Flying Machines and War

1895

No one has yet devised a perfectly safe system of either navigation or warfare. War, at any rate, under the most favorable conditions, is a very dangerous game, but nations are not deterred from going to war by thoughts of torpedoes, torpedo catchers, smokeless powder or explosive shells. Now, argues Mr. Maxim, it is shown to be possible to make a machine that will actually fly at a very high velocity, and nothing remains but to learn how to maneuver it.

"In view," he says, "of the decided advantage which a flying machine would give its possessor over an enemy I do not think that in case of war European nations would hesitate to employ them, even if one-half of the men navigating them were killed. At the present time no difficulty is ever found in getting volunteers to make a torpedo boat attack upon a man-of-war, something which is infinitely more dangerous than navigating a flying machine would be, as the latter might be painted black and make its attack at night or in a fog, when it would be quite impossible for the enemy to strike back."

And yet, after all, is it not a poor thought that "the first European nation which takes advantage of this new engine of destruction will be able to modify the map of Europe to its own ideas?" Is the dream of centuries to end only in superiority in the art of manslaughter? — All the Year Round.

Airplane Is Stolen, Then, Given Up by Two Flying Burglars

1920

The first airplane theft in Chicago has occurred at Checkerboard Field.

The field hangars are not extensively guarded. So there was no interference to the two men who arrived at the flying field at daybreak and opened a hangar where a Standard plane was housed.

The pair trundled the plane around so that its nose pointed into the wind. Evidently both understood flying. One climbed into the pilot's seat, while the other turned the propeller and primed the motor.

Then at the shout of "contact" the switch was on and the blades spun into action.

The man who had cranked got into the forward cockpit and with a roar the Standard sped across the ground and skimmed into the air.

Two or three sleepy mechanics who had watched the take-off suddenly realized what was taking place. A telephone call was put in for officials of the field.

An hour afterward several ships had taken the air and from extreme altitudes the pilots were searching with glasses for the stolen plane.

But later in the day the missing machine was found. The would-be thieves had been forced to land four miles from Checkerboard Field. The men had stripped the plane of instruments, valued at several hundred dollars.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 1.

When Jimmy Flew

1916

Story for the Children

Jimmy was just an ordinary, wide-awake, curiosity-satisfying boy, with a very inventive mind.

In the short term of years that had elapsed since he started on the road to learning, three things that were of much interest to him had been born into the world. They were the automobile, the motor-cycle, the aeroplane. Upon wireless telegraphy he had not bestowed more than a passing thought, for, as he forcibly expressed it, "it didn't get you nowhere."

Of the first-mentioned three he desired to make for himself one of each, and in reality had made an automobile that went haltingly and uncertainly down the road for distances varying from a few feet to half a mile. Upon its completion Jimmy was the king of his gang for ten days — just ten days and no longer.

He was coasting down the long hill in front of his father's home one day when the machine became unmanageable and ran away. On the bridge it struck a cow, breaking her leg so she had to be killed for beef. The automobile, with Jimmy at the wheel, then jumped the balustrade, landing in the water upside down, and had it not been for ready assistance Jimmy would have been drowned.

Jimmy was just at that age when he was easily frightened at something of no consequence, yet would, with perfect equanimity, climb to the top of a forty-foot windmill tower while the wheel was turning in a perfect gale, and wonder why his parents became so excited and ordered him down forthwith. It took more than an automobile accident to dampen his inventive spirit, so he took up the manufacture of a motor-cycle with renewed enthusiasm. In it, however, he found more than his match and had to give up the project. His father's withdrawing all his assistance after his former accident no doubt was the controlling factor in the failure. The making of an aeroplane was never considered very seriously by Jimmy, as he had never seen one outside of books, let alone get close enough to one to see how the thing was made.

This explains why Jimmy's heart throbbed with excitement when he learned that there was to be an aeroplane flight at the forthcoming celebration, and he became more excited than ever a few days before the much-looked-for date when a force of men appeared in the field alongside his father's orchard and were soon erecting the canvas hangar that was to house the machine.

Jimmy was at the spot post-haste, and dogged the steps of the workmen from morning until night, carrying bolts, wire, or anything that their slightest wish signified they needed.

