“plane was dancing right down the”: Ibid.
“He’s up!”: Ibid.
“Aviation is so contrary to all our hitherto conceived”: Warren (PA) evening Mirror, November 11, 1910.
“roared around the course twice like an eighteen”: New York Evening Sun, October 25, 1910.
Chapter Eleven: Here Are Two Men in a Boat
“supplying information leading”: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 25, 1910.
“I concede that as the situation now stands”: Albany (NY) evening Journal, October 25, 1910.
“a bark canoe, on the south side of Sotogama”: Century Magazine, December 1910.
“He was facing the mountain north”: Ibid.
“Another night has passed with no sign”: Ibid.
“Come out, Post! Here are two men in a boat”: Ibid.
“We dropped here in a balloon”: Ibid.
“they had suffered much misery”: Ibid.
“We will take you up the river”: Ibid.
“We have not had anything”: Ibid.
“It is remarkable how different”: Ibid.
“whipped out the pistol and pointed”: Ibid.
“Count de Lesseps handles his machine with such confidence”: New York American, October 26, 1910.
“the foreign birds and their mechanics”: New York Sun, October 26, 1910.
“you can’t tell whether Orville is”: New York Sun, October 26, 1910.
“When I have time, I will turn out propellers especially”: New York Herald, October 26, 1910.
“The innate fault of the single-plane machine is its weakness”: Ibid.
“I don’t know. I can’t tell yet”: New York Sun, October 26, 1910.
“conversed gently but earnestly with his pupil”: Ibid.
“Yesterday was Wright Day all right”: “Ladies & Gentlemen, the Aeroplane,” Air &Space, May 1, 2008.
“height of about 4,000 feet and to the east of the aviation”: New York Sun, October 26, 1910.
“Wow, that was cold”: New York American, October 26, 1910.
“I am encouraging the War Department to take”: New York Herald, October 26, 1910.
“The sight of the auto chugging over the hillocks”: New York Evening Sun, October 26, 1910.
“the rivalry between the English-speaking and French”: Ibid.
“That is, I merely”: The confrontation was described in full in the New York Sun, October 26, 1910.
Chapter Twelve: Are You These Gentlemen?
“The big yellow gas bag is down”: New York Herald, October 26, 1910.
“Now all you have to do is follow”: Century Magazine, December 1910.
“It will be three days’ work for us”: Ibid.
“With light hearts we hastened forward”: Ibid.
“sure we were thought to be visitors”: Ibid.
“The wire is broken”: Ibid.
“Are you these gentlemen?”: Ibid.
LANDED PERIBONKA RIVER. LAKE CHILAGOMA: Several newspapers, including the October 27 editions of the New York World, New York Herald, and New York Times.
“Well, I hope you had the same good luck”: St. Louis Globe-Democrat reproduced the exchange between Post and Guay on October 28, 1910.
Post agreed to speak to the reporter: The lucky—or rather, canny—reporter who met Post and Hawley in Chicoutimi had his report syndicated to a raft of newspapers, though in this case I quote from the New York Times, October 27, 1910.
“was disappointed but not surprised”: Ibid.
“breeziest race track now in use”: New York Times, May 5, 1905.
“for a daily promenade around the track”: Wallace, Claude Grahame-White, 117, and St. Louis Republic, October 26, 1910.
“air chauffeur”: New York Sun, October 26, 1910.
“Aviation is vexation”: Wallace, Claude Grahame-White, 117.
“most effective in preventing and overcoming the effects”: South Wales Post, August 28, 1910.
The evidence was right there in front: The New York World, American, and Herald all ran prominent photographs of Sears and Grahame-White on October 26, 1910.
“person on the box did not lose himself”: New York Sun, October 27, 1910.
“I’m crazy about it and I came down”: New York evening Mail, October 26, 1910.
“Hardly had the two conspicuous”: New York World, October 27, 1910.
“there is no further cause for controversy”: New York Herald, October 27, 1910.
“brought disappointment to the calamity:” New York Evening Sun, October 27, 1910.
