The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-10-07
Flies With Wings Instead
Of Usbng Propeller.
WIND AN AID, NOT HIhDRANCE
Experiments Will be Made
at Kitty Hawk.
Secluded Spot Where Their First BIZ
plane FIew--Very Difficult Place TO
Reach--Brothcrs Are There This
Week.

Naghead, n. c., oct THE amaz-
ing statement made by Lorin Wright
that his brothers, Wilbur and Orville.
have at last discovered the secret of
the vulture's flight and will soon send
into the clouds an aeropane capable
of soaring indefinitely. like a giant
bird. has created the widest excite
ment here, where eleven years ago.
the experimenting aviators were look
ed upon as harmless imbeciles.
The elder Wright--for he Is the
eldest OF the w0rld-famed family as
well as the least known--let slip the
secret when he passed through Eliza
beth city. on his return 20 Day,on,
Ohio, after spending ten days at an
old experiment station near KittS
Hawk.
TO. a. few friends he told OF the
marvellous invention, but he was care
ful TO say little as TO It's construc-
tion, hence its mechanism is still a
profound secret. That the new aero
plane is expected to completely re-
volntionlze aviation is. however
known.
" hllit MI w iibnA hlh l'A ~ 'hN'
details, those to whom he coniided
say he said the flyer will be raised.
propelled and maintained in the air
with the minimum of power and that,
like the vulture, after whose flight It
is patterned. It will remain aloft with
the engine dead" so long as the air
Is In motion. Flexible wings instead
of stiff planes will be depended upon
to maintain balance and keep the
machine in the air. where it will
circle and guide at the will of the
operator.
aThe new theory is that the greater
theriveloclty Of the wind the moro
potent will be this wonderful ship,
which will SET the natives of the
world at naught and make war lit
W less than national suicide. ~ 70 ''
ISur tpiAIA Secluded spot. ru.1
I'm. ] 900 the lNyrights seeking a Sc
cluded spot where they might secret
ly conduct experiments with an em-
bryo glider, heard OF a series of sand
dunes breaking the surf OF the Atlan-
tic from Cape Henry. Va. on the
north. Ito Cape Lookout, y. g, 275
miles to the south,
No other reach of the kind exists
in North America and the aviatprs
investigated. Through the Geodaqo
Survey and the United States Life
Saving Service they discovered that
this strip. about a half a mile across
at its widest point, was constantly
swept by strong currents of air and
was we'll nigh inaccessible.
Kitty Hawk, fishing village,
twelve miles TO the north of Nag
head. second particularly fortunate
spot and one of the Wrights went
there. He found the town had n
population of 175 "Tar Heels" that
the dunes tossed by the winds into
grotesque hills rising to from so 10
100 feet, were just what he needed
for his experiments. and he decided to
locate there. That the place is re-
mote. those who have tried to reach
II will attest.
The land strip. closely resembling
Fire Island. separates the Atlantic
curltuck and Albermarle Sounds, tC
the g(est OF which stretch disma
swamps. semi tropical waste giver
over to bear and deer and reekinl
with fever bacilli. Man seldom set
foot in this tangled fastness of bogi
and quicksands, even hunters shun
ming the vast wilderness. The dunes
themselves shift from year to yea
like the sands of the Sahara, ant
but for the life savers they are lit
tie known. Had the Wrights search
ed the entire seabord they coul'
not have found a place more to thei
liking.
'"Idots" Sent 10 XIII Devil Hill.
C When the avlators first struck tn
strip they met w. j. Tate, then post
master of Kitty Hawk, and conhdet
IN him. Mr.. Tate, hard -heade,
Southerner had ideas of his own a
to the sanity of the Wrlghts, but be
ing of the old Carolina school. he di
not express what was innermost Il
his mind.
He was little bothered, he now ad
mIts, by the extremely business-lik
demeanor Of the "idots." hut he pu
this down to the fact that manilc'
even when travelling in pairs. are dif
ficult TO Judge. 81 think | know jus
what you are looking for" he fnall
said. Two miles from here is Xxi
Devil Hill, and from the top of
you can fly as much as you like"
1t Is much safer than the eleva
tion from which Darius Green mad
his historic flight and Mr. Tate fe
easy In his mind
The Wrlghts smiled at the name
so apt i'm case the experiments fall
ed, they took Tate's advice. and look
ed over the huge dune. 1t satisfie
them at first sight and the next da
they sent to Elizabeth Wity fort
miles away, for lumbJr. Out of thi
lumber they built shed-they woul
call 1. a hanger now-and went
work Unknown to the world the
spent months trying out their strane
aerial craft while the men of III
KIN Devil Hlll life saving station an
fishermen as happened along gape
In wide-eved establishment and bf
gan TO wonder whether, after al
they were not looking at magician
They could not comprehend the 81,
ing men," as they called them. bl
they came to stand nightly In aw
ef them,
SoniBuring these weeks Of labor scare