouble in alisht- ing because of the inadequate policing at the fair grounds, and although he ar rived over the grounds at 4:22 1t was five minutes later before he could lend. The crowd sursed about him.. threaten- ing to crush the curious bird machine till he had to make a personal appeal to get the throng back.
 1 Merely Staying Up | Asked about the flight he said: why, it was nothing only staying up. that's all. I merely took time-more time than usual-and that's about the only difference from a practice flight I}<new could make 1t. fet1. < Tt was one of the prettiest flights I ever made The country between Chicago and here is delightful Everywhere was | flying low enough-and l went as low as 300 feet several times-I could see the peo- pie staring up at me from almost every where. There must have ben three 1 fourths of a million looking up at me.
 T am good for the same thing right | now if necessary"
 1 Wilbur Wrights only comment was: "As the woman says. told you so.' l Later. after the aeroplane had been stored away in tent. MT. Wright added | to his terse remark. He said: Wilbur wright's Comment
 "There was never a time when I felt he would not make 1t. Of course. felt l this way There was strong wind and right in his face for most of the way, so that he had to use so much more gasoline and oil that he had to stop.
 "It was only the broken pump. how | ever, heating up his engine, that made | 1t necessary for him to alight at Mount 1 Pulaski Otherwise he would have gone the whole distance to Springfield from 1 Gilman.
 "The machine will go for any distance. | The only difference between this and a | practice flight Is that the operator has 1 to work longer.
 q think this has shown very conclu- sively that the aeroplane is a successful navigator of the air and you who fol- l | train with me probably feel as conf1- | dent of 1t now as I do.
 "Only water oil and gasoline stood be- | tween Brookins and a continuous sus- tained flight between Chicago and Spring l field"
 No Race Prettier
 Never was there a prettier race. say those who witnessed part of it. than | that between the special flyer on the Illinois Central which. with right of way oyer everything. attempted to beat the air l man and the steady flyer which kept l on above, always close by. Sometimes
 when Brookins had to rise to get above
 rough country currents, the craft drew back behind the racing special. but when l the glide came again he forged ahead and stayed there.
 | Aboard the train, which carried many
 passengers, as we'll as the air mans friends, all was excitement continually. Every window was filled with heads, peering up Into the sky.
 The first stop at Gilman. H.. for oil was made by arrangement. Here Brookins alighted in a wind-swept corn field, and had no difficulty In lpushing his machine out into the open ground Then he waited 14 minutes for the train to come up. At Mount Pulaski he showed no more concern. He was now nearing his destination ana soon dlter ue Wds up
 he saw the gilded top of the dome
 building at the fair grounds and. ig-
 noring his teachers instructions to fly
 only half an hour because of the broken
 pump, he aimed for the dome, his ma T chine giving an audacious filrt of it's
 tail-like rudder and then he scared to the fair grounds with no more stops. At s D. m. Brookins was met of ficialIy by John Crebbs, president of : the fair association, and the air man turned over to the official message penned by H. H. Kohlsaat of the Chi- cago Record Herald reading:
 ..To the President oi the State Fair Association:
 with the compliments of H. IF. K Kohlsaat, via the first air line from Chicago to Springfield"
 Brookins announced this evening that he would make exhibition flights to- morrow afternoon at the fair grounds when squadron of cavalry will keep
 back the crowds that today threatened to destroy his machine. Saturday afternoon he will race Bar | ney Oldneld for mile about the track. ling automobile. Brookins said today \ In gautomobile. Brookins said today that he expected to beat the veteran