NO. .'! LANGLEY MEMOIB ON MECHANICAL PLIGHT 273 



this had absolutely no effect, and thai by this time the machine had passed its 

 vertical position and was beginning to fab 1 backwards, he swung himself around 

 on his anus, from which he supported himself, so thai in striking the water with 

 the machine on top of him he would strike feel foremost. The nexl few mo 

 ments were for him most intense, for he found himself under the water with the 

 machine on top of him, and with his«cork lined canvas jackel so caughl in the fit- 

 tings lit' the framework thai he could not dive downward, while the floor of the 

 aviator's ear, which was pressing against his head, prevented him from con 

 upward. His one thought was that if he was to gel oul alive he would have 

 to do so immediately, as the pressure of the water on his lungs was beginning 

 to make itself seriously felt. Exerting all of the strength he could muster, lie 

 succeeded in ripping the jacket entirely in two and thus freeing himself from 

 the fastenings which had accidentally held him, he dived under the machine and 

 swam under the water for some distance until he thought he was out from un- 

 der the machine. Upon rising to the surface his head came in contacl with a 

 block of ice, which necessitated another dive to get free of the ice. Cpon coin- 

 ing to the surface of the water lie noticed Mr. Hewitt, one of the workmen, just 

 aboul to plunge in; before he could call out to indicate lie was safe. Mr. Hewitt 

 had heroically plunged in with the expectation of diving under the machine 

 where he believed the writer to be entangled. Finding the house-boat was be- 

 ing rapidly shoved upon him, imperilling the life of both himself and Mr. Hewitt, 

 besides the safety of the aerodrome, the writer gave orders that the tug-boat 

 reverse and tow the house-boat away. Then, with the assistance of a row-boat, 

 he reached the house-boat, where willing hands drew him on board and assisted 

 him into dryer and warmer clothing. 



Meanwhile, it had become quite dark, and when the writer went outside to 

 see about the aerodrome lie found that the men on the tug-boat, in their zeal to 

 render assistance, had fastened a rope to the rear end of the machine, at the 

 same time pulling it in the direction in which the front end was pointed, and 

 through their ignorance had forced it down into the muddy bottom of the river 

 and broken the main framework completely in two, thus rendering it absolutely 

 impossible with the facilities at hand to remove it from the water to the in- 

 terior of the boat. It was finally necessary to tie the wrecked machine to the 

 stern of the house-boat and have the boat towed to its dock where the mast and 

 boom were assembled and the wrecked machine hoisted from the water. This 

 was finally accom} dished about midnight, when the workmen, who had been work 

 ing at a fever heat all day, were glad to close up the work for the day, which 

 had proved so unfortunate. 



As has already been remarked, darkness had descended to such an extent 

 thai the light was not strong enough to give photographs with the very rapid 

 shutters with which Mr. Smillie had his cameras equipped, and that, therefore, 



32 



