The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1918-09-13

Caproni received his early training.
| His elementary schooling was acquired
| in the small and isolated institutions
! of the Trentino. Even in these schools
! the boy'S love for mathematics was in
! dicated and appreciated, and when nc
| had finished the courses presented his
aged father and mother packed his
! few belongings, bestowed upon him
! their blessings and sent him norm
away from the TrentinO To the engI-
necring college at Munich, Bavaria.
Was Graduated When of Age.
on his twenty-frst birthday he was
graduated from that institution with
the degree Of civil engineer. 1t was
| about this time that the Wright broth
ers began To demonstrate 10 Il skepti-
cal world that man could fly in heav-
| ier-than-air machine.
| Their successes 50 fired the young
| Italian engineer with the dream Of be-
| coming creator that he decided upon
| aviation as his life work. Despite his
racial impetuoSity, he realized that II
theoretical groundwork would he nee
essary. and instead of joining the
ranks of the exhibition tlierS who i'm
mediatcly sprang up in Europe he con-
! tinued the business of prying truths
from textbooks.
1t was a hard pull, for the expense
q { higher education along proper
s,.., s,sss vas far rrol smaLl ~, rs rs es, ei:,;sS
offered Tor exhibition flights We're
large. But young Caproni stuck II 6Iit,
and travelling still further north md
away from the Trentino, he went to
Licg2 and entered the Mirai'orl insti-
tute in that city, .-
He applied himself 10 the more diff
cult courses IN its curriculum, among
them being that Of electro-tcchnics.
This he mastered, and Immediately
brOudened the scope Of his pilgrimage
for knowledge to include Paris and the
flying fields Of the continent.
He was always an irrepressible en-
thusiaSt on the future possibilities of
the airpanc but usually tempered his
advanced and what in those days were
radical, views with solid facts cleaned
from his long preparation.
In the earlier days of the French
demonstration flying the young man
! from the Trentino spent Il great deal
Of his time talking with the men who
were making exhibition flights and i'm
proving on the theories of the Wright
brothers. He was always ready TO
discuss the future of the airplanc and
( was frequently considered quite mad
when he talked of time and distance
annihilating machines capable of car
/ rying as many as ten and twenty men.
! Not Daunted by Skepticism.
! But the Skepticism of the earlier
flers, and many of them We're painful
/ ~ frank in their characterization of
| Caproni'S dream, did little to crush
! the spirit of the man who has since
! become the producer of heavier-than-
! air machines which are larger and can
do more than those he pictured in his
own mind in the earlier days.
When he had drawn 4 great mass OF
opinions, practical experiences and be-
liefS from the earlier birdmen of Eli
rope he returned to the Trentlno,
where he spent some time digesting
: Them.
Finally CaprOni was ready to build
his first machine. He enlisted the aid
of ordinary Italian carpenters, and in
! q small shed NOT far from ATcO began
the construction Of machine. 1t grew
under his direction, but it did not grow
as fast MS the suspicious Of the Aus
trlnn police authorities.
CaprOni was watched and hindered
in every possible manner. The police
did not limit their aggression to the
inventor, but extended it to his broth
or.