Jimmy absorbed the erection of that biplane as a sponge absorbs water.

He was a very likely boy, and the men took a great fancy to him, explaining everything in detail, and when the last nut had been tightly fastened, the last wire drawn taut until it fairly sang, the machine was pushed into the open, Jimmy placed in the seat and a picture taken of the youthful aviator.

While he sat there the young man who operated the machine showed him how the aeroplane was guide and how the various plans were manipulated.

"Say, when a fellow has to use both feet and both hands and his back, he does not have very much time for anything else, does he?" Jimmy asked, wonderingly.

"No time to look at the landscape that's sure," his instructor replied.

The aviator and his mechanicians were seated a few feet away, eating dinner; Jimmy was sitting in the machine, trying to explain to Bud Wilkins and Jerry Smith just how the thing flew, when Bud, in a spirit of fun, gave the paddles a whirl. Immediately there was a sputter that grew rapidly into a roar. Before Jimmy or the men were aware of what had happened, the machine was bounding along over the field.

The frightened boy just had one fleeting glimpse of the men as they jumped to their feet in a futile attempt to catch the machine, and then he saw the frightened face of his mother as he sped past the house. As he turned to look back he unknowingly raised the planes and barely cleared the high hedge at the end of the field.

Higher and higher he went.

The whole country seemed to be one large green carpet; golden splotches, showing where the oats had been cut, made the cornfields a greener hue by contrast, while here and there a tin roof was betrayed by flashing the rays of the sun up into his face.

By the time he had realized his position Jimmy attempted to lower his planes to keep from going any higher. He did it so suddenly that he nearly turned over. He turned half around in his seat to see how far he had gone, and the machine shot around in a sharp turn, canting at an angle that was positively dangerous.

"I'm on my way back, anyhow," he muttered between his chattering teeth. "If I ever get down all right, I'll be some big chief," he continued, not without a certain exultation, in spite of his perilous position, as he watched the country below him passing like some huge kaleidoscope.

The motor made such a roar that he could hardly think, yet he reveled in its smoothness and easy running, boy though he was.

He was almost over the town again, and as he sped by there were innumerable black specks in the open spaces and in the streets, mere cracks between the rows of buildings. He looked for his own home, but was almost past before he noticed a smoke coming from an open field and rightly guessed that they were signaling him, so he could land safely.

"Good thing," he thought. "The whole works down there look as level as a floor from up here. But how am I going to get down?" he wailed.

He would have to turn again, and as he really did not know whether he had made the turn before with his right hand or his left foot, or his left hand or his right foot, or his back, he was not a bit easy, and his altitude made him chary about experimenting. But there was one thing sure — he must turn soon, for he was approaching the Big Woods, where a safe landing would be impossible.

He racked his brain trying to remember some of the instructions the aviator had given him, but could not call many of them to mind. After several gradual dips and rises he finally was started on the return trip,

As he squared away confidence came to him, and he thought of Bud and wondered how he felt. The last glimpse Jimmy had of Bud was the latter being caught in the back of the neck by a guy wire and turned over and over like a tumbler at the circus. It would have been real funny if he had not been so scared.

Jimmy was becoming more composed with each passing minute, and when he came in sight of the field and the hangar he lowered the planes and came gradually to earth. He did not know how to shut off the power, however, and sped past the terrified men and his frenzied parents like a shot, going with all speed toward a deep ravine that lay diagonally across the field. Machine and boy went to the bottom in a crumpled heap.

When Jimmy came to consciousness some time later he was in bed in his own room, and his father was bending over him solicitously.

"Young man, this is the last time I am going to call you for breakfast. You roll out now or we'll go to the parade without you."

It was then that Jimmy flew. — Harmon R. Andrews, in The Junior Herald.

Submarine Sunk a Aeroplane

1916

Berlin, Sept. 22. — The French submarine Fousaus has been sunk in the southern Adriatic by bombs dropped from Austro-Hungarian naval aeroplanes, the Austrian admiralty announced today. The entire crew of 29 men were rescued and made prisoners.

Two More Zeppelins Vanquished

1916

London, Sept. 24. — Of the 12 zeppelins which invaded the British Isles last night to deal death and destruction from the skies, two were destroyed.

