WILBUR WRIGHT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 312, 29 June 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

WILBUR WRIGHT.

THE MASI'KR OF AIUCKAI-T. (By W.KW. in Sydney Morning Herald), In tin- death of Wilbur W'rijrlit we lament the passing of the greatest ol nil airmen. It was the. tilings the, Wrights did—Wilbur and his brother Orville—that made possible the tiling I hat other men have since done. The. conquest of the air has to be set down to their credit. I met Wilbur Wright in New York two or three years ago, met and talked with him, and saw him fly; and now thai he has gone, ], as an Australian, take up my pen to pay a tribute to this modem hero. Wright made many flights, and though of late years he boasted that he had perfect control over his machine, there was a time in the pioneering days of aviation, when every time he went up in the air be knew'that lie carried his life in his hands. But lie was, like so many other scientists in other branches of the world's work, ready always to take the risk in order that he might add to the sum of human knowledge. In these days of |iany inventions Wilbur Wright is entitled to a place'in the forefront among the world's inventors. Tie has done bis work and his day is ended. It was on Governor's Island, New York, that I first say this man. A day or two previously I had Seen Glen Curtiss soaring over the skyscrapers of New York in his airship; but the day Wright flew from Governor's Island round the statue of Liberty was the first time I had an opportunity of seeing an airship at close quarters. I have seen ships of the air flying in Australia since then, and there is a thrill every time one sees the great man-made bird leave the ground, and shoot into the air, with its whirring propeller, ,but the thrill I got that day remains, and ever will remain, distinct and unforgettable. '

"MY LIFE WORK."

I call the man to mind again as I' write. He was of spare build, with a typical American face, and there was some strange magnetism about him. His features were slightly drawn, as those of a man who faced hardships and perils, but fought his way through thein by dint of a courage and determination that would not be denied. His eyes were keen and penetrating, and revealed the enthusiasm of the man in his work. "It is my life work," he said. "Before lam ' dead people will think nothing of flying. ' i But we are still experimenting, and I j may be killed at any time. Yes, I have j perfect control over my machine, but aej cidents will happen. A master mariner i has perfect control over his ship, but accidents sometimes happen. "Nine years ago," he< went on, "I said to my brother Orville that man would be flying within fifty years, and two years afterwards we were flying ourselves. But: it was a poor sort of a fly We have been 'going some' since then, and still we are only experimenting. You've got to walk before you can run, and that's all there j is to it. Before we had ships on the sea ' we had to be satisfied with canoes; and J i that's all we're- doing in the air at pre- I sent—canoeing. I don't mind taking I i risks, and if an enemy was at the gate I'd do it, but don't make any mistake about it—this is no circus tent, and I'm not a circus performer." He was referring to. the aerodrome on Governor's Is- j land, where the aeroplane was housed. ;'; He spoke not as a man consumed with 1 vanity and egotism, but with the calm assurance of one who knows what he and his machine can do. He looked at his machine with something like admiration, ■ and proceeded to explain the uses of its various parts for the benefit of such of us as .had never seen.it before. I remember J hat it. impressed me as a re- | markably uiiifi'ddy structure. This ma- j chine—for the Wright brothers had made many machines pf various patterns and sizes—was 45 feet across the plane, and it was fitted with a powerful motor. The machine which Curtiss was using at that time, and with whicj he put up such a J fine record at the Rheims aviation meeting, was only 26ft wide. I asked Wilbur Wright if he thought it possible 'to fly high enough over forts and warships to be beyond ,the reach of guns, should the time come when airships ! would play an important part in time of | war. I would not have asked the same question to-day; we have hart evidence in the Tripolitan war of what airships j can do, and we have had evidence enough apart from that. The progress of avia- j tion even in two or three years has been | remarkable. "I can sail 6000 ft high as 1 easily as I can sail 100 ft high," said Wright, The problem is not how high we can go—it is simply a matter of going . as high as we want to." AIRSHIPS OF THE FUTURE. The wind had been blowing in little gusts and Wright was doubtful about making an ascent; but presently the wind dropped, and he agreed to fly, although he said it would be little more than a "jump," as the wind might come up again at any moment. Perhaps the ' fact that some hundreds of people had been provided with special passes to Governor's Island influenced him; perhaps he was eager to reward the patience of the many thousands who had taken up a position at "the Battery" opposite the Statue of Liberty, early in the mornings and were still waiting 'there, with their eyes fixed on the island.' Then out came the machine. Wright stated that it carried a larger gasoline tank than he had ever used before, holdse , for a trip of 300 miles. But what naps interested us most was the sight canoe lashed firmly to the bottom of fy.ie airship. It was quite a new notion /.vith hi'in at the time, and was designed to save the ship, not himself, in case it fell into the water. For himself he carried a lifebuoy. "The airship of the future will carry lifeboats," he. said. "By and bye people will think no more of travelling in airships than they do of travelling in ocean liners. We are only just beginning to find out things, and it'won't ■be long before you will .see plenty of privately-owned airships sailing in the sky." AROUND THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, lb; set his machine going. For a second or two the big, cumbersome, heavier-than-air machine seemed to i|uiver and stagger in the air, then all at once it righted itself and sailed slowly on an "veil keel only a few feet from the ground. Tint the bow was pointed upwards, and up the ship went. And in a moment or two it was beyond the island, and sailing across the waters of the harbor. With all the grace of a bird on the wing, the machine soared majestically aloft until it reached the Statue, of Liberty, about a mile off. It travelled almost at the speed of an express train, for, in a couple of .minutes, it was back agnin on Governor's Island, after having circled the famous statue, passed over two big steamers, and executed a remarkably interesting turning movement. It was wonderful to see how easily the machine landed. Like a. bird it went up, and like a bird it came down. "I guess I made 50 miles an hour coming back from Liberty." remarked the great, airman to the applauding spectators, as he quietly left his machine, It was the first, time in her 25 bronze years that the Goddess of Liberty had shaken hands with an aeronaut,