Los Angeles herald., 1910-12-25
CURTISS DEFEATS
WRIGHTS IN RACE
Hammondsport Aviator Triumphs
Over Ohio Rivals in First
Speed Events
BlRDMEN DO ALL AIR TRICKS
Crowd Clasps as Ten Dare Devils
Toy with Four Different
Types of Machine
Continued from Page one)

ley in his BleriOt muuOplane and Ely
in a CUrtiss machine quickly followed
Previous to the official opening. the
first brush Of the day between the
Wright ana the Curtiss camp developed
when Curtiss learned that BroOkin>
was tuning his machine up for pre-
paratory fight.
REMAIN N AIR But SHORT TIME
4 think I'll take a little spin over
the course myself said Curtiss as he
hauled out his racer Ia a few Sec
onds he was off, beating Brookius into
the air by about thirty seconds. The
two aViatOrs stayed up about five min
utes and came down, both announcing
that they were ready for the formal
opening
Field glasses from the grandstand
We're trained on a young, tall, grim
looking figure in a fur coat and cap
who --alked onto the field in the wake
of a Wright dOuble-prOpellor machine
about 1880 O'Clock.
The man was Hoxsey. who once held
the worlds altitude record when it was
around the 1O,000-fOOt mark. As he
stepped into the machine and pulled
the cap down tightly over his forehead
he said to Roy knabeushue, manager
for the Wrights: IN get it if l can"
He was referring to the present rec
ord held bv the FrPuchman, Legag-
nieuX, and made at Pau, France, De
cember 9. The record is 0,499 feet, or
sixty-one feet less than two miles.
HoXsey clio ely examined his engine,
gave a pull at the wires about the
planes to see that all was well and
climbed into his seat Brookins, an
other Wright aviator who held the al
titude record Of the world twice, whis-
pered words of announcement into the
aviator's ear and HoXsey waved his
hand to let go The half dozen men
who were holding onto the craft re-
leased their hold and in a cloud of
dust caused by the beating propellors
and the skidding rudders the aviator
was off
Slimming around the field once
within 100 feet Of the ground, he passed
the stand Of cheering people and then
forgot everything in the world but that
record Of 10 499 feet. Pointing the PROV
Of his ship upward Mt a dangerous an
gle he scared hundreds of feet with
every lap Of the course
AIRsHTP LIKENED TO VESSELS
For an hour he was a bright spot in
the sky. With the suns rays striking
the silver painted craft and propellOrs
the aeroplane looked like a gray ship
on the blue sea, gradually moving out
farther and farther from land
smaller and smaller the object grew
until 1t was finally a mere speCk to the
naked eye. Spectators lost sight of the
craft time and again us H0xsey would
point its nose into a fleecy cloud bank
and disappear. A dozen times as he
circled into the higher air levels he
became lost to the view of the watch
ers because Of the suns glare. Men
and women tool, off tl.i~ coats and turs
in the stand and pitieI the poor avia-
tor in the glare of the sun. But just
at this time HONsey was striking cold
air currents that made him shiVer The
white cloud riffs that ha penetrated
were cold and damp and strong.
uneven wind blew i'm and around the
banks.
At distance of n mile the Sky was
encirClcd with the tilmy appearing
clouds and around and around HoEsey
went trying to pierce the cold strata
and get up To- a higher level. After he
had reanhed $500 feet his progress IN
climbing WAS slow.
Hoping to oltrun the cold strata,
1iOEsa- Iir.atcd EH ship south and
lOyeraj over Long Beach, but me found
that tnis afforded him little relief, for
the icy wind and clouds seemed TO
ovcrspread the entire sky.
MAKES Two CREAr CIRCLES
Returning to n point oyer the avia-
ton field he made two great circles
but stiIl failed to make much lcadWay
iu climbing. Io WAS now but white
specil against tie Sky aud many watch
Crs could n1T see H.m
Attcr he ua5 been iu tine mir an hour
and "a half ho gave rI the Jnh ana
cutting short Il wide circle, slowly be-
gan t. drift dowu.
81 1 D
q series af the famous Wright spirals.
coming down i'm shelt TURNS first in one
direction and then reversing. within
q hundred feet Of 1l. -uauud ne shut
or the motor and dr-ll.d Ioiselesaly to
Gne ground.
Brooklrs ana Ilnau.aeh1o We're the
first To reach the sida of the ma
mia you get it," asked Hroohins eX-
Wouldn't do it" replied uos=ey in a
tone that plainly showed Ais diaap-
poiu5mout.
"2fy ears are humping srnL" he
sdi3. "t was too cold
Gee" he said, Frightening up.
'thata TIE first time I've heard that
music"
"Ilow far dIl You pct?" asked
I}rooRtns. sru not satisfied.
Ioysov then explained that ia had
run into q strong wind that whipped
iu and out a. the cloud riffs I1 such
a manner that 1T WAS difficult TO msEl
progress.
WIND COLD AND RAW
The w was cold and raw, he said.
and frequent ..roling oyer wide area
failed 10 show him d Way out.
HoXse.r WA $50 exhausted on landing
that he sat f0l amo- a minute in hls
seat - ithout moving. His arms and
legs were stiff from cold and the warm
air felt good.
While he was tcnng of the cold,
judges from the official committed
came and took the Uorograph from
where H. had rested near the aviator
seat and took it to the stand to ex-
anime.
1T win show a little over 6Qoo," said
Hoxsey.
on starting the flight H1xsey said he
felt confident that he would break the
record. but on reaching the cloud
strata he found conditions which he
had not encountered before
If he had been able to find a way