Orville Wright Is Aeroplane King

Printed Aug. 1909

Dayton Aviator Sets New Record for Endurance

Washington. — Flying 50 miles, which is more than double the distance across the English channel, Orville Wright, the American "king of the air," Tuesday at Fort Myer, broke the aeroplane endurance record, with Lieut. Frank P. Lahm, as a passenger. The machine was in the air one hour, 12 minutes and 40 seconds.

The former record was made last year by his brother Wilbur, joint inventor with him of the machine in which both achievements were performed, at Le Mans, France, with Prof. Painleve of the French institute as passenger. That flight was one hour, nine minutes and 31 seconds.

The cheering which heralded the setting of a new mark in the conquest of the air was led by President Taft in person, who was an intensely interested spectator throughout the flight, and who insisted at its conclusion upon personally congratulating the brothers upon their success. This success was all-important to the Wrights in that it completed the first of two crucial tests of their machine imposed upon them by the United States government — the so-called "endurance test," which required them to remain one hour continuously in the air with one passenger.


Attempt to Fly Across English Channel Fails

Dover, England. — Hubert Latham's second attempt to fly across the English channel ended disastrously Tuesday. Almost in the moment of victory his monoplane fluttered down into the sea two miles beyond the Admiralty pier, like a bird with a broken wing. Thousands of persons crowding the water front saw the fall and feared Latham was dead.

A flock of large and small craft raced to the scene of the disaster, and a pinnace from the British battleship Russell picked up the unlucky flyer and put him aboard the French torpedo boat destroyer Escopette. After a surgeon had attended to his injuries the destroyer brought Latham ashore and he was taken to the Lord Warden hotel. His face was bandaged and bleeding and his nose was broken. The machine, badly wrecked, was hoisted from the boat to the dock.

Some Queer Wills — "I Bequeath Eternal Damnation"

Some Queer Wills

1889

Extraordinary Documents Copied from South Carolina Court Records

In overhauling some of the old books in the records of the probate court, Judge Gleason has, according to the Charleston News and Courier, come across some queer documents. Here are some of them:

A man, who has been dead so long that he shall be nameless, was hanged in Charleston for murder. He protested his innocence to the last, and the day before his execution made a will leaving his personal property, valued at $439 in money, and a silver watch and chain to his relative. The last clause of the will is as follows:

"As I am to be hung to-morrow for the murder of ——, of which crime I am innocent, and firmly believing that I was found guilty by a packed jury, I bequeath to this jury eternal damnation, and in order that their names may be known to posterity I herein insert their names,——, foreman, and eleven others. I order and direct that my executor hereinafter named shall deliver my body to the medical students of Charleston, S. C., and they are requested to have my bones properly cleaned, my skeleton properly mounted, so that it will pass down as a proof of the bribery and corruption used in the conviction of an innocent man."

Another man, long since deceased, and who was evidently a wealthy Frenchman, after disposing of his estate, provides for an erring daughter as follows:

"It is to me a great cause of mortification and regret to mention the name of Clotilde, my daughter, now twenty-three years old. To protect this instrument I bequeath to her one barleycorn. I pray she will repent and prepare for the Lord's forgiveness."

Another man, who was a widower, and had an only daughter who seems to have been the cause of much trouble to her father, disposes of his estate and gives to his daughter "My blood horse, Jim, feeling satisfied that if she will either ride or drive him it is likely she will be brought home a corpse, in which satisfactory event then let the horse be sold and the proceeds given to the poor."