One came down a flaming torch, as did the zeppelin L-21, destroyed three weeks ago, while the second, disabled by gunfire, effected a landing, which saved the lives of the crew, who tonight are prisoners. The crew of the first raider died in the consuming flames of their own ship.

Many who saw the shrapnel bursting like skyrockets above the invader which subsequently caught fire, think there must have been several direct hits. Many aeroplanes were aloft and attacked the zeppelins from all sides.

The raiders took a heavy toll of lives before their destruction, 28 persons being killed and 99 wounded in the metropolitan district of London. Two persons were killed, probably four, and 17 were wounded in the provinces.

The roar of dropping bombs was heard in many districts where the raiders were invisible.

Sees Commercial Use of Flying Craft Soon

1916

Aviator Says Aeroplanes Will Be Used for Express and Mail Service Within Few Years.

"I expect to see aeroplanes in daily commercial use within two or three years. They will be used for high-class express and mail service and there will be no trouble of these machines crossing the ocean."

This was the statement made by Art Smith, 22 years old, champion "loop-the-loop" aviator, who is in a Chicago hospital for treatment of a leg which he injured in an accident in Japan.

Smith said he would not fly again himself, but that he planned to become interested in a $5,000,000 plant for the manufacture of aeroplanes in Japan.

"I think some of the aeroplanes in military use in Europe now can fly across the Atlantic," said Smith. One of the latest Curtiss machines in the British army has three motors and measures ninety feet from tip to tip of its wings. It is equipped with boats and can travel on water."

Smith has had a romantic and brilliant career as an aviator. He built his own aeroplane in Fort Wayne, Ind., when 16 years old. It was in this machine that he flew with his sweetheart to Hillsdale and was married. It was the first aeroplane elopement.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 9.

Hearing for the Deaf on Pike's Peak

Editorial briefs, Sept. 1910

A deaf man who climbed Pike's Peak found he could hear at that altitude. But the difficulty of the cure practically lies in the fact that it takes up his residence where he can hear there will be nobody for him to listen to.

Tarred, feathered and bitten is the New Jersey variation according to that story of the victim wbo was left thus scantily attired as the prey of the mosquitoes.

When a young married couple go away by aeroplane on their honeymoon their destination is sufficiently uncertain to fulfill all the requirements.

Perhaps the same fellows who are searching for germs in ice cream this summer will be hunting for them in our buckwheat cakes next winter.

If they insist on confiscating ice cream cones the small boy and some big ones, too, will be robbed of one of their most palatable enjoyments.

Will the insurance companies demand increased premiums from those who love to see the airships go round?

Vancouver to Have Largest Telescope

Feb. 1920

Its 10-foot Lens Said to Be the World's Greatest

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The largest telescope in the world is being erected on the Vancouver exhibition grounds, and will be one of the big attractions of this year's fair.

The lens of this powerful spyglass is ten feet in diameter, this being six inches larger than the world-famous telescope at Leipsig. It has been in the possession of T. S. Sherman, Vancouver's meteorologist and weather man, for nearly six years, but construction of the telescope was deferred owing to war conditions.



Tests His 150-Pound Airplane

Midget Flier Has 22-foot Spread and 9 H. P. Engine

REDWOOD CITY, Cal. — New aviation history was written here when a 22-foot airplane, driven by a nine horse power motorcycle engine and weighing only 150 pounds, flew for four or five minutes at an altitude of not more than 50 feet.

The plane was constructed by C. F. Flinger of Palo Alto, who said he has been working for two years on it.

L. E. Melandy piloted the plane, which Flinger calls the "Flivver of the Air."

Melandy drove the mosquito plane for about four miles and upon his return to the flying field here declared that everything worked perfectly.

New War Appliance

1917

A newcomer into the family of war appliances is the motorcycle-carrying airplane. A special platform built between the planes juts outside the body of the airplane, carries the motorcycle. The addition of this machine greatly enhances the effectiveness of the airplane and affords a quick means of land travel in case of a shortage of gasoline or disability of the airplane engine. If the aviators who were lost in the Mexican desert during General Pershing's expedition had been equipped with motorcycles their return to headquarters would have been a matter of only a few hours instead of a three days' wait for the searching party.


