1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



603 



in running as a boat going through the 

 smoothest water. To me the sight was 

 most inspiring. I remarked to bystanders 

 that it was more wonderful than any story 

 in the Arabian Nights. After the machine 

 left the ground it rose gradually ir circles, 

 and then for the greater part of the after- 

 noon—in fact, until dusk— the machine 

 was, most of the time, in the air, describing 

 circles, figure eights, and making all sorts 

 of graceful maneuvers. In going with the 

 wind it seemed as if the speed was pretty 

 close to a mile a minute; but in making a 

 turn it slacked up in velocity quite percep- 

 tibly; and in coming back against the wind 

 the speed was very materially retarded. 



The bovs who read these pages have, in 

 times past, had fun in sliding down hill. 

 But you have to walk back laboriously, 

 dragging your sled after you. Now, boys, 

 what sort' of fun do you suppose it would 

 be to slide down hill on the air, and then, 

 instead of having to walk back, you just 

 "slide up hill" on the air to the i)oint of 

 starting, and then slide down again. And 

 that is what those students do with the fly- 

 ing-machine. 



Six years ago I tried to tell the world what 

 was going to be accomplished by dispensing 

 with roads and bridges, to say nothing of 

 iron railways and railway bridges. I asked 

 one of the Wrights what the comparative 

 expense was going to be for gasoline com- 

 pared with the amount needed, say, to car- 

 ry four people in an automobile. He said 

 he thought the flying-machine would take 

 less gasoline to do the same work; and then 

 he made a remark something like this: 



"But, Mr. Root, perhaps you know by 

 experience that the up-keep of the rubber 

 tires is a much greater expense than the 

 gasoline. This machine requires no rubber 

 tires as it reels ofT the miles through the 

 air." 



Come to think of it, there is almost no 

 wear or tear on anv thing except the engine, 

 chain, and the bearings of the two propel- 

 lers. There are at present about half a 

 dozen machines of this kind in service in 

 the United States. I can not say how 

 many there are in foreign countries; but 

 there are several factories across the water 

 turning out machines as fast as they can 

 possibly make them. The Wright brothers 

 are at present employing 25 to 30 hands, 

 and turning out machines as fast as they 

 can. They are just now occupying a rent- 

 ed building, but have just completed the 

 purchase of two acres of land near the Sol- 

 diers' Home, where a building 250 feet long 

 and 60 feet wide will be put up this fall. 

 I might mention here that there has been 

 some criticism in regard to the price — $7500 

 —for each finished and fully equipped ma- 

 chine. But even at this price they are at 

 present unable to supply the demand. They 

 often tell customers that, if they can wait 

 another year, they will probably be cheap- 

 er. But men who have abundant means 

 prefer to pay the present price rather than 

 wait a year. Once more, all the inventors 



of the world, for ages past, have never made 

 any machine that would fly even a few 

 rods — that is, and carry a passenger — until 

 the Wright brothers did; and, if I am right 

 about it, no one has ever since made a ma- 

 chine that would fly without making use of 

 some feature of tlie Wright invention. I 

 believe this is quite generally acknowl- 

 edged.* The Wright brothers commenced 

 their experiments more than ten years ago, 

 and they went at it in a scientific way, and 

 have labored hard, early and late. We have 

 often been told that in years past the real 

 inventor of any great innovation has seldom 

 had proper credit or even pay for what he 

 has given the world. We hope this will 

 not prove true with the Wright brothers. 



After one of the students made his first 

 flight and sailed through the sky at differ- 

 ent elevations for some little time, he came 

 down easily and gracefully, and took in one 

 of the others who was just learning to fly. 

 With two good-sized men instead of one, 

 the machine did not ascend from the ground 

 quite as readily. As it ran a little further 

 it went out among the weeds, and I began 

 to fear it would not take the air; but in a 

 little time it stopped its wabbling, and arose 

 from the earth as easily and gracefully as a 

 sea gull. Many times, in watching the 

 pelicans in Florida I have seen them strike 

 the water with their feet in order to get up 

 speed so their wings would sustain them; 

 and in this case it seemed as if these beau- 

 tiful structures of wood and cloth must re- 

 ally in a like manner have life. Another 

 reason why these machines are at the pres- 

 ent time expensive is that the very best of 

 material is procured, without regard to ex- 

 pense. They have made careful experiments 

 to get the very best wood, cloth, and metal. 

 The frame for the woodwork is made of the 

 very best clear spruce, this wood proving to 

 have more strength for its weight than any 

 other they have yet found. The runners 

 that slide along the ground while alighting 

 are made partly of the strongest ash, and 

 are reinforced so as to stand the shock of 

 making a landing on almost any kind of 

 ground. As so much depends on the pro- 

 peller-blades, these are made of thin strips 

 of spruce built up together with the strong- 

 est glue. They are then covered with the 

 strongest canvas glued on. Their mechan- 

 ics, especially those at the heads of the dif- 

 ferent departments, are probably as skillful 

 in their line of work as any who can be found, t 

 Consider for a moment' how the very lives 

 of good people depend on the faithfulness 

 and fidelity of their work. The machine 

 as at present made for carrying two people 

 is about 40 feet wide, and it is almost as 



*As evidence of the comparative safety of the 

 machines as now made, I will mention that Miss 

 Catharine, sister of the Wrights, has made several 

 flights, and the venerable father. Bishop Wright, 

 was up about 350 feet, and in the air several min- 

 utes, recently. 



t Some of the papers reported the Wright Bros, 

 had found a better engine fn France than could be 

 made in our country. Wilbur says this is untrue. 



