The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-11-16

From The New York Times: 1t
has seemed the proper thing for ny
ing machine men to come In couples
since the times Of Daedalus and
Icarus. Anyhow, the Wright broth
ers renewed the fashion in modern
times. The Caproni brothers follow
ed. The Pomilio brothers are anoth-
err example of the type. Md the D.
Annunzio's aviation novel, "Forse
Che 81, FOrse Che No." though the
brotherhood is selective, the CO.
operation of a double energy is Tea
tured.
An item of peculiar interest about
the biography of the Capront broth
ers (whose names have been so much
in the light of publicity lately, while
of their life hardly anything is
known) is the fact that they were
born in Trentino, and were, there
fore. technically Austrians, while
raciaIly and sentimentally, AS well
as patronymically, typical Italians
Their native village, Massone, lies
between Arco and Bovereto, under
the Stivo Heights, in a charmlngly
picturesque position. There the
Caproni family owned land which
has. since April 2s, 1915. been
confiscated by Austria as a reprisal
for the exploits Of the Caproni ma
chimes to her disadvantage.
OF the two brothers, Giovanni. or
Gianni, as he is generally called, q
a darkeyed, darkhaired, boyish chap
of 80, who doesn't look his age, is
the creator and inventor, the master
thinker. FEDERICO, the elder Is the
business man. the master builder.
Gianni Studied engineering in Bel
gium.
Escaped From Austria.
When Gianni came home with his
degree from the Institute Monteflore
he had found his way, and gave NM
self I'D entirely to his ideal OF work
While his first airplane was in the
making at Arco e attracted the at
tention of Austria, which tried TO
grab in its own interest the birdman
and the bird; but the dream OF the
young engineer from Massone was
to give, as he put 1t, italian wings
to his Italian motherland." lie re-
fused the Austrian offers, packed up
his tools and models in hurry, ana
counted them and himself lucky
when he was able to unpack them on
solid Italian ground in the plains OF
I,ombardy. This happened in 1903.
Gianni Caproni had an enthusiastic
supporter in his elder brother, Dr.
FEDERICO Caproni, who gave up all
other Interests to share in Giannl
experiences. and staked his personal
share of the family fortune along
with Giannfs own part in the new
The years that followed were hard
for the two brothers, who did not let
themselves, however, be discouraged
From the field Of the Malpensa the
plant was transferred TO Nlzzoia
Ticino. where it remained until 1919
There the Tnonoplane was built Whlcn
beat the italian record Tor tlIne a !l
the world record for speed WIN
motors of less than 40 horsepower;
Hence the raids on Vizzola- Milan
VizzoIa Turin were started, and
nrana rations were made for the
Milan-Rome fight, that was success
full. and, so to speak, the oIilcial
christening ceremony OF the Ilpo
Caproni."
About that time Gianni Caproni
had turned his attention to construc-
ting military machines. In 1912, in
the Italo-Tirkish war, he set out 20
conquer the attention of the world
by offering experiments. IN aerlai
mail delivery, in overnight nights, ia
bomb throwing from the alrplanes.
His monoplanes beat all records OF
speed, climb, speed and distance,
speed and resistance, over and above
foreign machines.
Owing to need of money, he found
IL expedient to offer his plant and
factories to the Italian government
The government took them up, and
the military aviation board, having
ACQUIRED the Caproni plant, retained
incidentally the services of the
Caproni brains. The individualistier
unbureaucratic Gianni was nothing
more than a cog in the machinery Of
a aepartment which had no cause 70
he particularly active at the time!
ana the shadows Of silence covered
his name.
But the brothers kept busy mean
while planning a 300-horsepower ma
chine. and in 1914 they had succeed
ed in perfecting one that new unin-
terruptedly for two hours wlthout
the levers being touched. Later, with
= 100 horsepower machine, Pilot
Emilfo Pensuti reached three miles
Of altitude, carrying 800 pounds
Nav 8 1a15, while Gabrielle a.
Annunzio was speaking at the
celebration Of the Scoglio di Quarto'