838 



Popular Science Monthly 



Biplane Which Crashed Through 

 a Tile Roof, Injuring Only 

 Its Wings 



It was a lucky chance that the machine struck a comparatively fragile roof, in tearing through 

 which it could expend its energy. The broad wings cut through a corresponding expanse of roofing 



ONE of the pioneers of modern flight 

 was Otto Lilienthal. He used to run 

 down a hill with a glider (two outstretched 

 wings connected by a handle-bar which he 

 grasped), lift up his legs when he had 

 gained sufficient momentum, and float 

 down for several hundred feet. To main- 

 tain his balance, he would throw his 

 weight around. Sometimes he was not 

 quick enough and he would come crashing 

 down to the ground. He used to say that 

 his crude, motorless monoplane was not 

 dangerous because if he could only 

 manage to slide down edgewise, the 

 wing would act as a buffer. To be 

 sure, the wing's ribs would be 

 broken; but then his own would be 

 saved. He wrote of one instance in 

 particular when he lost control be- 

 cause he was too tired to throw his 

 weight to the front. A tail-slide 

 and a dive resulted. His life was 

 saved by an elastic-curved bar of 

 willow wood which he had added in 

 front of the wings. 



The American apprentice who 

 flew the machine, the tail of which 

 is seen in the photograph above, will 

 probably endorse Lilienthal's ob- 

 servations. At an altitude of five hundred 

 feet the American lost control and plowed 

 through the roof of a barrack building as if 



his machine were a battering-ram. That he 

 escaped without a scratch once more illus- 

 trates the old mechanical truth that when 

 two bodies collide the weaker collapses 

 and acts as a buffer for the stronger. The 

 accident also demonstrates the protection 

 afforded by a modern tractor biplane, pro- 

 vided, as it is, with a deep cock-pit in a 

 very substantial body and constructed so 

 that the weight of the machinery is all in 

 front of the aviator. 



A Toe Spring for Enlarged Joints 

 and Bunions 



ONE effective method of dealing 

 with crooked toes, enlarged 

 joints and bunions is to bring the 

 toes into the proper position with a 

 toe spring. This removes the cause 

 of the enlarged joints and bunions, 

 which will naturally disappear as 

 a result. The toe spring is worn 

 at night, and if necessary may be 

 worn also during the day with a 

 special shoe; it is attached to the 

 foot in such a manner as to cause 

 no discomfort or inconvenience. 

 In cases of severe soreness or inflammation, 

 an ointment applied to the sore part pre- 

 vents irritation from the spring. 



