Evening journal., 1910-10-05
LIKE SILVER BIRD,
PLANE FLIES FAR
In MOONLIGHT
"SIim' Shriyer at the MineOIa
Course Breaks the Ameri-
can Record for One
Man Night Flight
UP FORTY-NINE MINUTES
AND HE COVERS IS MILES


From y. Y. World. Sept %, 1910.
In a remarkable fight by moon
light Tod" or "slim" shriyer last
night at Mineola, L. l., beat all Amer
lean records for one-mau night fights.
lie Was in the air for 40 minutes,
circlcd the aviation field twenty-seven
times and covered moro than thirty
Eve miles
Nothing more spectacular has been
seen in aeronautics in America. The
picture made by the big curtiss bi-
plane as it few at a height Of $50 or
800 feet through the moonlit atmos-
phere was positively uncanny. II
looked as II some monstrous prehis-
torie bird were revlsiting the earth.
Il believe I could have flown to
st. Louis and won Tho Worlds prize, -
the aviator said after he had de-
scended.
Although It had been widely her
aided few persons saw the start OF
Shriycrs aerial trip. There was a
feeling that he would not make
good But as the whirl of the mo-
tor broke the stiffness. from every
tent and house within car-shot per-
sons poured and gazed upward in as
touishment. Before the aviator de-
scended. several hundred spectators
had gathered. many speeding several
miles m autos
Many Feared Accident
Sbriver's start was perfect. The
biplano rose rapidly and in few
SECONDS was out Of sight. speeding al
= ro'iy-lyc mile gait toward Meadow
Brook TO the onlookers it seemed |
as It he was out OF sight very long |
time. and fears were expressed that /
be had met with an accident. But
within three minutes he came in sight
cutting through the moonbeams az
high speed. the machine under per-
feet control and riding as steadily as
the Mauretania moving through calm
New York Bay.
1T was the most inspiring sight |
ever saw declared Israel Ludlow. a
pionecr American flyer
With only the tall pole in the avia-
tion field as a guide. Shriver whirled
around lap after lap, with apparently /
as much certainty as II he were nying |
in the glare Of the MONDAY sun. When |
he had been Up forty minutes. Shriver
was seen to look at his watch.
Then his engine began 10 act bad
ly. it skipped" several times AND
nine minutes aftervard he was fore
ed 20 descend. His gasoline was ex-
hausted and 10 have stayed up any
lQager would have been 20 court dis
Easy TO Stay Up All Night.
The descent was made about half a
mile from the grandstand and out OF
sight Of the crowd When the specta-
tors ran up TO the machine they found
the airman nonchalautly awaiting the
arrival OF his mechanics.
IF ] had bad more gasoline ! could
have stayed up all night said he,
"lndeed, If I'd been prepared for il
believe I could have made an excel
lent start for the prize offered by The
World
it was a most, curious experience.
The earth looked like the ocean. I
could not distinguish objects at all.
u WAS impossible to Judge height, but
it's the easiest thing in the world 60
ny az night The atmosphere seems
to have better bearing quality than
in the daytime. mean TO get big
ger tank at once, and next time I go
up at night hope to set a marx
that viii stand for long time to
come AS IT was, il had continued
on In a straight line, instead OF cir
cling the Held. / would have nown as
far as the Pulitzer Building
Not Many Night Flights.
There arc very few records OF night
flights in America. Walter Brookins
went up, carrying a passenger. and
remained in tho air for one hour in
Alabama, but conditions We're more
favorable for him than they we're for
Shriver Arch HoNsey and Ralph
Johnstone made night flights at the
recent Ashury meet, but the formes
man was IN the air only eight min
utes and the latter fyer only Ave
Charles X. Hamilton also went up a
night at Ashville, n. c., with search
light showing the way.
Shrlver got his air pilots licens
from the Aero Club OF America las
Saturday. He won It in shorter tim
than any one before him, as he ha
been practising only three weeks an
had made not more than a doze
fights. lie comes from Cincinna
aud is about thirty-iye years old