Learned Too Late

"Much evil comes from bad company," as the man said who found himself on the gallows by the side of the hangman.


The Average Man

It would discourage the average man if he was able to realize how very important he isn't!

Powerful Aero Engines

1917

In testing an airplane engine of 200 horse power a Detroit company mounted it upon a heavy motor truck, and the aerial propeller sent the track flying along a boulevard at the rate of more than 40 miles an hour. This was a speed that the truck could not begin to develop under its own motive power, and the method furnished a better practical test of the 12-cylinder airplane engine than was possible in the testing laboratory or in any stationary trial on blocks.

As an additional test the rear wheels of the two-ton truck were locked, so that they could not revolve, and in this condition it was driven across a ball park by the airplane engine and propeller through heavy drifts of snow and over ice. The motor weighs 800 pounds and develops power sufficient to drive a 12-passenger airplane at 40 miles an hour. — Popular Mechanics Magazine.


Won His Lost Watch

An extraordinary watch story is told by a Welsh campaigner home on leave from African battlefields. When he was in German West Africa he lost a wristlet watch. It was not very valuable, so he did not worry a lot about it. But many months later, when on active service in German East Africa, he took a share in a raffle for a watch. He won, and to his amazement found that the prize was his own watch.

Teacher Refuses Tribute to Santa Claus

1910

By Samuel Parker of Chicago

During the recent holiday season a teacher in one of the Chicago public schools was subjected to not a little criticism for refusing to pay tribute to the Santa Claus myth, declaring it to be wrong morally to teach a child a falsehood or to tell the child anything as a truth which it would discover to be false later on.

Instead of being a target for thoughtless ridicule that teacher should command the respect of every teacher and parent who conscientiously regards the moral training of children. The holiest thing this side of heaven is the faith of a little child and he who carelessly or purposely abuses it perpetrates a wrong from which the abused child seldom fully recovers. If parents and friends would sidetrack the heathen myth and bestow their endearing gifts in their own names the dear children would be just as happy and escape the shock of falsehood and deception at the hands of those who ought to love them too well to expose them to such danger.


Romance of the Future

"Do you see that cloud? It was behind one just like that that I first kissed you." — Town and Country.

Flying Bicycle Given Test; It Works Great

1915

Latest Air Traveler Is Triumph of Chicagoan's Genius — Goes by Foot Power or Motor

Now comes the bicycle of the air — a noiseless and engineless flying machine operated by foot and hand power.

A. C. McClaughry of Chicago, son of former Warden I. W. McClaughry of the Federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan., discovered the craft and its inventor in a basement on the Northwest Side of the city. The identity of the inventor is kept secret. McClaughry is now interested with the inventor in the welfare of the new type of flying craft. He has brought the matter to the official attention of army officers in the Federal building, and before representatives of foreign governments.

Col. H. O. S. Heistand, adjutant general of the central department, turned McClaughry over to M. A. Loosley, master signal electrician of the army, who will inspect the new craft. McClaughry said the first one tried out by the inventor was a success, but that it was torn down and a new one is now being built, which will soon be ready for official tests.

"There is no doubt but that we have a flying machine that can be operated without any power other than that produced by foot and hand and that the craft can be sold dirt cheap," said McClaughry.

The inventor figures that one of the machines can be put up for less than $500, and that in quantities they can even be turned out for $200 each. The craft, for which patents are now pending is operated much like the old fashioned bicycle. A farmer boy can take one of them and he and his lady friend can saunter away thru the air as easily as they can travel on land in an automobile.

"If one wishes he can buy a $50 motor and use it to alternate with foot and hand. In his first test the inventor remained in the air more than half an hour and traveled at a speed of forty miles an hour."

—Saturday Blade, Chicago, Dec. 18, 1915, p. 9.

Wright Defeats Gale, Thousands Applaud

1909

Flies 21 Miles Up Hudson River and Returns

NEW YORK, Oct. 7. — Over a tumbling sea of air waves that swept from the walls of skyscrapers Wilbur Wright made a sensational flight in his aeroplane from Governor's Island north above the Hudson River, around the British cruiser Drake, and anchored 1,000 feet north of Grant's tomb, and back to the starting point again without mishap.

