The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1910-05-30

New York. May e9.-,;lcnn H. Cur
tiss Flew from Albany tn New York
city In an acropanc today, winning
the $4,000 prize offered by the New
York World lie covered the distance
Of 1877 miles In two hours and ~ min
utcs and came to earth as calmly and
as lightly as q pigeon. Ills average
speed for the dstance--54. .06 miles an
hoIr--surpasscs any other record ever
made by an acropanc In a long dis
tancc flight and In lts entirety his feat
perhaps eclipscs anything man has at
tempted In a heavier than air ma
chine The start was made from Al
bsny at 7.03 o'clock this morning, un-
der weather conditions AZ near perfect
az the most fastidious aviator could
demand. one hour and % minutes
later he had made his stopping place
near Poughkcepsie. where there was an
hours intermission.
Crosses Line
Iiesuming his flight at 9:26. he sped
southwark and landed within the
boundary of Manhattan island at 10:35
only 100 yards north of the place on
which his craft settled stretched Spuy-
ten Duyvil creek. separating Manhat-
tan island from the mainland Had
lie failed to cross this. his flight would
have been In vain, but as he swept
over IL. the prize was his. Thence To
Governors island his task was but the
concluding lap of a race already won
PauIhan's flight from London to
Manchester. 1856 miles. exceeded the
Curtiss feat of today In distance. but
not In speed and danger. The French
mans average was 44.3 miles an hour.
and below him lay English meadow
land. Curtiss followed the winding
course of the historic Hudson.
, with juttng headiand. wooded slopes
\ and trcacherous palisades He swung
Nhigh over the great bridge at Pough
keepsie. dipped at times within 30 feet
Of the rivers broad surface and jock
eyed like "A falcon at the turns.
Only once did his craft show signs
of rebellion. This was off Storm King.
near West Point. when. at "A height of
nearly 1000 feet, treacherous gust
struck his planes. The machine
dropped 40 feet and tilted periously.
but Curtiss kept his head and by
adrot manipulation. restored the
equilibrium Of the machine.
curtiss WAS up before dawn today.
hesitant. despite the favorable wealth
or conditions. But with his eyes and
brain cleared of the cobwebs of sleep
he went with his mechanican and a
handful of spectators to Van Rensse
laer island. In the Hudson. three miles
south of Albany, where he was tn
start. Waiting at the river brink was
a special train. chartered by the New
York Times for Mrs. Curtiss and her
party.
|. Starts Fast.
From the train they could not see
the actual start. but those on the ISL
and witnessed remarkable scene.
Curtiss arose from the ground like a
rocket There were no preliminary
nianeuvcrs, there was no trial flight
The acroplane ran hurrcdly over tha
surface of the land and dartcd straight
for Its goal. turning once for "A moment
TO the west. 81 that curtiss might
comply with the terms of the competl
tion under which he was flying. and
technically cross the Albany City line.
When the acroplane reached IA height
estimated at 500 feet, II seemed for n
moment To hold that level. and then
to raise higher curtiss was flying at
"A height which he had never attempted
before In his life. In seven minutes he
had been lost In view.
When the aeropane was wheeled
from beneath her canvas covering
shortly before Z o'clock. the sky was
perfectly clear and what little wind
was stirring blew from the north-a
direction favorable tn curtiss-at four
miles an hour With the signal that
curtss was off. the special train, five
ears and n locomotive. gathered i'm
1 petus and sought to follow. But 50
quickly had he flown the first y
miles that the locomotive. though run
ming nearly a mile a minute, was un
able to catch up. At 1926, however,
the train came abreast of the aero
plane and thence to New York city,
those ON board kept the aviator in
sight. but az he did not have to reckon
with curves or track, switches and re-
duced speed through towns, the man
above maintained "A substantial lead.
Flying High.
swiftly. town and countryside reeled
by. Catskil was passed at 7:4i. with
the aeroplane 900 feet above the
Hudson. At sos he was still flying
high and veerlng well toward the west
bank Of the river. At SOC, SO minutes
after the start, lie scared past Rhine
cliff ferry. 81 miles from Albany. Here
there Is bend In the river and Cur
tiss turned again to the west, passing
overland to shorten his course Stats
burg marked the 60th mile point and
he had covered this distance In SO
| minutes With Staatsburg behind, the
\ giant bridge spauning the Hudson at
Poughkeepsie loomed ahead. The
bridge IL 2i2 feet high. but Curtiss