The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-07-15
Capt. Boyriven Scars Over
From Hazelhurst While
City Is Still Asleep.
DARTS UP EAST RIVER
Squadron of Allied AviatOrs
Delight Long Island Resi-
dents With Stunts.


luxurious Sunday morning snooze. an
early birdmaR. determined upon catch
the first worm In the Bastile Day cele-
bration. left Hazelhurst Field at Hemp
stead. L. l.. and flew to Manhattan.
A half hour later the early birdman
returned to his starting point after hav-
ing achieved the unprecedented feat Of
diving under all four East River bridges
"a feat the more remarkable because
1t was performed In a hig De Haviland
war plane equipped with a Liberty mo-
tor.
The intrepid airman was Capt A. ].
Boyriven of the French aviation sec
tion. who came to this country from the
battle front in France recently to teach
the young American fier a few simple
war tricks. such for instance as flying
around with ones head where ones feet
ought to be while dropping bombs.
With his mechanician strapped in the
seat behind him Capt. Boyrlven scared
from the Hazelhurst Field at about $3.50
o'clock. With not a vestige Of breeze
stirring. weather conditions favored the
flight. A rapidly dissolving film Of mist
modified the rays Of an over ambitious
sun.
Through this thinning mist the plane
swooped down on Governors Island from
a northeasterly direction and described
wide circle with the centre Of the island
as the pivotal point. while Capt. Boy
rven reconnoitred to see that there
were no boats under the bridges to In
terfere with his contemplated stunt.
River Clear of All Craft.
As far as the aviator could see from
his altitude of approximately one thou
sand feet there was not O. craft moving
on tho river so he dipped the nose of
his machine and undertook the fric-
tionless downward glide at an angle
which to those along the shore appeared
to be about forty-fve degrees po-
liceman and a handful of spectators
were watching him from the middle OF
the Brooklyn Bridge as he tipped under
the structure. To these he waved his
hand in salute and with another deft
motion released the folds of an enor-
nous French flag attached to the under
part Of his machine.
So closely did the Captain estimate
his distances those on the bridge could
almost discern his features. 1t seemed
to the spectators that the top OF his
machine must have almost scraped the
network Of cables under the bridge. This
was merely n tTlCk Oh tHc eye, HoNeNcTs
for actually the aviator struck an alti-
tude midway between the runway of
the bridge and the water. and then right
ing his machine shot on his way under
the Manhattan and the Williamsburg
bridges at the rate of about one hundred
miles an hour.
When he had left the Williamsburg
Bridge behind Capt. Boyriven found 1t
necessary to slacken the speed Of his
machine so that after passing under
Greensboro Bridge he could turn a sharp
angle and start of on his homeward
flight. Shooting his plane upward he
described another graceful arc, dipped in
under Greensboro Bridge between Black
wells Island and the Long Island shore
and then swerving to the right winged
his way back to Hampstead. the whirring
of his motor submerged in the congratu-
latory footing Of whistles
Flight Seen Only by Early Risers.
The flight was part of the days pro-
gramme arranged by the Committee on
Allied Tribute to France, which had
charge of the Bastile Day celebration.
Owen johnson. secretary of the commit
tee. originally planned to have Capt.
Boyriven undertake his stunt at later
hour. but this schedule was overturned
late Saturday night and no official an
nouncement was made of the time at
which the flight was to start
Consequently there were few people
along the shores or on the bridges when
the plane whizzed Its way up the river
Nor was there sufficient time for crowds
to gather. for the whole performance was
over in the twinkling Of an eye-or two
or three twinklings at the most.
AT 2 o'clock in the afternoon the Cap
tntp tlyifI, m x,IA
American aviation section set off again
from Hazelhurst Field in command of
two squadrons Of American and French
airmen. Flying in battle formation the
squadrons passed over number Of Long
Islands summer resorts, showering down
upon the surprised Inhabitants and the
still more surprised pleasure seekers
souvenirs in the form of intertwined
American and French flags attached to
placards reading, Greetings from French
and American aviators. United now and
forever
After making the loop OF the summer
resorts the airmen, still preserving their
battle alignment. started off for Man
haitian, where they planned to let loose
another shower OF souvenirs and to en-
gage in some special cloud antics over
Central Park, with mock air battle be-
tween Capt. Boyriven and a fellow Of
nCeF as the CLIMAX
shower Upsets Plans.
An untimely shower overlook the
fiers at Rockville Center, however, and
drove them back to Hampstead for shell
ter.
But although the New Workers. were
doomed to disappointment in this re-
spect they were shortly to witness an
other air spectacle of an unusual
nature. for just as the sun struggled
back into place through the clouds in
q courageous effort to justify the day
light saving programme, big navy
Blimp. apparently from the station at
Rockaway Park. labored cumbersome
ly over Brooklyn, sometimes flying so
low as almost to scrape the housetops
The sinister looking dlrigible pursued
its sullen way across the bast River to
Manhattan, where II rose to a height OF
about 1000 feet and circled above Madi-
son Square Garden while Secretary OF
the Navy Daniels was reading Presi-
dent Wilson's message TO the audience
attending the Bastile Day mass meeting
For five or ten minutes the Blimp fur
nished entertainment for the big over
flow crowd that had been unable to Jam
it's way into the Garden. hTen II ambled
of in northerly direction and after
cavorting around Harlem wendell its
dignihed way homeward.
After all the aerial demonstrations
were over medical s|atisticians renortad