Wright was in the air 33 minutes and 33 seconds and flew approximately twenty-one miles, including the turn over the warships, an average speed of thirty-seven miles an hour. At no time was he more than 500 feet above the waters of the river. The average height at which the machine traveled was 200 feet. A part of the way it went as low as twenty feet.

To use the bird man's own words: "It was a rough but exhilarating flight, and everything worked beautifully."

Hundreds of thousands of eager men and women massed in the towers and on the roofs of all the tall buildings, crowded in the streets close to the river and spread over the entire riverside section, gazed in wonder at the flying man as he deftly manipulated his slender machine in the changing currents of the upper air. Cheering that he never heard greeted him throughout his majestic flight.

Flying at a forth-mile clip at an elevation of 100 feet, Wright quickly passed the Battery, which was black with humanity and encountered for the first time rough air waves flung from the roofs of the down town skyscrapers. The tall Singer tower, standing between the aviator and the rushing wind, was responsible for an angry swirl of currents, and Wright was quick to see that it was ticklish going. The aeroplane bobbed and fretted at this point, but the master hand at the levers overcame the attack of the almost baffling air waves, the airship literally riding over them, now dipping, now rising sharply, like a steamer in a tumble of waters.

The machine passed the foot of Fulton street at 10 o'clock, 200 feet in the air. Finally he turned off toward the Jersey shore and settled down to an altitude of about 150 feet. The machine appeared to behave better after this maneuver and traveled at a fast clip.

In a wide-sweeping curve to the right, the plane dipping slightly and gracefully, the biplane circled the British cruiser and headed down stream again.

After the aviator had made his turn, he glided swiftly toward the Jersey shore and when the machine was about 1,000 yards out he turned sharply to the left again and began his triumphal journey back to Governor's Island.

From a height of 150 feet off the Battery the great bird began the descent where a little group of patient men, that included Major General Wood and James M. Beck, chairman of the aeronautic committee of the Hudson-Fulton celebration, had been waiting since the start. Finally it glided to earth only a few feet from the starting point with scarcely a jar.

153 Pushed Overboard From Torpedo Boat

1909

Jam at Opening of St. Louis Carnival

ST. LOUIS, Mo., Oct. 8. — Fifteen thousand enthusiastic and curious persons tried to board four tiny torpedo boats at the same time. The boats wouldn't hold them, and part of the overflow, numbering 153, were pushed into the Mississippi, to be drawn ashore by police, sailors and others. Many were trampled under foot when two squads of police reserves charged the crowds to drive them back from the boats.

The torpedo flotilla, whose officers and crews are the first of the official guests at St. Louis' one hundredth birthday party, anchored at the levee, and the public was allowed to inspect the vessels. A small squad of police was stationed at the wharf-boat to which the boats were anchored to keep the visitors all in line.

In an hour the squad had been increased to sixty and the policemen were being hustled about roughly. There was not a square foot on the torpedo boats above or below that was not crowded and twice as many persons on the wharf-boat were trying to shove their way aboard.

Scores of women fainted. These were carried into the wharf-boat at the landing. The police, as a last resort, began to thump heads with their clubs, and the executive officer of the fleet ordered the boats closed to the public. The greater part of the crowd, which was good natured though rough, then dispersed. No sooner had they gone than another multitude arrived and the pushing, stampeding and cracking of heads were repeated.

Centennial week began in earnest here at 6 o'clock in the morning by the blowing of whistles and ringing of church bells. Sermons in the churches were devoted to centennial themes. In the afternoon, 15,000 children assembled in the Coliseum and sang patriotic and religious songs.

The aero grounds drew many thousands who viewed the airships and balloons which were made ready for the races. Ormon, with a Farman aeroplane, has arrived. Ten balloons will ascend and prizes have been offered for time and distance and the entrants hope to win the Lahm cup by exceeding 475 miles.

