Evening star., 1928-03-01
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

Now science is "up in the air" as to
who invented aviation. Was 1t Wilbur
and Orville Wright. or was it DR.. S. P.
Langley, the late secretary OF the
Smithsonian Institution? Was it Da-
RUS Green? In any case. it was an
American-perhaps.
There was Daedalus OF Athens,
Greece, who, according to Greek my
thology, made wooden COW and set a
bad example TO modern dairymen with
pumps--not dancing CATERS. but wooden
pumps whose mouths water whenever
COW bawls Daedalus invented the
Labyrinth where the Minotaur was shut
up and that angered Minos. so Daeda-
lus next constructed wings for himself
and his son, Icar,ls. TO escape Minos by
flying to Italy. They started there, but
Icarus exceeded the speed limit, and.
lodging cop. detoured SO near the hot
sun that his wings melted OF and he
fell into the Potomac River near GUAM
tico--or somewhere into the briny deep.
Upon second thought. it was Prof. Lang
ley's 'aerodrome" which ducked into
the river with no better success in flying
than had Icarus.
President Roosevelt once had great
public interest In his Ananias Club
its membership grew rapidly. A more
modern club might be made up OF the
Darius Greens. the Icaruses and others
who tried TO f1y and didn't. II will in
clude as active members everybody who
had dreamed of riding the clouds. so 1t
will take in Arabian Nights" travellers
with their Magic Carpet II will in
dorse the prophecy of Bishop wilkins
who. nearly a century ago. foretoid tina,
''the time would come when gentlemen,
when they were 10 go on a Journey
would call for their wings as regularly
as they call for their boots"
Tennvsou dreamed OF nations with
airy nayies, graphing with the central
blue"-unable 10 get feet of cruisers
on a 5-5-3 ratio.
III fact, since the days Of Ovid. traffic
conditions have been growing worse and
worse in the heavcns--judging from the
boasts Of the alleged inventors OF aero
dromes and airplaneS and wings. SO that
today ''vitaret coelum Phaeton. 81
vieergt"
Nobody cares who killed Cock Robin
but there Is great excitement now as ~
who first really outtiew the bird. Ac-
cording To the savantS Of the Smith
sonian Institution. Secretary Langley
got the start on the Dayton Yankee
fakirS' las James Gordon Bennett
called the Wrigh,S. telegraphing from
Paris TO direct Herald reporter eo en-,
pose them,. and So the reporter actu-
ally went to Kitty Hawk. y c.. i'll DE-
cSmber. 1908. 10 get the dope" on them:
and the plane flew almost over his head
bearing Oryille Wright upon the first
actual maa-flight ever achieved, They
had made glider flights there III 1900.
The smithsonian Sasants say that
Secretary Langley had been working
out the scientific principles for years.
and his aerodroms almost flew~-in fact.
IL years later tl9i4. a skilled aviator
named Glenn II. C,w;iSs. whom Wilbur
and Orville Wright had sued for infringe
meht OF their patents tana gotten iudS~
menti, arranged With the Smithsonian
Institution To ship the wreckaSe oi the
Langley model up To his works in Ham
moi,dSport. N y. and there, after the
wings had been fixed and the center of
equilibrium had been adjusted and some
other parts restored on May -. 1914. IL
flew nearly $50 feet laterally over
lake, II Is SO reported In the isls An
nual Repoft OF the Smithsonian tnStitu-
tion. MIR, CttrtiSs was then authorized
to equip the Langley with a i9iA stand
ard Curtiss motor and propeller" The
report remarks that this Was the same
aerodronc that was begun III 1898 for
the war Department, and the tests
thus far made have shown that the late
Secretary Langley succeeded In building
the hrst aefoplane, or 'aesodsNnae, As
he named II. capable of the SuStsnaNee
VI free flight with II man"
What Is the digiercnee between
capable" and performances
M Langley machine ever did ny with
passenger during the life oI the in
ventnr, while on july 80, 1909 durins
the experimental tests. the Wright plane
actually did uy acroSs country, tIuM
Fort Myer tn Alexandria, Va. and re-
turn, That was not a glider trip, but
flight, at an average speed vt IL mites
an hour according ~ the official re-
port al the Smithsonian tnsklintica
That was SIX wears before Ais, ClrtsSS.
With the repaired aud returned and re~
winged Langley Maeh,ne, flew iaa feet
at Hnmaaonasport, N, Y,
II was III Nrtober, 1908, that the
Langley plane had fallen into the river,
owing, as claimed, IL the failure at hs
catapuh to start II property UPON the
air. II was badly wrecked and as the
War Department, which had been
nnanoins the experiments IL the total
ot 100000, then withdrew further
financial support, the wreckage Mas put
into storage at the Institution aud lay
there until the curtlss resneasnatiSn III
laiA,
In an au.,.sh IN a h ing iattar hy ArNtlla