Evening star., 1928-12-17
AIR LEADERS PAY
HONOR TO WR|GHTS
Corner Stone Laid Today on
25th Anniversary of Kitty
Hawk Flight.
BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON.

KITTY HAWK, N. c., December IT.
Amid the bleak wind-piled dunes OF
this lonely section Of the North Caro-
lima coast the aeronautical leaders Of
the world are gathered today to pay
tribute to Orville and Wilbur Wright,
who blazed the trail for every man who
wings the air lanes of the world.
Here, 25 years ago this morning, Or
willie Wright, stretched prone across the
wing of the first successful airplane,
released a wire which tethered the
strange craft to a monorail launching
track and glided forward erratically on
the first airplane flight ever made.
Today this same Orville Wright, a
little grayer but still as unspoiled and
TnasSuming as on those obscure days,
stood on the site of his early triumphs
and listened with visible embarrassment
TO the praises of men who are travelling
the road which he opened to them.
This Wright country" rises out OF
the ocean and salt bays into barren
acres of ripping, shifting sand which at
one point has piled up to form mound
nearly 100 feet high, the famous Kill
Devil Hills, which attracted the WrightS
to this isolated, inaccessible part of the
world and from which all of their early
glider flights were made
Try to Anchor Hill.
Upon the shifting crest of this hill,
which Army engineers now are seeking
to anchor by covering the loose sands
with brush and Cape Cod grass, there is
being laid this afternoon the corner
stone of monument to be erected by
the Federal Government in recognition
of the achievements of these brothers.
Then this gathering of aviation en-
gineers, airplane builders, operators and
pioneer airmen from all the parts of the
world will tramp down through the sand
and salt water grass to the level stretch
near the foot of the hill and, on the
spot from which the first airplane flight
began, will witness the unveiling OF a
memorial which has been set up here by
the National Aeronautic Association.
Today'S ceremonies are the culmina-
ton of the first aviation pilgrimage in
history, pilgrimage from the four cor
ners of the world. A majority of the
delegates and guests who attended the
International Civil AeronauticS Confer
ence at Washington are here.
The trip to North Carolina, made by
steamboat and automobile from the Ma
tional Capital, probably will be produc-
tive of important results in the imme-
6iiate future of aeronautics in this coun-
try and abroad. It is the first oppor-
tunity flying people have had to get to-
gether in any numbers, and many state
room and deck-corner conferences were
held yesterday.
Air Mail to Organize.
One of the results of these confer
ences is to be the creation of an or
ganiZation of a pioneer air mail people
who really have been the founders Of
commercial aviation in the United
kofa nro in
reSS for national congress of the early
Army and civilian air mail pilots and
operators.
In addition, there have been Iiaisons
created between various groups OF avia-
fion people during the course of this
trip from which much will be heard
later, in the opinions of those partici-
pating in this unique trip.
The Kitty Hawk pilgrimage encoun-
tered some difficulty at the outset, when
one of the heaviest fogs in river history
held the chartered steamer District OF
Columbia at its Washington wharf
,nearly four hours after the scheduled
departure time. The lines finally were
cast off at l 40 am. Sunday and the
boat nosed its way cautiously down the
winding Potomac channel through a
Boupy fog which hid buoys and beacons.
Reaching the lower Potomac about day.
break, the boat encountered a little
clearer weather and proceeded under
forced draught to make up for lost
time
It had been expected that the vessel
would arrive at Old Point Comfort Sum-
day morning in time for the party to
attend church services, but because of
the delay this was impossible, and an
impromptu church service was held
aboard the vessel under direction of
William P. MacCracken, jr., Assistant
Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics,
and Woody Hockaday member of the
original National Airways Marking Com
mission.
MacCracken Leads Services.
Mr.. MacCracken conducted the serv-
Gees, taking the story of the good Sa-
fnaritan as his text. Senator Hiram
Bingham Of Connecticut, president Of
the National AeronauticS Association,
played piano accompaniment for the
singing of several hymns. The services
were held in the main salon of the
steamer and were attended by virtually
the entire party. In his prayer Mr..
MacCracken referred to the pioneering
work of the WrightS as one of the great
est contributions which had been made
to human progress.
ouI1Nldy dlIEAl4OOll I1AC FCSoCA AOShO0
At Old Point Comfort and the visitors
were taken by automobile to Langley
Field, Hampton, Va. to inspect the me-
mortal laboratories of the National Ad-
viSory Committee for Aeronautics. Di-
viding into three parties, the visitors
were shown the operations of the at
mospheric wind tunnel, the variable
density tunnel, the power plant labora-
tory, the flight research laboratory and
the propeller research tunnel.
In these laboratories engineers of the
national committee, which is Federal
Government organization, have made
many vitality important contributions to
the advancement of airplane engineer
dng and design.
Returning to the steamer for the night,
the party was put ashore at Norfolk
this morning and travelled by automo-
bile to Point Harbor, N. c., taking a
ferry there for Kitty Hawk Landing.
The trip was resumed by Automobile, a
stop being made en- route to Kill Devil
Hills at the home of Capt William j.
Tate, near Coinjock, where the first
Wright glider was assembled.
Barbecue Served.
A North Carolina barbecue and tur-
key dinner was served to the party at
Virginia Dare Shores at noon today by
the Kill Devil Hills Memorial Associ-
alton, which is seeking the establish
ment of a national park here which
will include the two monuments. The
trip to the scene of the early flights
then was completed by automobile and
on foot.
Included in the party making the pill
,Erimage were Orville Wright, Secretary
of War Dwight Davis S. Trubee Davi-
son, Assistant Secretary of War foI
Aeronautics; Edward P. Warner, AS
sistant Secretary of the Navy for Aero
.nautics; DR.. Joseph S. Ames, chairman
of the National Advisory Committee fol
Aeronautics; George K. Burgess, director
of the Bureau of Standards: Mis-
A,-aaIio yIray ry.a mar 4nrO n