Evening star., 1943-12-18
Orv;ne Wright Silently Accepts
WorId Tribute at Dinner Here

|WorId 7 7Hbute {
Orville Wright accepted silently
last night the tributes of some of
the most illustrious men of this
country and the United Nations who
gathered in the Statler Hotel last
night to commemorate the 40th an
niverSary of the worlds first sue
cessful flight at Kitty Hawk, N. C.
Even the presence of cabinet off,
GERS, ambassadors, admirals, gen.
erals-notables from every walk of
Ilife-could not induce the shy man
who made the first sustained fight
in heavier -than-air machine to
deliver speech. More than 300
persons attended the affair to pay
homage to Orville Wright and to his
brother, Wilbur, who died in 1912,
and who was co-inventor of the air.
lplane.
Presidents Message Read.
In a message read by Secretary
OF Commerce Jones, President
Roosevelt lavished praise on the
Wright brothers for their contribu-
ton to the progress of the world.
THE gift to the world by Orville
and Wilbur Wright" Mr.. Roosevelt
said, has made a broad highway
OF the skies over which time and
distance are cut hundredfold. 1t
Is our duty to keep these air high
ways free and open, in order that
all peoples of the world may more
and more become good neighbors-
better neighbors-and that the in
strument of flying shall serve to
Keep the peace once 1t has again
been achieved
"Orville and Wilbur Wright did not
labor and toll to create an instru-
ment of war. Knowing them as
DO, their inspiration was not a de-
StructlVe weapon. The impelling
force which drove them on to ulti-
mate success was to make a contri-
button to the progress of men.
When the war is won, it will be
our obligation to convert to peace
ful pursuits the gains in the field
lof aviation that war has brought.
They are indeed many -. Expert
ments which would have required
decades will have been ACCOMPLISHED
IN a few years and, If we will, we
can use all of these advances for
Ia lasting peace. God willing, we
will"
Deluge Of Testimonials.
A message from Secretary of State
Hull was added to the deluge of
testimonials.
There are those who say that
the airplane has contributed more
to the forces of destruction than it
has to the work OF peace-loving
life Mr.. Hull said. II think that
the vast possibilities opened by this
new form of transport and COM
munication have increased the op-
portunity of statesmen and of
peoples to knit together new fabric
OF international understanding and
cooperation.
1T must be our aim to use air
transportation nationally and in
ternatlonally as means of serving
an ever-growing number of people.
1t must be our policy to seek ar
rangements and understandings so
that the planes which fly overhead
shall always be vehicles of peace
and not means of destruction"
AS feature of the occasion, Gen.
H. H. Arnold. chief of the Army
Air Forces, was awarded the Collier
Trophy "for his organization and
leadership of the Army Air Forces
throughout the world" The pres
entation was made by Mr.. Wright.
Tribute to Air Forces.
Gen. Arnold, in accepting the
award, paid tribute to the men and
women of the air forces.
Your faith-and mine-in our
airmen should never waver,' he
said. 1--WE should be grateful and
proud of these young men-young
in years, perhaps. but men in ex-
perience. character and accomplish
ments. We should be proud of the
planes they fly. That combination
of men and planes forms today the
most powerful air force the world
has ever SEEN"
Undersecretary Of War Patterson
told the gathering of aviation en-
thusiasts of secret" planes he said
were already being used against the
enemy.
"We have secret planes in the
air today" he said, whose perform
ance would startle even the Sunday
supplement artists" He said he be-
lieved aviation, despite tremendous
advancements since 1903. was still
on the threshold of new and great
er discoveries.
Dependent on Air Power.
Secretary of Navy Knox told the
gathering that the Allies were de-
pendent "to very great extent on
superior air power to win the war"
Men such as Orville Wright - =
will see to it that this is accom-
plished. We depend on them to win
for us all the benefits of peacetime
aviation which we will share with
our allies and the freed peoples of
the EARTH"
Messages were also read by Sir
Ronald Campbell, representing Sir
Archibald Sinclair, British Secre-
tary of State for Air; DR.. Wei Tao
ming, Ambassador from China, rep
resenting the Chinese Minister of
Communications, and Fedor r.
Orekhov, First Secretary of the So
Wet Embassy.
Other Guests at Dinner.
Other guests at the dinner in
cluded such notables as Attorney
General Biddle, Postmaster General
Walker. Paul v. McNutt, chairman
OF the War Manpower Commission;
Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House;
1t. Gen. William Knudsen; Admiral
Ernest j. King, commander in chief
OF the United States Fleet; 1t. Gen.
Brehon Sommervell and Can't. Eddie