“There goes the winner of the big race!”: Ibid.
“Seven seconds better in each lap than”: New York Herald, October 27, 1910.
“raised their voices in excited arguments as one”: New York Sun, October 27, 1910.
“Where are they?”: Ibid.
“and a black form was seen flitting across”: Ibid.
“it was only after an hour of brisk rubbing”: Ibid.
The dining room of the Hotel Astor: The New York Herald, October 28, 1910, carried a report on the aviation craze sweeping the city.
Chapter Thirteen: There’s Always a Chimney for a Man to Hang On To
“began sending messages to all points”: Chicago Daily Tribune, October 27, 1910.
“He wins the cup!”: New York Herald, October 27, 1910.
“My God”: New York World, October 27, 1910.
“For two weeks before leaving for”: New York Herald, October 27, 1910.
“Overjoyed”: San Francisco Chronicle, October 27, 1910.
“Indications are that you have beaten”: Chicago Daily Tribune, October 27, 1910.
“immediately dropped the telephone receiver”: New York Times, October 27, 1910.
“I am frank in saying that I never expected to see”: New York World, October 27, 1910.
“believing that he had won the race”: Century Magazine, December 1910.
“may join in the last days of our meeting”: St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 28, 1910.
“There was never a time when I considered”: Chicago Daily Tribune, October 28, 1910.
“We made a good landing in the trees”: Ibid.
“I can stand a good deal of pain”: Ibid.
“it’s lost in a good cause”: Boston Daily Globe, October 28, 1910.
“she reached Belmont Park with Claude”: New York Evening Mail, October 27, 1910.
“You newspapermen are a nuisance!”: Ibid.
“prevaricators”: Ibid.
“revoked its rule that all aviators taking part”: New York Herald, October 28, 1910.
“I took out my Farman biplane on Sunday”: New York Sun, October 27, 1910.
“certain death”: New York Sun, October 27, 1910.
“after considerable dipping and diving”: New York Herald, October 28, 1910.
“he had the moral support in his protest”: New York Herald, October 28, 1910.
“There’s always a chimney for a man to hang on to”: New York Sun, October 27, 1910.
“journeyed his way around the curves by”: San Francisco Chronicle, October 28, 1910.
“had an offer of $750 by the management to fly”: New York Sun, October 28, 1910.
“he hadn’t even soiled his collar”: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 28, 1910.
“flitted the air with whirling autumn leaves”: San Francisco Chronicle, October 28, 1910.
The accident to Baldwin: Described in the October 28, 1910, edition of the New York Sun.
“to whom he is supposed to be engaged”: New York Sun, October 28, 1910.
“a long session, productive of several heated arguments”: New York Times, October 28, 1910.
“For nearly three hours”: Ibid.
“The failure to select a representative”: Ibid.
Chapter Fourteen: I’ll Be Able to Give the Wrights a Good Race
“asked how four figures would look”: New York Herald, October 29, 1910.
“Nothin
g doing”: New York Evening Mail, October 28, 1910.
“reluctantly left their beds in the stateroom”: Boston Daily Globe, October 29, 1910.
“Peroxide!”: New York Evening Mail, October 28, 1910.
“Well, it’s a secret”: Ibid.
“Nature fakirs!”: Ibid.
PLEASE ACCEPT THE ASSURANCES OF OUR: New York Herald, October 29, 1910.
“but I shall also have a look around”: Ibid.
“people learned who was present on the train”: Boston Daily Globe, October 29, 1910.
“he shared the pride of all Americans”: Ibid.
“A clean shirt each”: Ibid.
“justified in shooting himself”: Ibid.
“There was one incident about our trip”: Ibid.
“finally won his consent”: Ibid.
“Mr. Hawley is not a man of emotional”: Ibid.
“just a strong gripping of hands”: New York World, October 29, 1910.
“to equip its [coastal] life saving stations”: Ibid.
“their contribution to the romance of adventure”: Ibid.
“It must not be supposed that the balloon”: New York Herald, October 28, 1910.
