TTTE ST7XP,T" OREGOXTAN, FORTLAXD, JANUARY 15, 1911.
'g:rer- iNew Rational. Academy T5iiii! 7
f)r5::Pv jMiC-tionoMilitary' issk j
I T 'and Civilian Aeronauts ( ;, 4
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BT JOUX EU-IIETH W ATKINS.
HOW do you lemrn to fly?
The flylnc masters of our new
National ArUtlon School have
beea telllnc m all about It.
Fifteen to twentr lessons and ru are
a blrdman to full feather. Fifteen to
twentr lessons at 1-5 per, and you can
add "srlatlon" to yotar nsine. This
means f ITS to fSOO for the course, de
pending; upon your aptitude and your
re.
It is a much more pleasurable process
than being; broken In to ballooning, for
no discomfiture akin to "balloon sick
ness" Is ever experienced by the avi
ator who Is trylns; his wlnits. And this
Is because your biplane or monoplane
never revolves or rolls, whereas your
jrasbas; Is forever undulating, oscllat
1ns;. pulsatlna;. But balloonlns; is quit
too out of date for serious discussion,
my flylnc masters tell me, with disdain
ful shrug of shoulders.
Your Ilrrt lesson.
But to the business.
Let us break you In on. say. "the
WrlKht "either the "Wright roadster"
or tha -haby Wrlg-ht."
Tour flylnir master swings open tha
doors of the hangar and rolls the bi
plane out Into the aviation field. lie
boosts you Into the "passenger scat" In
the center of the machine and takes his
place In the "operator's seat," on your
left, where he Is always counterbal
anced by the engine, whether your seat
Is occupied er not.
"Bur-r-r-r! Sli-s-i-x:" Tou do not
know Just when you leave the ground,
but presently you drop your eyes to see
the grass rolling back beneath you like
the endless platform of a colossal tread
mill. Tou have nothing to do except
hold fast. Thus for 10 minutes you
barely skim the ground. Then, be
fore you realise that the biplane has
alighted, you are told to Jump out. And
here endeth the first lesson, which Is
devised merely to accustom you t the
sensation of flying.
Tour second flight takes you up SO
feet. Making sure that you have your
nerve, the flying master "gives" you the
"actuating lever," which steers the bi
plane up and down or keeps It In a hor
lsontal course. When first your left
palm grasps the helm you are somewhat
appalled by the consciousness that you
have taken your life Into this same
hand. But this sense of grave responsi
bility Is exaggerated. Tour flying
teacher has hold of a duplicate lever.
which corrects any errors you may
chance to make. At the same time he
clutches the "warping lever," which
controls the biplane's lateral balance
and turns It to right or left.
Six flights you make with actuating
lever In hand, and next you aiaglven
six more with the aforesaid warping
lever.
Then you are taken up and given both
levers, your teacher all the while main
taining superior control with the dupli
cates In his hands. Regardless of how
your erring hand may tempt fate, the
great bird does his bidding.
learning the "Flffure Eight."
Gradually you master the turn to the
right or left, then the difficult "figure
eight" and finally you learn to launch
your craft from terra Arm a Into the
aerial sea above or to drop it gently
down from the empyrean's perilous
heights onto hospitable earth. And In
learning this last feat you must master
the art of "taking oft" the motor In
the air and of gliding or coasting so
that In case of accident to your engine
you may make a safe landing without
your propeller's aid.
Having made six perfect landings,
you are turned loose. I.Ike the mother
bird which has faithfully and patiently
taught Its young the art of arts, your
flying master now pushes you from the
nest and surrenders you to the hand of
fate.
It has taken you from two to seven
days to undergo your full course of 15
to 20 lessons, the first eight or ten of
which have been given on calm days
this that you cannot blame your errors
upon the vagaries of the winds. But
during the latter half of your course
the (lying master sees to Jt that you
are up In breezy weather. Into whose
tricks and treacheries you must be In
itiated under his guidance. If you value
your trusty neck.
Practice With Skeleton Machine.
Mastering the Curtlss machine Is a
very similar process except that mas
ter and pupil sit tandem fashion but
flying with th Blerlot, Farman v any
other foreign machine Is taught by
what Is termed the "French-Knglish
method."
