The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-02-01

NhV AAAbAA6 ohAAoNCo VI Lis eNA CpA1hS
poised like a monster eagle, Eugene
Ely the daring Curtss birdman,
swooped gracefully to the quarterback
of the cruiser Pennsylvania yesterday
morning and after paying his respects
to Captain Charles F. Pond, command
ing the vessel, and receiving the con-
gratulations of the assembled crowd,
tuned up his biplane, and with another
graceful sweep disappeared into the
upper air currents, en- route to Sell
fridge field. The whistles of hun
dreds of large and small bay craft
roared applause, and thousands of per-
sons who lined the wharves and
crowded the decks of steamers raised
cheer upon cheer in grand ovation
to the nervy aviator.
AS early as 9 o'clock in the morning
people began to gather on the docks,
and small craft of every description,
their decks crowded with sightseers,
began to gather around the monster
cruiser of the Pacific fleet, the deck of
which had been prepared for the ar
rival of the birdman.
BY 10 o'clock every eye was strained
in the direction of Selfridge field in
an effort to obtain the first sight of
the aviator. The atmosphere was hazy
and objects in the air were discerned
with difficulty, and every bird that
made it's appearance on the horizon
started an excited argument as to its
identity.
After many false alarms, during
which great deal of good-natured
badinage was passed between the
crews of the bay steamers, small
speck was discovered moving rapidly
above the hills back of Hunters point,
and the observers, after close eX-
animation through their glasses, an
nounced that Ely was on his way.
Their surmises were confirmed by
sudden stiffness which settled over the
great colony of sea gulls that had
been angrily quarreling for scraps
thrown overheard by the ship stew
ards, and, as though by prearranged
signal, the entire flock winged its way
to the nearby shore in terror of the
great birdlike shape which appeared
on the horizon.
The speck grew rapidly as the avia-
tor approached, until it assumed the
proportions of biplane, and a min
uate later the form of Ely himself be-
came visible as his machine, with pro-
peller whirring and engines singing
unsteady, swept onward, running rap
idlv with the twelve-knot wind which
was blowing. He circled the vessels
of the fleet, waving his hand to the Of
f1cers and crews as he passed, and,
completing a great arc, bore down on
the landing platform which had been
erected on the stern of the vessel.
Alights on Warship.
The vast multitude gathered on the
shore and on the steamers held its
breath as he approached the ship. Hne
great landing stage, viewed from a
distance looked all too small when
compared with the size of the delicate
aeroplane and reckoned by the speed
at which it was travelling. With a
graceful dip and final whir of the en-
gines the beautiful craft settled upon
the platform with the ease of feather
which had been waited by some stray
air current, and, with a final skid,
Slid along the platform and came to
a stop within a few feet of the after
military mast
AS the aerop'ane came to stop
pandemonium broke loose from the
assembled watchers. Cheer after cheer
arose from the shore and, joining the
huzzas of the passengers and crews OF
the small bay craft, combined with the
noise of the whistles in a mighty roar
of applause. Added to the shouts OF
the crowd were the weird means OF
the SIRENS Oh the CIulsels' 'n0 uS0P
throated burrs of the larger steamers
and the shrill shrieks of the gasoline
launches. which dotted the water for
a mile in every direction.
Ely shut down his engine when about
ten feet from the ship, and a slight
gust of wind carried him up few feet
He landed about sixty feet from the
end of the platform, and the drag
hooks placed on the skids caught the
ropes which had been stretched across
the decks for that purpose. The use
fulness of the device was at once APP
parent, the machine being checked to