"I SAW A MAN FLYING."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 75, 24 April 1909, Page 4

"I SAW A MAN FLYING."

\\ IMPRESSION OF WILBUR WRIGHT.

f (iiv Archibald -Marshall.) !' Once more Mr. Wilbur Wright has ■beaten all Hying records. ihe social nilicanee of his achievements is the toy note ot the -following account 0 a i» ;p:iid recently bv -Mr. Archibald Marshall 'to Le Mans.

We came along the road from Chartrcs. and about six miles short ot the town of he Mans began to look about for the military exercise ground, on which may now be seen what has not before been seen in the long ages 0 the world's history--a man Hying at will, as a "bird Hies. ' There were people on the road coining 'from the town motorists, bicyclists, 'people in carriages and a few on foot—and we followed the thin stream a long a sandy road among the pines, to where a. great oblong space has been eleaied for the manoeuvres of troops, a space perhaps a mile long by half a mile wide. Wc came to a roughly-fenced enclosure in which was a wooden shed; and m front of it on the heathery ground we saw the aeroplane, and by it a tall spine Jiirure ill shirt sleeves, -busy with the .gear. It was -Wilbur Wright, the man ■who can do what everyone has dreamed ■if doing, hut nobody else lias ever done '.before. ■Two men iu blue blouses turned the long twin-screws of the machine, and 'with an immense reverberation of the 'noisy cii"ine tliey whizzed round for a minute or so, while the air was filled with clamor, the frail, tent-like structure trembled, and the wind made by the screws stirred the branches of trees thirty yards away. The engine was -not running well. It was doubted whether the inventor would "go up" that afternoon. '1 here were people there who had come every day for four or live days to see liiin llv, ami waited patiently while the engine bad been adjusted and readjusted, and the machine had not left the ground. They liad coiue from all over the -world —from America, from England, from Italy, from all parts of France.

The engine was stopped, and we were introduced to 'Wilbur Wright, lie stood in tile shade of the canvas plane, a working mechanic, modest and taciturn. 11c had a thin fate, a long nose, and a long neck. He is rather like a bird to look at. and lie can lly like a bird. So he struck one—a human bird. IT. We heard something of his story. He and his brother had a bicycle shop iu an American town. They worked with their hands, learnt about the machinery of motors, and with ordinary enterprise ini"ht have developed into manufacturers of motor-cars. But they -began to experiment with aeroplanes instead, "eliding down the slopes of steep lid s, learning llle right balance and the right amdes. and what the wind would do tor them and what they could do for tlioni- | 6t Tbe'v found out a great deal in course of tiine. for their experiments have lasted four or live years. In tact, t hey found out how to lly. and not until they ciinhl lly wore tlirv ready for the | pol lers, who had made a liiyslcrt -n them. The mystery seems to have : arisen from the fact that here were two •\iuericans experimenting with au invention for which 110 adjective, not even ■'epoch-making." was big enough, and they hail not vet announced that they conid do what' they only hoped to lie able to do. This seems to have puzzled tin- American reporters, w.ho were not used to it. Therefore, there must be some jealously-guarded secret, and the I brothers Wright' must be dark and dinning conspirators. I Then* is no jralously-guariloil secret, i Wilbur Wright will explain hi? invention ' (o anyone entitled to ask for an explanation. But he will not brag aho/l it. Whether mystery has been wrapped round him is sulved al of him mid his machine. lfe its the sort of man whom we are accustomed, perhaps, to think is to he found more often hi than m America —a man who does tilings and dor. not talk al«uil them. Ami when he ha* done ihem. when he has done a tiling hoide which every invention of the new age of discovery >inks into Ihe

background, he will not talk about it. except modestly, us if he had done nothing, after all. to be very proud of. lie i- a «|niel man of few word>..bul

sometime* his face lighU up uilh a smile which makes up for hi> taciturnity. HI. We were fortunate. The engine had been made to work well enough for a llight. The machine was wheeled out of the enclosure on two little trollies with a wheel apiece. Wright put on his jacket and helped to push it himself, and. arrived on the open ground, he made little adjustments, hoisting himself up on the frame of the eanva-. iinnking sure of nut* and screw* and wires, leaving nothing !o chance. The aeroplane looked like the -work of an amateur. It was rough—almost makeshift. The two tiny seats on the lower plane seemed to be made out of ■bisciiil-boxes. There were people on the ground who could have improved it, and said as much. But they could not lly. and Wright could, and was getting ready to do so. He had listened politely to many suggestions during the pa«t fewdays. ami. when he was allowed to do so. had gone on steadily with his preparations.

He took his seat and put his hand on the lever, a >.ubdued-looking passenger seated by hi'.)}. The cngi-ie was set in motion: the heavy weight which, fastened lo ropes and pulley*, was to give him hi.-j lirst impetus, was dropped: the machine ran along ii.s fifty yards of rail, ami wit it a lilt llew into the air as a boat lloats „n water. And on it were two num. one of them experiencing (or (lie first time what few of us can ever 'have exnecicd to experience for ourselves. I lie steady. fa>t fli-rhl of a bird.

j Tlivve who Imve been lip with Wrijjht snv thill von !.;«>!< down npmi the earth gliding U'lK'Uth you. and it ia like look-

ing through very still and translucent water. . , At last the machine came to ground, 'as it seemed, rather suddenly. It was ! wheeled again to tin- rail, and another passenger was taken nji a short ihglit. | Then Wright shook himself free of the crowd and went up by himself. Twice he went round the great open space, and ;as lie came over our heads at the stillt-in«-»oint wu cheered him. lie was tlymg /fast, and higher than lie had ever tlown jiiefore.

And when, after an incredible space ot time, he alighted, we cheered him again. It was the prettiest thing, to see of all we had seen. At a height of thirty *>r ■forty feet he shut off'his engine and came shooting down obliquely. It looked as if die might strike tile ground witli a sharp jar. But—it was all done ill a second—the instant before lie would 'have come to earth he gave his planes a little lilt upward*, as a bird tilts its wings when about to settle on ground or water, and, exactly as a bird settles, the machine dropped gently on to the turf and he stepped oil' it. That nils the erowuiag point of it all. A bird does so many things with its wings liesides Happing them. It uses the air and the sliding currents, and shifts and wheels and settles without flapping its wings at all. And a mail who would fly after the fashion of a bird must copy the things a 'bird does instinctively. It was tllc.ie things that Wright anil his brother were working out for themselves during their years of preparation. The last word of efficiency in their engine would iliavc given them none of them.

AYe motored on to Ue Mans along the dusty road, with the crowd of sightsects on foot and on wheels, and that niglit over the dinner-table we talked of what we had seen. The room was crowded with people who had come to this little-visited l-'rencli town to see w'.hat we had also come to see.

And six miles away, among the pines and heather, under the lonely stars, the mail whose name will go down through ,the rest of the -world's history was perhaps cooking his modest supper in a corner of his shed, ill the shadows of which his great machine was stretching its ghostly wings. l-'or whatever others may do in the future, this is the lirsi man of all men who has down and directed his llight at will, and his name will never be forj g-otten.