Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-09-16

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glance at the instrument, though he is
confident he rose even higher.
AS result of his success Ely was
awarded the special trophy offered by
the exposition directors, handsome
800 silver cup, purchased through L.
! S. McCabe & Co, and which will be
suitably inscribed and presented TO
him before he leaves the city.
Wind BaIIks Early Attempt
But one flight was attempted dur
ing the afternoon because of the wind
exposition officers reasoned that it
would be better to make one success
full flight than to attempt one at or
| 5 o'clock. make failure of it and pos
sibly damage the aeroplane so that 1t
could not again appear this week.
Yesterday wind was from the south
east. 1t came into the grounds quar-
tering and the force of it would not be
! felt by the aviator till he got up pei
haps so feet Then it would strike him
| from the side and very likely force him
to the earth. The exposition grounds
resemble a box with the trees, houses
and fence forming the side. There is
but one direction in which to ascend.
Were it possible to run directly
against the wind a flight would be pos
sible at almost any time, for once the
aviator gets up high enough so that
| he can recover before striking the
ground when hit by sudden blast he
can fly under almost any conditions.
| 1t is believed that the event justified
the decision of the exposition officers
and Mr.. Ely.
Picks Spot to AIight
That there is always some uncer
tainty as to his ability to rise, even
after he gets outside of the grounds,
is shown by the fact that Ely in each
of his flights first seeks a meadow
southwest of the grounds that he
picked upon several days before the
exposition to alight in case he found
it impossible to make Roadway. Should
his engine fail to carry him up he fig
ures on being near this open field so
that he can drop into it. Over this
meadow he tries out his engine and
climbs into the air till he feels safe in
coming back or sailing away to places
where a descent would be more dan
SSTOuS.
Ely last evening would have pre-
ferred to have waited till shutdown be-
fore starting After shutdown atmos-
pherical conditions quickly change so
as to be most favorable for air flights. |
1t is at this time that nearly all the |
great altitude and speed records are +,
made Ely said last evening If he |
could have waited half an hour he |
would have risen three or four times !
as high without any greater effort To- |
day and tomorrow the plan is, as be- |
fore, to have two flights daily, but If |
atmospherical conditions are such as
they were yesterday and Wednesday,
the aviator will wait till late in the af-
ternoon The people should under
stand that the exposition manage
ment is interested only in giving the
best possible exhibitions and they are
relying upon the judgment of Ely, who
is credited with being not only one of
the most skillful and daring aviators
in the business, but one Of the most
conscientious, as we'll
Tomorrow the Big Day
Tomorrow afternoon is to be the big
occasion of the week. The ball game
between Rock Island and Davenport at
the Island City park will be called
early to enable those who wish to do
so to see both the contest and the ex-
position during the afternoon. The
factories that did not close yesterday
and this afternoon will suspend oper-
ations tomorrow to allow employees to
attend the exposition. Hundreds from
out of town have been unable to come
to Rock Island during the week, but
are planning to be here tomorrow.
In the evening will see the grand
finale. 1t will be Moose night with spe
cial features for the members of the
order
Fireworks Best Yet Seen
Last evenings fireworks was the
best vet seen here and many were the
EXPLANATIONS of admiration among
those who saw the exhibition. The
aerial flights we're of unusual bril-
lance and the set pieces were all great
successes. In honor Of the Eagles one
of the set pieces represented an eagle
with a background of red, white and
blue and silver stars.
Exposition Notes.
Tomorrow night is Moose night, and
there will be specially designed fire.
works.
BY the way, the Eagles also did
some flying at the exposition yester-
day.
1t is the unanimous verdict: There
are no flies on Ely; he flies.
In view of the fact that Davenport
boy is furnishing the stellar attraction
at the Rock Island exposition this
week, one would naturally suppose
that the citizens of Davenport would
abandon their usual reserve as regards
all things Rock Island, and come
across ~
There is no monopoly on air. but
ii would be much more Incoming in