“aerial drifting competition”: New York Daily Globe, October 27, 1910.
“seemed nervous when he was welcomed”: New York Times, October 29, 1910.
“You cannot imagine how it feels”: Ibid.
YOU OWE ME NO THANKS FOR THE ASSISTANCE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 29, 1910.
“would make a chapter in himself”: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1910.
“raised his hand for the helpers”: New York Evening Sun, October 28, 1910.
“His monoplane banked gracefully”: Ibid.
“Oh, I think I’ll be able to give”: Ibid.
“I must again on principle respectfully”: Ibid.
“The engagement was not announced”: New York Evening Mail, October 28, 1910.
“I am in no position to say anything about”: Ibid.
“he would probably make the trip”: New York evening Sun, October 28, 1910.
Elsewhere, the table of Mr. George Huhn Jr.: New York Evening Sun, October 29, 1910.
“he encountered an unusually strong head”: New York Herald, October 29, 1910.
“as he neared the enclosure he dropped”: Ibid.
“Tell you what, boys”: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 29, 1910.
“It was just like shooting the chutes”: Ibid.
Chapter Fifteen: I’m Not Hurt Much but I Want a Long Rest
“There were almost 1,000 determined aero”: New York Globe, October 30, 1910.
“You want more than a blur as a souvenir”: Ad that appeared in the New York evening Mail, October 28, 1910.
“Room!” shouted the first guard: New York Sun, October 31, 1910.
“Under the rules, the Gordon Bennett Cup”: New York Times, October 29, 1910.
“There’s nothing she can’t do”: Henry Villard, Blue Ribbon of the Air (Smithsonian, 1987).
“Curtiss got away with the cup at”: New York evening Sun, October 29, 1910.
“There was an instant turning of faces”: Ibid.
“were clocking him carefully watching every shift”: New York Herald, October 30, 1910.
“There was no one who watched Mr.”: Ibid.
“Lee Blank”: New York Tribune, October 31, 1910.
“its motor humming a fierce”: New York World, October 30, 1910.
“as a hound would chase a fox”: Ibid.
“as he went persistently on”: Ibid.
“feel the woodwork of the monoplane heating”: New York Herald, October 30, 1910.
“Le Blanc was shot forward”: New York Sun, October 30, 1910.
“crumpled up into a smashed bundle of wreckage”: New York Herald, October 30, 1910.
“threw his arms around the policeman”: New York Sun, October 30, 1910.
“tall, lithe, boyish-face of Walter”: New York World, October 30, 1910.
“and in a dense dust cloud it turned tail”: New York Sun, October 30, 1910.
“and tore it from his head”: New York Times, October 31, 1910.
“I’m not hurt much but I want a long rest”: New York Sun, October 30, 1910.
“his head rounded in white linen bandages”: New York Herald, October 30, 1910.
“My dear young man”: New York World, October 30, 1910.
“that was nothing of insinuation”: New York Herald, October 30, 1910.
“thoughtful aviator would always”: Boston Post, November 13, 1910.
“I found that the tube which carries the”: Aero, November 23, 1910.
“only an accident that occurred to Le Blanc’s”: Boston Post, November 13, 1910.
“could not understand why the”: New York World, October 30, 1910.
“Come, Monsieur Hamilton, I have a Blériot”: New York Times, October 30, 1910.
“the smallest thing ever done”: Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 30, 1910.
“narrowly missed a chimney top”: Ibid.
“fairly pulled him from the machine”: New York Times, October 30, 1910.
“the only manner in which I can account for Le Blanc”: New York World, October 30, 1910.
“his debonair swagger”: Ibid.
Chapter Sixteen: It Isn’t True, It Can’t Be True!
“We don’t believe in speed for its own sake”: New York Sun, October 30, 1910.
“It was a spectacle spectacularly modern”: New York Herald, October 30, 1910.
“most any girl would give a lock”: New York Tribune, October 31, 1910.
“You’re going to win”: Evening Mail, November 1, 1910.
“Just be careful, John”: Gwynn-Jones, The Air Racers, 56.