For your earlier lessons you board a
great skeleton bird which cannot fly,
no matter how It yearns for the air. It
merely runs you along the ground,
while you are learning all of the lev
ers. Having been thus "broken In."
you are given an actual machine with
very low horsepower, In which you hop
along the ground a few yards at a
time. Very gradually are Its surface
and power . Increased, until you can
venture 200 feet above ground.
Finally, upon graduation from the
school, you are ready to purchase there
your Wright roadster, or baby Wright,
for 17500; your Curtlss, for $4000; your
Farman or Blerlot, for $5000, or your
Antoinette, for $7000.
Indeed, this national flying academy
will be the most Interesting thing that
Washington has feasted Its eyes upon
In many a year which Is saying much,
for the calptal city is blase from see
ing always the greatest sights that are
offered to beholders.
The hangars, aerodrome, experiment
ground, demonstration field and ma
neuver ground of the school are being
made shipshape out at College Park,
Md., a near suburb of the National
capital, on the same ground which the
Wrights have used In instructing Army
officers In the handling of. tha War
Department's only aeroprane. Here
both theoretical and practical instruc
tion) will be given with biplanes, mon
oplanes and aerial craft of all kinds,
and the "aerial maneuver ground" will
be arranged as a park, where officers
of tho Army, Navy, National Guard and
active members of the U. S. aeronautic
al reserve will study aeronautics as a
means of National defense. Washing
ton was chosen as the country's center
for military aviation not only because
the War and Navy departments are
here, but because military and naval
attaches are Btatloned at the capital by
all of the great foreign powers Inter
ested In the enlargement of aerial
fleets.
The Wrights and other aviators have,
moreover, found the capital's "flying
weather" especially good, Its "flying
season" unusually long arid its sur
rounding topography ideal for test
flights. The desire of aeroplane makers
to exhibit their craft where members
of Congress can see things for them
selves. Is another reason why the Col
lege Park site was chosen.
The Head of the Faculty,
The provisional head of the school's
faculty is Captain C.i J. Fox, United
States aeronautical reserve, who Is also
Major and Chief of Ordnance, National
Guard, District of Columbia. For five
years Major Fox studied military sci
ence In France, Germany and England,
in all of which countries he has at
tended maneuvers. He has studied also
at the University of Geneva and Paris.
While a student at Heidelberg he won
the degree of Ph. D. by writing a
thesis on the military science of Na
poleon Bonaparte
Speaking of the new school. Major
Fox said:
"In the course of military instruction
the National Aviation School will make
practical experiments in aerial recon
nolssance, dispatch carrying, transmit
ting wireless messages and visual sig
naling; also the carrying of ammuni
tion, sanitary supplies and other war
material. The reconnolssance work will
Include estimating d'stance and Judg
ing the number and arm of troQpswhen
seen at a distance from above whlla
moving rapidly through the air.
Teaching Bomb Dropping.
"Instruction and practice in bomb1
dropping will be a regular feature of
the military course. Foreign experi
ments In military aeronautics will be
studied carefully, and under the di
rection of Army, and Naval officer
adapted to American military condi
tions. There will also be established In
conjunction with the school a general
supply depot for monoplanes, biplanes,
motors, propellers and aeronautic ma
terials of all kinds, and a demonstra
tion grounds .where the manufacturers
of, various types of machines will be
Invited to exhibit. It is Intended to
establish at Washington a kind of per
manent exhibit, where people who have
come from all parts of our own coun
try, as well as tho diplomatic repre
sentatives who como from foreign gov
ernments, may see all that America has
to offer in the aeronautical line. As a
co-ordinate branch of the school, we
aim to have an aeronautical labora
tory, directed by a mathematical physi
cist of National reputation, for the
study of such problems as the lifting
power of different surfaces, the pro
peller power of the air, action of the
wind currents, skin friction and struct
ural strength of aeroplane materials." .
BASEBALL YARNS
Stories ot Great Players and
Plays of Past and Present
TMEHE are two types of baseball
cranks that pester ball players es
pecially. They are: the crank who
writes letters anonymously and tells
the players how bad they are and the
enthusiastic crank who butta In, Intro
duces himself, and proceeds re tell how
good they are.
