412 



BELL 



was exposed contributed materially to the production of the 

 illness that caused his death. 



He lived long enough however to know of the complete frui- 

 tion of his hopes by others ; and, only two days before his 

 death, he had the gratification of receiving a communication 

 from the newly formed Aero Club of America, recognizing and 

 appreciating his efforts to promote mechanical flight. This 

 communication read as follows : 



RESOLUTIONS OF THE AERO CLUB OF AMERICA, ADOPTED 

 JANUARY 20, I906. 



"Whereas, Our esteemed colleague, Dr. S. P. Langley, 

 Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, met with an accident 

 in launching his aerodrome, thereby missing a decisive test of 

 the capabilities of this man-carrying machine, built after his 

 models which flew successfully many times ; and 



"Whereas, In that difficult experiment, he was entitled to 

 fair judgment and distinguished consideration because of his 

 important achievements in investigating the laws of dynamic 

 flight, and in the construction of a variety of successful flying 

 models : Therefore be it 



"Resolved, That the Aero Club of America, holding in high 

 estimation the contributions of Dr. Langley to the science of 

 Aerial Locomotion, hereby expresses to him its sincerest ap- 

 preciation of his labors as a pioneer in this important and 

 complex science ; and 



"Be it further resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be 

 sent to the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and to Dr. Langley." 



Professor Langley was on his death bed when these resolu- 

 tions were brought to his attention, and when asked what should 

 be done with the communication his pathetic answer was " Pub- 

 lish it." To all who knew his extreme aversion to publicity in 

 any form this reply indicates how keenly he felt the misrepre- 

 sentation of the press. 



Both in the case of Lilienthal and Langley their efforts have 

 not been in vain. Others have continued their researches ; and 

 today the world is in possession of the first practical flying- 



