The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1928-10-12

,lC hSSUCIdtiOh. ..r
The erection of the marker and
the laying of the cornerstone vii
be the occasion of a celebration tc
be participated in by high govern
ment officials and by delegates ttl
the International Civil Aeronautics
Congress in Washington. Dec. IA td
II. 1t is planned for delegates k
the international conference, in
Guiding representatives of many
foreign nations, to make pilgrim \
age to Kill Devil Hills on Dec. l7th
and 1t is expected that 200 to 300
distinguished aviators and friends
of aviation will make the pilgrim.
age.
The marker to be erected by tho
National Aeronautic Association
will be distinctly apart from tho
great memorial to be erected b.
Congress at a later date.
A special committee Of the aero
nautic association. appointed bJ
Senator Hiram Bingham, will have
charge of the celebration. with The
cooperation Of the Kill Devil Hills
Memorial Association. .,,,-
The Hoover Mind at Work
The Congressional Commission
headed by Hon. Herbert Hoover
delegated to carry out the purpose
of the Act of Congress authorizing
the construction of a monument
commemorating the first flight of 6
power driven, passenger-carrying
heavier than air flying machine b.
the Wright Brothers at Kill Dcvii
Hills. has decided that the memorial
shall take the form Of Coas'
Guard Station on the beach at Kill
Devil Hills and a small monumen.
on the actual site of the flight, ac-
cording to advices to this newspaper
from Washington this week.
Plans for the station and the
monument are being drawn and tht
Commission has In mind q suitable
celebration and the laying OF 8
corner stone on the occasion of the
international celebration of the first
Wright flight at Kill Devil Hills or
Dec. II, 1928.
That Mr.. Hoover has insisted up
on the money authorized for this
monument being employed in the
utilitarian enterprise providing 9
needed Coast GGard Station at Kill
Devil Hills is q keen disappoint-
ment to every friend of the Wrights
and contrary to the best sentiments
of the world of aeronautics. Here
we get a concrete illustration of the
cold, practical workings Of the
Hoover mind.
Mr.. Hoover's original idea was @
combination Coast Guard Station
and beacon, the beacon to be OF q
height to project great beams oi
light inland and seaward. providing
a practical guide to both ships at
sea and ships in the air. Mr.. Hoover
reckoned the cost of such. a memor-
ial about 100000. Plans were
drawn. embodying Mr.. Hoover'f
recommendations and those plans
were promptly rejected by the Ma
tional Commission of Fine" Arts.
The Fine Arts Commission con-
tending that a purely utiIitarian
structure might serve the interests
of strict economy, but that by nc
stretch of the imagination could il
be regarded as a fitting memorial
to the Wright brothers and the great
historical fact which it was de-
signed to commemorate.
Major General B. F.. Cheatham
Quarter Master General of the u
s. Army was called in in an effort
to reconcile the differences between
Mr.. Hoover and the Fine Arts Com
mission. Congress appropriated
$4,000 for preliminary plans fol
the monument and a competition
for a design. But Mr.. Hoover seem:
to had his way anu at this tim,
seems to have abandoned the ides
of a beacon and will have Coas
Guard Station merely.
But this will hardly be an ordi.
nary Coast Guard Station; there
will be a national competition fol-
the design and the design will bt
approved by the National Commis.
sion of Fine Arts. Congress vii
provide any sum of money required
for the construction of the memoria
when its form and design are ap-
proved and accepted by Mr.. Hoover
and the Commission of Fine Arts.
The Kill Devil Hills Memorial
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