SANTOS-DUMONT CIRCLING THE EIFFEL TOWER IN 

 AN AIR SHIF. a 



By Eugene P. Lyle, Jr, 



As early as 3 o'clock of the morning of July 12, 1901, a curious 

 procession emerged from a hillside inclosurc on the bank of the Seine 

 and proceeded toward the silent race course of Longebamp across the 

 river. Besides several correspondents, this party was composed 

 mostly of young Parisians, who slowly steered their automobiles while 

 they bent their heads back and looked upward. Following them, 

 a few yards in the air, there floated a strange, mysterious shape, dim 

 and yellowish against the hazy dawn. Several men on foot guided the 

 aerial contrivance by ropes which they clung to jealously. Their care 

 was natural, for they held in leash the first flying machine; and by 

 "flying machine" 1 is meant one that really has flown, and which 

 deserves its name literally, being far, far removed from the monotony 

 of the many failures gone before. But the young Parisians did not 

 know as yet that it would fly, for this was to be its first trial — its 

 debut in the air — and not one among those gathered to witness it sus- 



)ected that he was to assist at a spectacle which history may possibly 

 compare with the launching of Fulton's steamboat or with the firing 

 of the first locomotive. 



At the race track the balloon was pulled down till the framework 

 rested on the ground. A young man, 25 years of age, went hurrying 

 about the air ship, tinkering at it here and there till the very last 

 moment, while his comrades of the Automobile and Aero clubs looked 

 on and respectfully let him have his way. He was a very little man, 

 in shirt sleeves and a high collar, with an almost effeminate speech, and 



rery amiable, but he seemed to know pretty well what he was about. 

 r hen he had examined the tube which connects a cigar-shaped gaso- 

 line tank with the motor, he wrapped a strap around a wheel of the 

 motor, pulled the strap off again with a sharp jerk, and thus set the 

 motor going. Involuntarily the spectators jumped back, for the gaso- 

 line engine with its four cylinders starts with a crashing explosion, so 

 closely followed by others that the deafening, bursting combustion is 

 almost continuous; yet through the framework there is scarcely any 

 vibration at all, only a slight quivering. 



a Reprinted from Everybody's Magazine, Philadelphia, November, 1901. Copy- 

 righted, reproduced by permission of Doubleday, Page & Co. 



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