The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-05-31


funeral Of Wilbur Wright. the
aviator who died early this morn
Ing, will hs held Saturday after
noon at o'clock. The services
at me Wright horne viii be pub
to, but this burial will be private.
The inssrnssns will take place in
Woodland cemetery, this city.
DAYTON. O., May Co. Wilbur
Wright, premier aviator of the world
and Inventor OF flying machines. died
~ his home In Dayton early today.
lie had been III for weeks with typhoid
fever. and for nearly thirty six hours
had been In a state or semi con Scious-
ness. Days ago his physician, DIR.
Conkiin. gaze UP hope. Nrights Won
derful vitality surprised his doctor,
ard. though his temperature tad
stood at an average of tns degrees for
nearly week. his respiration had
never been below 50.
The first real indication OF the SER
Gus nature Of Wilbur Wrights Sondi-
ton came when Orvtife Wright Ca
hled the European governments that
ha could not make rne trip tn Europe
that had heen planned with view af
taking up the use OF the Wright ny
ing machines by foreign armies.
Since then orvilIe has been almost
constantly with his brother Days ago
all hope was given M.
The ayiator's death came quietly
THE fever turned itself cut aHd the
long struggle for life ended
Fer man OF ordinary efaduranrs
and physique, death would lave come
Within few hours II tho time the
fever reached go hlxh a mark as 19i
degrees and could not be reduced.
Wright's stamina was the wonder
Of his physicians who began yestsr-
day to hope against hope that the
aviator might recover.
Arrangements for the funeral have
not yet beeal made.
First to I1,.
Wilbur WEight shared with hts
brother. Orvilie. the distinction of
being the first to ny. Students OF
world progress have placed these
names In the Hall of Fame in I'M
mediate proximity 10 those other
pioneers OF advancement, Gutenberg,
Watt. Fulton. Stevenson, Edison. He'll
and Mareoni.
Wilbur Wright and his brother.
natives Of Ohio, began their expert
rnents In flying when they were mere
boys. Their stepfather gave them a
helicopter as q toy. The curious lit
tie instrument, when wound up, fiew
about the room over the heads IF the
delighted youngsters. Mike most
boys, instead Of Quarreling for pos
session of the toy they played with II
together and set their precocious
young brains 10 the task of first
initiating and then improving upon
the toy As they grew up th.ir N"
terest In aviation WIS manifested in
Lii Il Ly,su IN
1895 they took w In earnest the
study of actual flight.
In Bicycle Business.
They were in the bicycle business
in Havton, -. twas with the profits
Of this business that they betrayed
their expenses OF experiment. In
1901 they operated their first gliding
snotorless hipiane- Exhaustive study
or air pressure during tire following
winter was followed by moro expert
n,ents IN 1909. increased in 1903, and
they then attached 10 the glider a
gasoline motor of the type used In
automobiles.
These later experiments were con-
Quoted at Kitty Hawk. y. G., and
IN lien OF a passenger they attached
AN anvil 10 the hlpiane for the first
flights. On the 18th day of October,
1904, the machine flew. with It's IN
yeuter. Owing to their secrecy. the
world doubted their success until four
DAVIS later. when they publicly demon
strated their ability to fly. and proved
beyond contradiction that two years
before any other man had flown Tor
one minute they had flown repeatedly
for more than twenty miles.
In Foreign Countries.
With the perfection OF the Wright
biplane Wilbur Wright went abroad
where he was hailed In every land as
the ingenious Yankee who really
could fiy. In Paris the native aero
na,its served only as n background
for fame. Royalty and nobility hon
ored him everywhere. but he re-
NAMED the dry, secretive, centerd.
aood-natured American who was max
nr : business or ffyfug. After ac-
centinp contracts with several Euro
pean governments for supplying air.
ships for military purposes, Wtibn'
Wright returned to the United states
to find that THE prophet without hon
or IN his own country" was world
wide idol to be honored at last at
home
Honor at last.
Al the White House honors were
sIsowered on him. and the army
adopted him as saviour OF the nations
prestige In aerial navigation as APP
piled to military maneuvers Day
ton closed up shop and held three
day fete in honor of the two men who
had been known to them years agone
as Those crazy Wright boys"
But the Wright boys were too busy
10 play the here, They had machines
to make for the world. They were
making them in Germany. In Scot
land. and in Dayton, and still they
could not make enough Of them.
Their business grew and they quit
flying. They taught others TO fly,
and soon THE countryside Of every
State was btiied with flaming an
nounoements Of aviators in thrilling