SEPTEMBER 15, 1912 



THE WRIGHT BROTHERS' FLYING MACHINE 

 IN THE YEAR 1912. SEE P. 589 



BY A. I. ROOT 



Some time ago a few of the leading busi- 

 ness men of Medina became enthusiastic 

 over the idea of having a flying-machine 

 exhibition on our fairground on the 

 Fourth. Correspondence with the people 

 who send out flying-machines brought out 

 the fact that it would cost a good deal 

 more money on the Fourth than later dur- 

 ing fairtime. Indeed, the demand was so 

 great for machines on that special day 

 that the best arrangement our people could 

 make would be $1000 for a man and ma- 

 chine to make three trips — the man to re- 

 main in the air not less than 45 minutes 

 all together. The question was whether 

 our county of Medina would turn out in 

 sufficient numbers at 25 cts. admission to 

 make up the thousand dollars. But it 

 transpired that something like 10,000 peo- 

 ple were on hand to Avitr.ess the flights. 

 The flights were a perfect success in every 

 respect. The operator handled liis machine 

 with almost the ease that a bird in the air 

 flais its wings. He went up something 

 like a quarter of a mile, and Avent off over 

 the country for two or three miles in dif- 

 ferent directions — executed a variety of 

 sharp turns, dives, etc. 



The machine, as you see, p. 589, is made 

 to carry a passenger; but as it requires a 

 longer space to get off the ground with 

 a }. assenger than our fairground afforded, 

 no attempt was made to carry a passenger. 

 As I was close at hand, however, during 

 all the flights and preliminaries, a request 

 was made that I occupy the vacant seat 

 while the machine was standing on the 

 ground, and have a picture taken of my- 

 self and Mr. Brindley. Perhaps I should 

 explain that the Wright Brothers manufac- 

 ture the machines, but they have nothing 

 to do with renting them out for fairtime, 

 exhibitions, etc. All correspondence in 

 regard to this matter should be directed 

 to The Mercurial Aeroplane and Entertain- 

 ment Co., 803 Central National Bank 

 Building, St. Louis, Mo. 



You will notice the operator has hold 

 of two levers, besides other levers operated 

 by the feet. As it would be inconvenient 

 for him to take his watch out of his pocket, 

 he has a pretty little timepiece strapped 

 to his wrist, as you will notice. 



I had a long talk with him during the 

 day, and he entirely agi'ees with me in 

 thinking that there is but little danger of 

 loss of life if the instructions furnished by 

 the Wright Brothers are strictly complied 

 with. Tlie deaths of at least a j art of the 



aviators have been because they became 

 excited, and wanted to make a display that 

 was evidently unsafe, or started out when 

 the weather was unfavorable. Somewhere 

 out west during a fair, 1 think it was, the 

 aviator declared it was not safe to under- 

 take the flight just then. But the crowd 

 hooted and jeered, called him a coward, 

 and said "the machine would not fly any- 

 how," etc. He was a young fellow, and 

 finally, in desperation, he said he would 

 fly, even if it broke his neck, and he did. 

 He was killed almost instantly. That crowd 

 was guilty of vturder. In another case 

 a young fellow undertook to exploit "slid- 

 ing down hill on the air," at a breakneck 

 speed, expecting to turn the machine up 

 again when he neared the ground. Tliis 

 time, however, he had a heavier machine 

 than he had ever operated before. He 

 failed to calculate the consequences of a 

 sudden change in direction ancl the momen- 

 tum occasioned by the increased weight. 

 The consequence was that the sticks of 

 wood and wires of steel would- not stand 

 the shock. The machine was crushed, and 

 he was killed. In one or two cases I have 

 seen the operator smoke a cigarette before 

 starting, to give him courage (?); but I 

 am glad to say that Mr. Brindley, who sits 

 by my side, never touches tobacco nor 

 stimulants of any kind whatever. I know 

 there is quite a mental strain on the aviator 

 because on one occasion, owing to a little 

 gust of v.'ind at an inopjortune moment, 

 he failed to get off the ground. On the 

 flight just before this, one of the wings 

 touched a telephone wire. Had the wing 

 been an inch or two closer to the wire the 

 result would have been a smash-up and 

 very likely death to the operator. Well, 

 after this failure to get off the ground he 

 went and lay down on a cot in the tent, and 

 rested some fifteen or twenty minutes while 

 his assistants got the machine back to the 

 starting-point. God forbid that any more 

 lives should be sacrificed through want of 

 care, or a disposition to take risks in show- 

 ing the wonderful things that this new vehi- 

 cle or transjorter is capable of. 



SOME GLIMPSES OF OUR FLORIDA HOME 

 SEE P. 590 



BY A. I. ROOT 



First, we will consider the windmill, pur- 

 chased last fall of Sears, Roebuck & Co. 

 Let me explain tliat, although we are in the 

 region of artesian wells, these wells are 

 quite expensive, and the water is not only 

 sulphurous but hard; while the surface 

 wells, say eight or ten feet deep, or even 