Ty Cobb, the Tiger star, met one of
.the latter kind on a train this Summer.
Worse than that, the fellow not only
was a baseball crank, but also one of
these "purity In sport" reformers. Hi
held for cleanliness for sportsmanship,
and Cobb was with him. Then he got
to talklnjr about tricks turned by ball
players to gain advantages, and be de
cried them as unsportsmanlike. Finally
he said:
"Mr. Cobb. I am delighted to know
you. I have read things that gave me
an Idea totally Incorrect of you and
your playing. I am glad to And you a
sportsman and a lover of clean sport."
"Thank you." muttered Cobb, a trifle
wearily.
'"I shall explain to my friends." stated
the fan. "I'm sure. Mr. Cobb, that as a
fouthera gentleman, you never took
is unfair advantage of an opponent,
that you never bumped a baseman In
tentionally or cut with your spikes,
did your
"WelL" said Cobb, hesitatingly, "not
any of my close personal friends."
Billy "Bullhead Dahlen. now the se
date and settled manager of the rap
Idly rllng Brooklyn team, once bad
something of the same sort of an ad
venture with a great editor. It hap
pened at that Urn I was working fur 1
the editor who. besides being one of
the great newspaper geniuses of the
country, happened also to be a wild
baseball crank. One day Dahlen, who
was playing shortstop, had a bad day.
He kicked and booted and threw wild
and did everything backward, and that
night the editor, who had seen tke
game, summoned zne and said, sharp
ly: "Go after that fellow, Dahlen, and
Th Day DaMen Wanted to Be Put
Out of tha Qame.
drive htm out ef town. He's a loafer
and a drinker."
There wasn't a chance te argue, so
I hunted Dahlen up and remarked that
I was going to "pan the life out of
him" and drive him off the team, ex
plaining the circumstances. Where
upon he remarked that he wished me
success and would help me. Fer two
weeks Dahlen was criticised at every
turn. Then we went Kast and on the
train Dahlen and I slipped away from
Anson's ever watchful eye and sought
the buffet car and liquid refreshment.
'Willie we were thus engaged the edi
tor entered the car, addressed me, in
quired whether the ceam was on the
train and was Introduced to Dahlen.
I left them at 11 o'clock, the editor
ordering more beer and talking base
ball with Dahlen. The following morn
ing the editor stopped at ray berth.
"I was much mistaken In that young
man, Dahlen." he remarked. "He Is a
smart. Intelligent and Interesting young
man. I believe then stories about
his drinking have been exaggerated. I
fear we have been misled by the talk of
cranks. I wish you would write a
story suggesting him as the logical
successor of Captain Anson as the man
ager of the team."
Dahlen was, during hi Chicago ca
reer, a pestiferous player toward the
umpires, and one of the worst nagirers
In the business. He has grown sedate
and conservative and la friendly to
some of the .umps nowadays, but whan
young he gave all tne umpires and
Cncle Nick Young more trouble than
any player since his time. .
One day on the .West Side, Dahlen
approached Hank O'Day, who was the
umpire, and remarked:
"Say, Hank, if I run at you in the
first Inning and call you a blank blank
blank and step on your toes with my
spike and push my glove Into your
face, what'll you do?"
"DoT' said Henry, getting rolled up.
"Do? ni chase you off the lot faster
than you can run."
"All right." said Dahlen, calmly, "no
hard feelings; I Just want to get put
out qulok, so I can get to Harlem In
time to get a bet down on the fourth
race."
"Huh." said Hank. "Huh Say, you
can't get put out of this game In a
TyvCobb In-tha Clutches of the Peat.
thousand years, not if you spike me In
the face."
Nor could he, although he did every
thing he could think of. O'Day made
him play out the string, and the horse
lie wanted to bet on won the race at
heavy odds. '
Possibly the best Joke of the entire
baseball year was the one that Frank
Isbell. now owner and manager of the
Wichita team, slipped over on his old
comrades, the Chicago Wljite Sox. this
Spring. The Sox were to play an ex
hibition gome at Wichita, and Issy had
made great preparations for their com
ing. Also he thought they had a sense
of humor which was another mistake.
