The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-09-20
INTERVIEW WITH
JIMMIE" WARD
Citizen Man Talks With
The Young Aviator
WHO is TRYING TO CAPTURE
$4,000 PRIZE FOR COAST TO
COAST FLIGHT

~ =, opSuJ uOSL Ol ldSJ thursday
looking in the air for the youthful
aviator, Jimmie" Ward, on his
flight from New York to the Pacific
coast for the Heart prize of $4,000
Ward left Governors Island on We'd
nesday morning, Sept. IA, and was to
have followed train No. | of the Erie
to Buffalo, but became confused by
the mass of tracks leaving Jersey
City and later in the day landed
quite a distance out of his course, yet
not far from New York
The next morning he started from
Paterson, n. j., but having trouble
with his engine, landed in Sloats-
burg, N. Y; getting his bearings, he
then proceeded to Middletown, N. Y,
where he had lunch. A large throng
of enthusiasts greeted him there,
showering him with roses, cheering
and anxiously waiting for a chance to
shake his hand. Many people, mostly
shool children, gathered on a cliff
that rises about 800 or 400 feet
above the river at Damascus, when
it was reported that Ward had left
Middletown at 3:4S p. m. At 4:4O
the machine was sighted above the
horizon with field glasses. At first
it looked no larger than a hawk,
but the loud buzzing of the pro-
peller and motor could be heard. He
passed directly over Cochecton, n.
Y, and in three minutes could be
seen lowering himself behind the
hills into Callicoon, where mechanics
were awaiting his arrival.
The machine alighted as grace
fully as a bird after making a wide
circle. The field was upon a hill
back of the town and had been pick
ed out and marked by his mechanics
with a wide plaster line. He came
down with the engines running and
after first touching the ground ran
the length of the field upon the
three wheels which supported the
machine on the ground. The towns
people and large crowd that had
collected from the neighboring
country were eager to catch a
glimpse of the man and examine the
machine. Scarcely had the engines
stopped before the aeronaut was not
to be seen, for while the crowd was
busy looking at the marchine
he slipped away almost unnoticed.
1t was a Curtiss biplane carrying
a 6O-horse power cylinder engine.
A leather helmet and leather gaunt-
let's were left hanging to the steer
ing geer. There were three patches
on one of the planes showing where
over-enthusiastic souvenir hunters
had been to work. Both canvass
planes were already covered with
names and addresses of people in
the towns where Ward had stopped
and it wasn't many minutes after he
landed in Callicoon that people were
hnGV finding for thpir N
At six o'clock everyone in the
town was looking for Ward who was
said to be stopping at the Western
Hotel. Upon asking for an interview
the proprietor of the hotel said the
young man was resting and could not
be seen until later. The crowd was
there waiting in vain for Ward was
found by The Citizen correspondent
in the depot where he was telephon-
ing to his wife in Susquehanna.
There were only three people at the
station waiting for a train and not
one of the three knew or realized
that young Ward was there.
While waiting for train No. up
on which two of his managers were
coming he seemed very willing to be
interviewed.
When asked if he had any trouble
at all he said:
Soon after starting, the engine
began missing and l nearly hit a
barn but | soon had her where she
was all right. At one other time
she bothered me. Around the hills
at Otisville the air currents were so
great that before | could gain con-
troll of the machine she would go
straight up for 500 feet"
What was your average speed?"
The fact that | was carried up
kept me back some, but l made 20
miles an hour right along. When l
got to the town below Callicoon l
could see the college and knew /
was to land there. 1t took me three
minutes to go that distance" (By
road the distance is about five
miles.)
What height did you reach dur
ing the fiight?"
" / was flying highest down near
Otisville, probably six or seven
thousand feet, but most of the time
| was only up thousand or two
thousand feet. At any time l could
have glided down if the engines had
given out. My mechanics are get
ting rotten; that was an awful place
to land"
see you are an Elk" (Mr.
Ward wore purple tie with Elk's
heads embroidered on IT'D. .,
Yes, the boys gave me that tie
for good luck before l started out.
Everything looks good to me so far.
/ hope can get out of here early to-
morrow morning"
Ward doesn't look to be a day
over eighteen and is only five feet
six inches high with very light hair
and blue eyes. When seen at the
depot he wore light grey trousers,
a grey soft shirt and carried light
grey sweater on his arm! Strapped
to his wrist was a small watch biad
While eating dinner I'M the Della
ware House with him he said: I'd
1HsmiTeqeb aniilQf