Henri Farman Builds New Aeroplane

1908

Frenchman to Contest for $10,000 Prize

Paris. — Henri Farman, the Frenchman, who recently achieved so successful a flight in his aeroplane, has formally entered to contest with Santos-Dumont for the Deutsch-Archdeacon Grand Aviation Prize. In order to win the prize, which is valued at about $10,000, the amateur must arise free from the ground and in clear flight from the line of departure determined by two posts about 166 feet apart, fly around a post erected at a distance of about 1,650 feet, returning to the point of departure.

On the first attempt made by M. Farman to gain the prize In the presence of the official commission of the Aero club of France he made several ineffectual trials to arise, but finally appeared to be in clear flight. Unfortunately some of the ropes connected with his aeroplane grazed the soil, and the commission found it impossible to make the award.

Another attempt was made after Santos-Dumont had a trial, when M. Farman succeeded in making numerous flights of from about 1,000 feet to about half a mile. However, on each occasion he failed to achieve the prize because he did not succeed in coming back to the point of departure. The consistency of his results, however, has been regarded as remarkable, putting him at once in the front rank of the few who have obtained even creditable flights with aeroplanes.

In order to dispute the prize with M. Farman, M. Santos-Dumont has constructed a new aeroplane, numbered 19, for in this way he distinguishes his airships and at the same time confesses his enormous interest in the sport, for probably no person before the time of Santos-Dumont has built so many aerial machines.

With this machine he succeeded in covering about 650 feet, or less than half the required distance, to say nothing of the demand that the contestant shall return to the point of departure. As the case now stands it is generally believed that Henri Farman has the better chance of winning the grand prize, which really means more than the acquisition of $10,000, for it will be an achievement which may have far reaching effects on the problem of aerial flight.

Author of "Flying Machine" Poem Sees First Airplane

Author of "Darius Green and His Flying Machine"

1910

John Townsend Trowbridge Wrote the Poem 40 Years Ago, and the Whole Country Laughed

Boston. — Among the thousands of persons who witnessed the recent aviation meet at Boston there was no more interesting spectator than John Townsend Trowbridge, author of the poem, "Darius Green and his Flying Machine," which made the whole country laugh 40 years ago.

Despite his advanced age, 83, Mr. Trowbridge journeyed from his home in Arlington, Mass., to this city in order to take his first look at a machine which had been his dream from boyhood — a machine which would fly. He was introduced to several of the aviators, among them Glen Curtiss, Grahame White, Wilbur White and others, and the old gentleman was immensely pleased to meet them.

When Mr. Trowbridge wrote about Darius Green, 40 years ago, no one of that time expected to see a flying machine that would fly. There were lots of machines that wouldn't, but the idea of usurping the realm of the birds carried something uncanny with it. The baleful results of experiments of those times were always looked upon, more or less, as deserved.

Speaking of the days of Darius Green, the poet says: "I never dreamed when I wrote that poem that such a thing as a flying machine was possible in my time. I never had the thought of actually seeing one. While I have never attempted to build one, I have followed the aeroplane development from the first, and it has always seemed to me that the greatest factor and the hardest to overcome would be the motive force.

"I have never known that there were such powerful motors, and motors so light, as they are now using. They were a revelation to me. I don't care to make any prophecies as to the future, but it seems to me that the large machine for carrying passengers is possible, and only a matter of time."

Want To Fly High

1910

Undoubtedly Most Fascinating Form of Air Navigation

London. — The most fascinating form of aviation is undoubtedly the high flight. One watches the machine rise from the ground and climb steadily an invisible stairway, winding round and round in wide spirals. From the size of a monster the vessel diminishes until it looks like an eagle, then a wild duck, then a pigeon, a blackbird, a lark, a bee, a fly, a midge — and so it finally disappears out sight; for men have now flown to over a mile, and it needs a strong glass and a clear atmosphere for a spectator to detect a machine at such stupendous heights.

One waits in amazement asking how the daring aviator will return safely to earth from the clouds. Suddenly the machine darts into sight, and it is seen plunging downward at an alarmingly steep angle. It is the vol plane, or dive, the most sensational of all aerial feats. Having climbed to his maximum, the aviator shuts off his engine and deliberately steers downward by the aid of the elevator.

