The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-08-31
FEW FLIGHTS AWE CROWDS
Bad Luck and Bad Management
Help to Make the Meet Disappoint-
ing One, but it Set a New Record
for Kenosha.

Darius Green. The aviation meet is
over and the "birdmen' packed up
their planes and propellers and left
this morning for Beloit. They left be-
hind them a feeling of uncertainty as
to the success or failure of the Keno
sha venture. To the thousands of
people of the city and county who had
never seen man conquer the air the
meet was thing Of awe and wonder
and even if these people did pay their
money and wait for hours for the
mediocre flights they were glad they
paid it. However, the blase residences
of Kenosha who had reveled in vol
planning, spirals and dips at the Chi
cago meet and who had seen men bruis-
ed and bleeding carried from the field
the meet in Kenosha left a feeling of
tameness that would be difficult to
eradicate. Even the managers for the
Curtiss people in charge of the meet
were ready to admit that it was dis
appointment. These men claimed that
it was a "hard luck'' meet for them
and others could see where the ele-
ment of hard luck was badly mingled
with the element of just as bad man
agement. For the man that wants
something doing all the time the Cur
q
A man to enjoy meet must be will
ing to go early and stay late for the
late stayers are the ones who had the
best of the meet in Kenosha Jimmy
| Ward and his Shooting star would
make an excellent added attraction for
a county fair with lot Of horse races,
a pumpkin show and baby show sand
witched in between to keep things
moving, but Jimmie and the shooting
one are not enough for real show in
themselves. 1t takes too long to tune
up and when the machine is tuned up
it heats up too fast and there you are
Seriously the meet in Kenosha was
just about as good as any meet of the
kind held about the country. Two
years ago it would have been regarded
as remarkable exhibition of flying,
but in two years with three hour flights
and great speed trials the air business
has grown out of it's swaddling clothes
and people who attend meets of this
nature are looking for, thrills. Thrills
were lacking in the Kenosha meet.
On the first day of the meet the crowd
was disgusted Up to half past FIVE
there was not satisfactory fight
Cromwell Dixon, who really wanted to
fly and fly well, had hard luck. There
was a puffy wind playing about the
ground that made it impossible for the
flyers to get started and when Dixon
finally got off the ground he came
down with such a bang that his ma
chine was disabled. Then Ward took
a try at it and with one race across
the flying field he broke propeller
and there was a wait for it to be re-
paired. Dixon finally started again
only to land in a COW pasture a half
q mile from the field. Ward in the
meantime gave couple of satisfactory
low flights, but there was no effort
to follow the program as it had been
arranged. When the crowd had forgot
ten Dixon he came flying out of the
cow pasture he had pre-empted and
got away with a satisfactory cross
country flight. He few out over the
city and Ward followed him and the
crowd which stayed late Saturday
evening saw some really creditable fy-
ling. There were thrills in TIE fving
by Dixon as he dipped over the crowd
in way that kept the people leaping
and enthusiastic.
| On Sunday it was expected that the
inject would be winner. There was
not even a puff of air and the birdmen
had worked on the machines Sunday
morning and they were said to be
ready for anything. Ward was in
Chicago Saturday night and Sunday
morning and he did not reach the fiy-
ing field until four o'clock Sunday af-
ternoon. BY that time things had
happened. Dixon had started out with
his biplane and with a single fight
across the field he had come down.
When he came down one of the planes
struck ditch and the airship turned
over. 1t looked like real thrill but
| Dixon emerged from under the ruined
biplane and fecked a speck of dust off
of his blue serge suit and walked over
to the grand stand while the me-
chanies began to pick up the ruined
biplane which had been so badly dam.
aged that it was out of service for the
remainder of the day.
Ward got started in his machine lust
after four o clock and he gave -four
good fights. His last flight over the
city was as good a flight as any crowd
would wish to see, but like the flight
!of Dixon on Saturday it ca aftel