“running over the ground on”: Boston Daily Globe, October 31, 1910.
“looking like a man who wanted to fight somebody”: Ibid.
“It will cost me about two thousand”: Ibid.
“in automobiles and crested carriages”: New York World, October 31, 1910.
“turned constantly to the east, from which direction”: Ibid.
“headed straight for the tower”: Boston Daily Globe, October 31, 1910.
“the broad wings dwindled into mere patches”: Ibid.
“the broad wings dwindled into mere patches”:
“nobody was quite prepared for it”: Ibid.
“He might be an Englishman”: New York Herald, October 31, 1910.
“I am now the owner of that machine”: New York World, October 31, 1910.
“It will cost you ten thousand”: Ibid.
“Roll her out, boys!”: New York Herald, October 31, 1910.
“Come on, you, Moisant”: Ibid.
“lace handkerchief was being ripped”: Ibid.
“hands of the men holding stopwatches”: New York World, October 31, 1910.
“seemed filled with mad people”: Philadelphia Press, October 31, 1910.
“It isn’t true”: New York World, October 31, 1910.
“gave a yell like a Comanche Indian”: New York Tele gram, October 31, 1910.
“That’s my opinion, boys”: Ibid.
“the crowd made a rush toward”: Boston Daily Globe, October 31, 1910.
“with his brown eyes dancing”: New York World, October 31, 1910.
“Really very well done, old chap”: Ibid.
“If I did, I’d be a Dutchman”: Ibid.
Chapter Seventeen: My Disgust at This Betrayal
Hanging from the ceiling among the chandeliers: Many newspapers carried descriptions of the Plaza Hotel event, but the New York Times and New York Herald of November 1 had the most comprehensive accounts.
“there had been so many accidents”: New York Times, November 1, 1910.
“hysterical”: New York Herald, November 1, 1910.
“called for the fastest flight from Belmont Park”: New York Times, October 31, 1910.
“under all the rules of international meets”: Ibid.
“it had been announced on Saturday”: Ibid.
“The committee announces that the”: New York Evening Sun, October 31, 1910.
“It’s a bally injustice, sir”: Ibid.
“What’s the use of making protests?”: Pall Mall Gazette (London), November 1, 1910.
“anywhere, at any time”: New York Herald, November 1, 1910.
“poor loser”: New York evening Journal, November 1, 1910.
“for their flights were being watched”: New York Herald, November 1, 1910.
“the men who only a few days ago”: Ibid.
“He got the most enthusiastic reception”: New York Times, November 1, 1910.
“which was something of a protest meeting”: Ibid.
“I wish through your columns to protest”: Transcripts of Drexel’s letter were reproduced in many newspapers around the world, such as the New York Times on November 1, 1910.
“they are jealous and very difficult to manage”: New York Evening Journal, November 1, 1910.
“Would you explain the reason for”: New York Times, November 1, 1910.
“In handing you this cup”: Ibid.
“an aviator of far greater experience”: Ibid.
“We aviators are sometimes prone to”: Ibid.
“extending an invitation to all the aviators”: Ibid.
Epilogue: We’re Sending Sputniks to the Moon
“proved that the airplane will be a great”: Chicago Daily Tribune, November 15, 1910.
“financiers, sportsmen and hundreds”: Pekin (IL) Tribune, October 22, 1910.
“a year of triumphant progress”: Fly, January 1911.
“He swooped down in a narrow circle”: Chicago Daily Tribune, November 18, 1910.
“Frantic for souvenirs”: Ibid.
“high noon had come and gone in the careers”: Harris, First to Fly, 219.
“Poor Ralph, poor Ralph”: Orange County Times-Press, November 22, 1910.
“clothe, feed and educate”: Des Moines Daily News, October 1, 1911.
“His head is round and shapely”: New York City American, November 6, 1910.
“There’s no danger in making an airplane flight”: New York Times, January 2, 1911.
“confident of winning the Michelin Cup”: Indianapolis Star, January 1, 1911.