Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-16
BY DON GLASSMAN.

sings a wild nOcturne.
Daybreak, a bloody sun heave!
out of the ocean swell and paint:
the crests of Kill Devil Hills. Bar
rem acres of ripping sand play
with crawling shadows. To the
east. the turquoise sea: one-hal1
mile to the west, the pellucic
waters of Roanoke Sound.
That is Wright country. Eternally
a. will be called just Wright country.
Here. IS years ago. man for the first
time was lifted off his legs by powered
s7n2e that sped the pulse of the world
end left him dumbfounded at his own
magic.
Cnly hills. bare and barren. Sands
as IN a Sahara-rounded quartz grains
rolling up and down the gentle slopes
Wind swept dunes lcom naked i'll the
tinted sky. On the surrounding plain
some bent and scraggy trees defy all
gusts that blow.
To oceanside the only signal of habi-
tstion-a towering beacon. That is
Kill Devil Hills Station, United States
Coast Guard
In the Wright country Kill Devil
Station merits solid importance. First.
build and launch the first plane: sec
ondly, because it is the sole monument
on this site which for a quarter of a
century has kept alive the Wright ira
dition. and lastly, because Wilbur
Wright slept there for at least enc week.
Still another reason; Will DOUGH-.
Coast GuardSman, confidant of the
Wriehts. still lives 1T this station.
We found him at his cottage by thu
oceanside. It is a frame house with
elanting roof and an open porch to thu
rear. The front yard, glistening
beach.
Folks to see you, WILL" said his
wife.
SHOW 'em in. It's hot outside" an
swered Mr.. Dough from within.
y. x **
A FTER the visitor was seated on the
leather settee in the cozy front
room the Coast Guardsman appeared
Mr.. Dough. who held the tail of the
first airplane. is straight and strapping
Years have etched his face and turned
white his hair, yet not stopped his
shoulders. He was sans shoes and his
feet were tanned and nut broWn-a
sailor to the marrow. The hairs on his
head might equal the number of times
he and his mates have pushed through
the roaring breakers and pulled like
madmen for some rockbound vessel.
But back to airplaneS. The doughty
Mr.. Dough, the natives say. is reticent
Yet. on this occasion he talked.
"Oh, yes. yes. We knew the Wrights
Knew them WE'LL" he said. "As fine
men you'd want to meet anywhere.
They were gentlemen. those boys.
Never r;,%l
act. All the folks learned to love them.
But not at first. No. not when
they first came here. People felt awful
ly suspicious about them You see, we
couldn't make out what they were
doing here. Strangers w>re rare in
those days. And when the wrights
came here, with boxes and machinery
and whatnot. lots of rumors broke loose
and travelled down the beach.
What did folks say when the
Wrights weren't around9 Well, they
said lots of things-sometimes bad.
Spies. they called en- A spy is what
you call detective I guess And
what did they spy on? Ha. nobody
ever found out. The only things they
ever spied on were birds. And nobody
ever gave a whoop about that. Birds
ere birds. We've been seeing sea gulls
all our lives
The Wrights studied those birds out
here on this beach. And some fellows
would hide behind the houses and
slnacks end try to listen to what they
talked about. HIM, they spied on the
spies, but never learned anything about
their secrets.
And then some one would say:
What lunatic asylum did they break
out OFF,
Others would laugh. or tell more
Jokes about the brothers.
THE Wrights killed sea gulls and
studied how the wings tapped and the
bones were put together. Yes. sir:
right out on this beach. they would
walk and watch the flying, soaring; dip
ping and swooping gulls. For hours
ami hours. We didn't know what to
make of 1t
And after having watched they
would go through all the crazy motions
of those birds. 1t was wonderful the
way they could initiate those big wings.
Bending and twisting their wrists. and
fiapuing their elbows just like the gulls
mo. I don't know of ANYBODY who
thought all this stuff would bring on
airplanes.
Il would ask 'em: why did YOU
come down here. on this lonely beach?'
And they would answer: Well. we
wanted to get off by ourselves :.
away from the paper men, because
they bother U.S. We want to carry
on these experiments by ourselves
And do YOU think You'll ever be
able to fly with that contraption you
have?' I asked them.
HIN. I don't know Wilbur said.
we might. It's worth trying
Nobody believed they would. though.
And We told them that. too. But they
didn't seem to mind. They went right
on working and working.
"'THE wrights came to Capt. Ward
of the Coast Guard station one
day and said they would like to have
ments. The captain said yes end al
lowed us to run over to the Wright
can1p whenever we were off duty at the
station
oh it was lots of fun for us. It was
something to talk about on this lonely
beach, where shipwrecks make the only
excitement. never lost chance to go
to the Wright camp, and 1 believe I
went there for about six months before
they made that first power fight. Hard
ly missed dav in six months and I en-
loyed every bit OF 1t. None OF us ever
got one cent for his time and work. !
haze a fortune in memories. I'm glad
helped
The brothers were bothered bv paper
men, Wouldn't have any business with
reporters. Seeing one around the
Wrights would sit down and not move.
we won't fly until they leave the
Wrights said.
TT seemed to me they were poor
Anyway. they didn't show signs of hav-
ing much money. Ate simple food and
most of the time cooked it themselves.
For while Wilbur Wright ate In Mr..
Etheridge's house It's gone now and
you can still see the old boards lying in
the sand behind my house. When the
brothers went into housekeeping they
made a stove out Of an old lard can.
You know the Wrights had a sister.