turned the rudder with the apparent inten- 

 tion of going- over the obstacles and out of 

 the field; but when he had sailed liigh 

 enough to clear every thing the engine 

 stopped, and the machine gradually slid 

 back on the air, and alighted as safely and 

 as gently as a feather, in their own field. 

 We all rushed up to where he stopped, to 

 see what was the matter. As I was consid- 

 erably older than the other two, I did not 

 get there in time to see what started the 

 "discussion," but Wilbur was evidently 

 considerably stirred up, and he and his 

 brother were disputing rather hotly as to 

 whose fault it was that he could not get 

 the engine stopjjed when he came back to 

 the starting-place. 1 finally interrupted the 

 discussion by putting my hand on Wilbur's 

 shoulder and remarking, "Wliy, my good 

 friend, can't you stop long enough to look 

 pleasant, and thank God for having i>er- 

 mitted you just now to make the first flight 

 since the world began, turning corners, and 

 coming around to the stopping-iDlace?" He 

 looked at first a little vexed at the interrui^- 

 tion, but finally his countenance softened, 

 and that peculiar — I might almost say be- 

 w^tching• — smile spread over his counte- 

 nance as he put out his hand and said, so 

 far as I can recall, "Why, Mr. Root, I guess 

 you are right ; and 1 am glad and thankful 

 that I succeeded, even if I could not get 

 my engine stopped when I wanted it to 

 stop." 



I do not remember now what it was that 

 made the engine keep going after the switch 

 Avas turned off. I only remember that he 

 put the blame on OrviUe, and I suppose it 

 came about on account of the excitement 

 of the moment in consequence of the thun- 

 der cloud, that caused the accident. 



Later, after they succeeded in getting 

 the machine to make circles in the air as 

 long as they wanted to stay up, I made 

 them a visit and happened to be there at 

 the same time as Mr. Chanute, a ma,n who 

 had made experiments with gliding ma- 

 chines before the Wright brothers ever took 

 it up. I believe he is still living, and that 

 he is also, perhaps, one of the best author- 

 ities in the world on aeronautics. They were 

 discussing finances. Mr. Tlianute thought 

 a million of dollars would be needed to put 

 the invention on a sound financial footing. 

 I remember I noticed the peculiar twinkle 

 on Wilbur's face as he said something as 

 follows : 



"Mr. Chanute, I liave no ambition to be 

 a millionaire. So far as I am concerned, I 

 think a hundred thousand dollars would be 

 all I should ever have use for in this 

 world." 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



And this was characteristic of the man.* 

 When he crossed the water and went over 

 to England, France, and Germany with 

 their invention, crowds followed them ev- 

 erywhere — not only common peoj^le but 

 the nobility, crowned heads, kings, and 

 cjueens came to recognize and do homage to 

 the Wright brothers of Dayton, Ohio. Well,, 

 in some foreign lands, as you may know, 

 where they do not know or care when Sun- 

 day comes, Wilbur always paid respect to> 

 God's holy sabbath day, and several times 

 the nobility (and, I think, once or twice 

 members of the royal family, great lords and 

 ladies) wanted to see the Americans and 

 the American fiying-machine on Sunday. 

 Now, here comes a true test of courage and 

 of fearless manhood. I use the word "man- 

 hood" in the best sense of the word. Wilbur 

 Wright said gently but firmly that they had 

 been taught to "remember the sabbatli day 

 to keep it holy," and kindly asked to be ex- 

 cused, not only from making any flight, but 

 from exhibiting the machine on the gener- 

 ally recognized Sunday of the world. He: 

 added that, as soon as the day was passed,, 

 he and his brother would gladly and cheer- 

 fully be at their service. This has been 

 heralded world-wide; and, no matter what 

 opinions people may have in regard t& 

 sabbath desecration, I think one and all, 

 good and bad, reverence and respect the 

 memory of Wilbur Wright for standing u)5 

 and living up to his honest convictions. I 

 do not mean that his brother OrviUe was 

 any less conspicuous in this matter than 

 Wilbur; but Wilbur, being the elder, gen- 

 erally took the responsibility of being 

 spokesman. 



During my first visit, and while the 

 Wrights were making application for a. 

 patent on their invention, there were cer- 

 tain things I was asked to avoid mentioning 

 in print. On my last visit, Wilbur invited 

 me to go over and see their great factory. 

 This was described on p. 602, Sept. 15, , 

 1910. On starting out I asked if I might. 

 be permitted to describe in our journal 

 what I saw. Wilbur replied with that 



*In connection with the above I may mention 

 that the Wright brothers were many times offered 

 considerable sums of money if they would exhibit 

 their machine at State fairs or great expositions; 

 l)ut their invariable reply has been, "Gentlemen, we 

 are not in the show business." The years they 

 labored in perfecting their invention were not for 

 the purpose of making money. It was to bless 

 humanity. I suppose they recognized full well that 

 an advertisement saying the "Wright brothers would 

 be present with their flying-machine would draw a 

 bigger crowd than the mention of any other two 

 men on the face of the earth. But they have never 

 been and are not now catering to the curiosity of 

 the crowds that frequent great fairs, expositions, 

 etc. They felt and now feel, as I have tried to ex- 

 press it, that God was calling them in another direc- 

 tion. 