He plunges through the aerial sea at terrific speed, but not at hundreds of miles an hour as some imaginative writers have put it. As the air resistance underneath the machine increases with the speed and the amount of surface presented to it by the planes, the vessel is automatically led back to its normal gliding angle, and the downward path becomes less steep. In order not to get too far away from his starting point the aviator thereupon makes another spiral at a gentle angle and then starts upon another plunge. Thus by a succession of these maneuvers he comes to a position from which he can make a final glide and reach the ground smoothly and without shock.

The world's record in high flying was broken by Brookins over Atlantic City, when he rose to the height of 6,200 feet. It took him 56 minutes to reach this point, or in other words he had to reach it by traveling over a distance of about 30 miles in a succession of long spirals, for his flight speed can be assumed to have been about 35 miles an hour all through. His descent was made in eight minutes and was composed of several high-speed dives and short spirals. Brookins used a Wright biplane.

The prettiest high flying is done by the monoplane, and at Rheims Latham, when he soared to 5,540 feet, afforded a splendid spectacle. Morane reached a height of 4,107 feet at Bournemouth and also gave a superb display. Captain Dickson is one of the most accomplished men at the vol plane, and he shows masterly skill and judgment. Mr. Drexel is also a very daring air climber, and in his descent from a height of 2,400 feet at Bournemouth he made a steep glide.

Civilization Flying Merrily Along

1911

Editorial Winks

Siam is to have an aviation week, and so the march of up-to-date civilization goes — or rather flies — merrily on.

The United States Army wants aeroplanes. They will probably be manned by the flying divisions.

Winter may be trying to keep it up until March. It began early and it has been told throughout.

The new census of Berlin and its suburbs shows a population of 3,400,000. It is camping on New York's trail.

Over-study killed a promising youth in Baltimore, but there is no danger of this malady ever becoming an epidemic.

A German has invented a noiseless telephone booth. A noiseless telephone party line would be a greater blessing.

It is necessarily true that the worst is yet to come.

No man becomes a jailbird just for a lark.

Woman May Fly Ocean

1914

Miss Ruth Bancroft Law and her brother, F. Rodman Law, are to try a flight across the Atlantic in a biplane. They expect to make the trip in July.

"The flight will be from Newfoundland to the Irish coast," said Miss Law today, "and I shall take my brother. I do not think there is the slightest doubt that we can do it. We shall carry no pontoons or boats, but under the wings of our machine we will have three floats of hollow tin, so in case of a fall the apparatus will float.

"Boats would be too heavy to carry, and in case we fell they would be of no use in the ocean. Then, again, by not carrying them we get away from just so much weight. We shall have to carry from 90 to 100 gallons of gasoline, and this will be enough for about 30 hours flying. We expect to make 100 miles an hour on our way across. Lord Northcliffe has offered a prize for the successful flight across the Atlantic, and we are after it."

Maud Muller and the Aeroplane (poetry)

1914

By Henry Howland

Maud Muller, on a summer's day,
Was in the meadow raking hay.

She always had enjoyed good health,
But had a hankering for wealth.

Her cheeks were red, her eyes were brown,
She longed to live in the far-off town.

She wished she might be richly dressed,
And circulate among the best.

The judge came sailing up the lane
Upon his nice new aeroplane.

Below him he beheld the maid,
And tried to stop, and swooped and swayed.

He ripped a top rail from the fence,
And talked as if he had no sense.

The engine got beyond control,
The judge lost his immortal soul.

Maud stood there with a sickly grin,
Until he hit her with a fin.

"My lord!" she yelled, and ducked away;
The judge lit on a pile of hay.

She hurried where the spring gushed up
And filled her little old tin cup.

At first she thought the judge was dead,
But she splashed the water on his head.

He looked upon his aeroplane
And said some things that gave Maud pain.

At last he rose and, with a frown,
He started for the distant town.

Then bringing himself to a halt,
He said, "This, girl, is all your fault.

"If you had not been raking here,
I'd have stayed in the atmosphere.

"You've cost me dear and spoiled my sport;
I'll fine you for contempt of court!"

He then went onward up the lane,
And Maud returned to work again.

She gazed upon his wrecked machine,
And said, "Alas, what might have been!

"Ah, well, in heaven we'll all have wings,
And not depend on such fool things!"