The Washington herald., 1910-05-30

u " ~ n 4 n ALU, N IN ~ IA Y, M
observed that he had caught up with a
West Shore express train. which was
spinning along at forty miles an hour or
thereabouts. On the east side OF the cut
the Curtiss special was doing much bet
ter than forty miles. but for a few min
utes there was a spectacle which the
watchers enjoyed as much as anything
they saw on the whole trip-two trains
tearing southwark. with river between
them, and high over the river the avia-
tor In his white machine.
Keeps Ahead of Special.
1t didn't take long 10 lose the West
Shore train, and so Curtisa went along
with only the speedy special keeping him
company. He was keeping ahead OF the
special all Of the time.
As he sailed over the insane asvl,,r,
at Hyde Park, some OF the employees ran
out, made trumpcts of their hands and
beloved to Curtiss. One Of them shouted .
Don't come around here; we've got
enough crazy men already"
He looked ahead and saw the preat
cantilever bridge over the Hudson. inst
north of Poughkeepsie A freight train
was crawling over It, and a brakeman
waved red signal flag at him He
coursed over the bridge almost AZ It's
center at 1924. then circled over the lower
| part OF Poughkeepsie. trying TO locate
the spot he had picked out DAYS before
as good place to land. He found n
] without difficulty, as he dropped the aero
plane TO an easy 200 feet II was BIZ
Wettereau's front yard that Curtiss elect
ed to land In, but BIZ was asleep when
the aeroplane dropped gently down and
came 20 earth without a jar. This was
at $50. and Mr.. Wettereau's place is sew
enty-fiye miles from Albany.
The field in which Curtlss landed was
/ long and level, with a gently sloping sur
face nicely grassed. II was about mile
/ inland. dozen automobiles were stand
! ing there. and a few bicycles. but few
humans were about the place. They came
with a rush. though, pretty soon. until
/ their numbers somewhat bothered the
aviator who was afraid that something
might happen TO the aeroplane. Two
! cows looked up in mild astonishmeut and
! moved toward the machine. seemingly
bent on investigating it. Curtiss had
them driven away and then looked
/ around for the man he expected TO meet
him there with a fresh supply OF gasoline
and Oil
Consumes Much Gasoline.
He had left Albany with ten and half
gallons Of gasoline. and all but three
gallons had been used up. Also a little
oil was needed. The man wasn't there
so Curtiss sent an assistant TO ask Bill
Wettereau for gasoline.
He can have any darn thing I got"
said Bill Il amt got time to dress. or
/ I'd come down 10 see him"
Mr. Wettereau, not possessing an auto
mobile. owned no gasoline. and for a few
minutes ii looked as IL Curtiss wouldn't
bc able to proceed for hours. lie was
perfectly cool and easy, bUt he was a lit
/ tie worried
This is too bad" he said. I'm rather
sorry / stopped here. l could have gone
on 10 West Point If had known that. or
oven made New York"
Automobiles on the ground told Cur
tiss they would give him all the gaso-
line he wanted. and be proud 10 do It.
From a. II. Rahman and r. p. Rsiley.
or summit y. j., he got all he needed.
Mrs. Curtiss. Mr.. Post. and others from
the special Train so to the GIL farm
about that time and congratulated him.
There was some talk as 10 how far he
was above the Poughkeepsie Bridge
when he went over H. Curtiss figured he
was about 80 feet above the cantaleve-.
It's a 2lO-fect structure
He spent half an hour carefully going
over the aeroplane. The only thing he
found out OF place was wire guy that
had lOosened a triae. The cylinder bolts
were tapped over, and at points where
the wire guys chaffed a little tape was
used. He was ready 10 start at S:45. but
he delayed 10 inspect a colony OF feath-
cry clouds that were moving up from tho
southeast There was hardly any breeze.
though. and reports from weather OBJ
servers down the river. which had been
received az the special train. convinced
CUrtiss that his chances were still good.
Scars Away Again.
lie took a swIg Of water from a tin
pail, tested the propeller and the steer
ing sear, waved his hands. and turned
on the power. The aeroplane rolled
swiftly over SEQ feet Of grass. taking
down grade, caught the air with wings
and scared away. II vas 9.25 when he
started. He had rested just an hour at
the Gil farm.
Just before he left people came by the
hundreds from Poughkeepsie The town
had been greatly excited when Curtiss
flashed over it. Bells rang and whistles
shrieked. and excursions were made ND
in hurry. Not many got a chance 70
see Curtiss az close range. He disap-
peared n long, ascending sweep. riding
500 feet above the river the special hur-
rying 10 catch up. Newburgh then heard
the news Of his coming IN plenty OF time
and there was 4 big crowd in Downing
Park and along the river front to salute
him. Curtiss was using the other side
Of the river just then, but the Newburgh
folk got a good look at him as he sailed
over Fishkll Landing at 942. Curtiss
knew when he was approaching West
Point He had announced 10 stop at the
Military Academy at Col Scott's invita-
ton, but he found that II was not ad-
visable. He looked down and saw Off
GERS and cadets waving him a salute
from the parade ground and the bluffs.
He took a line directly over Constitution
Island. and was about 800 feet Up as ne
went by West Point
At Cold Spring. which he reached at
$3.50, he began TO set a taste Of the un-