Issy prepared a great feast at his
home, and served to his old friends on
the Sox team a beautiful repast. Dur
ing the dinner the Sox were telling of
the wretched umpiring they had been
getting, and how every umpire In the
little cities thought himself duty bound
to help bis team beat big leaguers. Issy
remarked: "I've been having trouble
here In the exhibition games. I've had
one of the regular league umpires, but
Detroit kicked on him and 'the other
teams, too. He was pretty bad, so I got
another fellow for today. I think he's
all right. He lives here and has um
pired a lot of amateur and college
games. He's a man worth a quarter of
a million dollars, he stands high in so
ciety and church circles and In business.
He thinks It an. honor to umpire this
game, and I hope you fellows .won't
kick."
They didn't kick. The umpiring was
fine up to the ninth Inning. Then
Wichita was leading by one run. In
the first of the ninth, with a runner on
bases, Frank Smith hit the ball half a
mile over the left field, fence and put
the Sox ahead. Up to that time the Sojc
had been much pleased wlth the um
pire, but when Wichita went to bat for
the last time things changed.. The tun- ,
pire began to call balls regardless of
where they were pitched. He walked
three men, then another and forced
home a tun. The Sox grew mad and
Smith turned on him.
"What are you trying to do?" he de
manded. "Steal this game?"
"Why, Mr. Smith." said the prom
inent citizen, in distressed and surprised
tones. "Mr. Ibsell explained to me that
you wanted to lose this game to him
to give his Wichita team a good send
off." Foxy Issy had "double-crossed"
both the umpire and the Sox and he
won the game. Instead of seeing tho
Joke, the Sox got mad.
rkA-hana th a most remarkable catch
made anywhere during the season of
1910 was made Dy uarusie, oi wie r
non team of the Pacific Coast League,
on the "San Francisco grounds early In
October. The catch was made possible
because it started in a Joking tribute
by Carlisle to the hitting prowess of
"Ping" Bodie, the slugging outfielder
of the Frisco team, who came near
breaking world's records for home run
hits during the season.
The San Francisco grounds are sit
uated low, and surrounded by great
fenoee, some of them as, tall as the
three-story bouses that adjoin the park.
At points the fences are nearly 60 feet
high, yet Bodre kept driving the ball
over fences, signs and high screens un
til it got to be a regular thing, and
a source of Joking among the fans and
players alike. The Vernon team came
down from the North with the Frisco
team, and they stopped to play a series
on the Mission-street grounds. It hap
pened that while the team was away
painters had been putting some new
lettering on signs high above the fence,
and one tall ladder remained propped
against the fence In right center field.
TV,. lorlnr too f left thPTP. And After
"Vernon, had batted and failed, to score,
Carlisle, Jogged out te his position,
the ladder, and thought of a Joke. Two
were out when 'Ping," the hero of
Frisco, came to bat. Carlisle jogged
back to the fence and, climbing about
20 feet up the ladder, turned his face
toward the field. The bleacher crowd
appreciated his tribute to Bodie's Set
ting power and laughed and cheered,
and the crowd in the stands took up
the applause. Bodle swung wickedly
upon tho first ball pitched. Carlisle,
thinking he had carried the joke far
enough, was descending the ladder,
when he saw the ball coming toward
the fence, far above his head. He
turned, scrambled 10 feet up the ladder,
clung to a round with one hand and.
stretching out the other, caught the
ball.
The catch caused a long argument,
but It was allowed and then the umpire
stopped the game until the ladder was
removed.
(Copyright. 1910, by Joseph B. Bowles.)
MITCHELL GIVES FIGURES
Employers' Liability Companies Get
Huge Sums Kach Year.
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 14. In eleven
years $99,959,078 has been paid In-premiums
to employers' liability compan
ies in the United States, while but $42,
599,498 was paid out In claims. Of this
amount less than $30,000,000 went to
Injured working men and their fam
ilies. More than 600,000 men are killed op
maimed every year In American indus
trial pursuits.
These figures are given by John
Mitchell, labor leader at a meeting, at
which was organized a state branch of
the National organizations which ia
working for uniform staU laws-