New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-30

born nicrs. some achieve flying, and some have
- hvng thrust upon them. Possibly the last part
of this second bromidiom may seem stretch OF the
imagination. "How, you Will ask, can man nave
fving thrust upon him.
Down on the level reaches of the lowland OF MincoEl'
Long Island where most of the amateur birdnen irSt
stretch out their pin feathcrcd wings, cach one goes
through his preliminary course OF grass cutting
Now aprasS cutting" is an expression that applied TO
the early efforts OF 10 control his lnachnc' ne
snends DAYS driving over the ground without getting
into the air at all and he spends days or weeks more
ft;nq only a few feet and coming down again ms IS
agrats cutting; it is not flying. and he does not want
TO hv He must first become accustomed to the ieeI OF
the machine and acquire the instinct for control be
fore he has these down to certainty any attempt 10 uo
real flying would be dangerous and foolhardy.
TT was late one afternoon last summer when group
of lis were about ready to quit for the day Whcn
first saw nving actually thrust upon man. Inc Wiild
had died down to nothing and one by one the machines
had been taken out, smashed ana taken III .8Ii'i'
Everybody seemed to have had enough, when CurtiSs
bplanc was wheeled out from the big shed OF the Aero
nautical Society and young man mounted the seat.
He was the newest OF the grass cutters tie had COM
pcted his machine only few days before ana ilad iIc
one or two runs across the field TO try out his engine
He was the grecncs of all the green men, and ne had no
intention Of taking his aGropanc of the ground tor
another two weeks more. Now he was merely test
ing his engine again
b;rI;ng and roaring at twelve hundred revolutions
minute we took hold of the machine until ne should
give the signal to let Co. Soon he was of. Down the
field he went rolling over the grass at 4 8ood Spc('
but as he ncarcd the far end he did not shut OIL MS
motor as we expected HIM to DO. ~
"Good Lord" groancd his mechanic. The tool Is
going up .,...
Family against the gathering dusk OF the eastern SKY
we made out the silhouette OF the acropanc as 1t rose
slowly from the ground. Smaller and smaller 1t grew
then turned crossed level with the horizon, turned
again toward us. and. with the droning OF the engine
growing louder and the silhouette looming larger ana
clearer was soon over heads. had turned again.
and was making of down the field on its second trip
before we had recovered from our aStonlShnent.
"Conc down. YOU fooli' some one yelled, though we
knew the young aviator could near nothn8 DuI Inc
roaring Of the cylinders.
Again the silhouette flew the far horizon, this
time higher than before and with majestic sweep that
held us cnthracd though waited brcathcisy for the
smash that we felt was inevitable with 50 inexperienced
a man. But no smash came. Instead, the big shadow
rounded toward Us the far corner and started once
more on its sweep back over our heads.
This time we could see more clearly. We gaZci up
almost in awe at the daring young birlman, wondering
al the superb control he seemed TO have yet puzzled 10
see that he was wildly gcscuatng with one hand
a ne passed above Us.
For the third time he made the circuit Of the field
and again he waved to us; but concluded that he
was merely sending signals Of triumph len times
that hedgng made the circuit Of the two-and-a-hai-
mile course each time gcsticulaing with his right arm
as he sailed over our heads. Suddenly his mechanic
started on a across the field.
"Iurrvl" ne shouted. Hes been trying TO make us
understand that he wants TO come down, and he wants
Us over there TO stop him.
The eleventh circuit had been finished and the twelfth
begun when the shadow suddenly descended and ged
to the ground.
Shut off your engine. YOU IDIOT some one Yelled
but the Of the exploding cylinders continued and
the aeropane came bounding over the grass straight to