AIRSHIPS AT THE WORLD'S FAIR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2651, 4 January 1905, Page 70

AIRSHIPS AT THE WORLD'S FAIR.

»» By Spencer Clapham. FLIGHT OF CAPTAIN BALDWIN'S AIRSHIP CALIFORNIAN ARROW. (See picture elsewhere in tliis issue.) It does not often happen that fame comes to anyone as suddenly as it came to young Roy Knabenshue, of Toledo, Ohio. Only two weeks ago he was Captain Baldwin's assistant workman on the Arrow. To-day he is regarded as the most successful of American aeronauts, and his performances are looked upon as rivalling, if not surpassing, those of Dumont, the Brazilian champion. Two weeks ago Baldwin made an effort to. -fly, but found the arrow would not bear his weight. Knaben-shue,-his assistant, of much slighter build, offered to go^up with the airship, and in a few minutes was sailing over the buildings at the World's Fair. At a critical moment the engine broke down, and the propeller ceased to revolve, and Knabenshue found himself aboard a helpless derelict in danger of. being driven against the high towers on the^ World?s Fair buildings, and in rather' close proximity to the, trees of Forest Park, 'Khabenshue was equal to the , occasion, atid&emptied a bag of sand, ■ which sent the -balloon sky w/ard. The wind carried away his eliaft over the City of St Louis, directly towards the Mississippi, six miles away from the Fair Grounds: Cries .of - "Airship" brought crdw.ds from- the buildings of the city, and the streets were soon filled with a gazing multitude, that bent its neck almost to the point of dislocation to catch sight of ,the human, figure perched precariously on the frail supports beneath the oval-shaped balloon. Everyone was •excited but the aeronaut, who .kept his craft* at an altitude till the city and river and East St. Louis -were passed, when he made a^ successful' descent in the corn patch of an Illinois farmer. Erom- the hour of his ascensidn Knabenshue became a- famous man. ' His courage and his coolness in danger had been .tested^ severely, -and he had come out triumphantly, s even .though the airship -had - entirely -broken * down.. . Captain . •Baldwui, however, was not to be dis- I -cguraged .by one failure~of \<"fcp. Arrow, -and' for the next week much ,' interest .centred -in ths aeronautic concourse. Several ' were made at n' flight, ;and .the^i public/, which- has'-from^iime' to time-been; disappointed with aeronauts ,from"Dumon%' j downwards,' btfgan to greet ihese .attempts J Zii "ihe- part- ' of ;t3aptain Baldwin:, 'with 1 .derision. Roy Knabenshue, -with a purpose in view',^heeded, not the jeering-crowds'nor > the cynical -paragraphs'which appeared- in theslocal papers.; October- 31 was Toledo" Day-^at. the 'Fair. ' Knabenshue' was going to celebrate it by a -successful flight, if possible ; and when there 'was a cry of "Airship" jbhere was a general exodus from the buildings, commissioners and .souvenir vendors alike- struggling through the doorways. There was ■. no trouble* to find it. There it was,-, a_- pretty sight, .right above the Ferris wheel;, at a height of, 1200 ft. -tt was facing -the light breeze, and making steady v progress, the white '•canvas rudder behind and the propeller in front, in its revolutions, catching the sunlight and flashing like the wings of a bird. .Then a- gust of wind struck it, and round went the airship ; but only to be brought into the wind again by the intrepid commander. Through a "telescope Knabenshue .could be seen moving along his narrow beam, balancing the delicately-poised air"ship and drawing the tiller ropes as coolly as if he were steering Ms yacht on Lake Erie. To get in touch with the proceedings I 'hurried to the aeronautic <onsourse, occasionally casting a glance at the balloon to observe what progress was being made. 'Suddenly 1 one end of the balloon pointed downward, and the -airship began rapidly to descend. A moment more and the clack, clack of the engine could be heard ; "and how* weird ife sounded, coming from the skies. 1 I thought it f^ould fall'on the^spot where I was .standing, .but in a moment it had sped along overhead,- driven by^the wind? and the propeller^. The"re was littl^ doubt now -as to 'the objectiver Knabenshue was steering ..straight for the concourse, - and demonstrating to the world ' 'the dirigibility-' of the craft, and earning for tfi*e Arrow the right " to its title of | airship. ■ Straight" as .a bee to its hive ! went Knabenshue to the starting place, where a vast crowd had collected. They i assisted him to land and bore him and his frail vessel into the aerodrome, a lofty building constructed to suit the requirements of the great inflated gas bags. The crowd was bocked at the entrance to the doorway of the building, and only the World's Fair officials and representatives of the press were permitted to enter. The qrowd outside were wildly excited, and struggled to get a glimpse of the young hero through the netted 1 enclosure. Knabenshue himself was as cool as possible, and busied himself securing the valves or fixing a rope. Such an exaanple of coolness it 'has never before been my lot to witness. No ferryman ever beached his boat with less nervousness than the Toledo boy brought his airship into - the concourse, after making one of the most sensational flights in the history of aeronautics. j Knabenshue, as he stepped down from his railing to the ground, found himself in the presence of President and Mrs Francis, Mayor Holla Wells, Vice-presi-dent Corwin H. Spencer an I others, all anxious to offer their cougratulations. They had just begun to question the young aeronaut on his experiences when a lady was seen making her way to him. He stepped towards her and they embraced tenderly. It was his- mother, who in her anxiety Had come all the way from Toledo, and, while the crowds were cheering:, had watched the movements of the airship in fear and trembling. "I am proud to meet the mother of such a brave son,"' said Mrs Francis, as the President introduced Mrs Knabenshue. "Oh, how thankful I

am he is safe," said the mother, and though it must have been a very proud moment, the smile on her face betrayed only gratitude and relief. A moment later, and Knabenshue's voting wife and child were there, nnd then the brother with whom Jie had previously made several balloon ascents. The President had a little chat with each, ami* then his party withdrew, leaving Captain T. S. Baldwin and Knabenshue with the press representatives. Knabenshue is an aeronaut and not an orator, and is as simple and modest as he is clever and cool ; and to one who knows him, the extravagant claims and highfalutin' assertions with which he was credited by the American press were as ridiculous as they were inaccurate. His story was simple and to the point. He had kept his airships bow into the wind, and had made headway as far as the Ferris wheel. Gusts of wind threw him round from time to time, and once he had pulled the wrong coud, and the ship had turned in her own length. She had never failed to answer the helm. He knew all along he would hare no trouble in getting back to the concourse, and had made for it as soon as he thought his gasoline would be giving out. He had had a very busy and a very enjoyable time. "Did you have the- advantage of any previous experience of steering airships before your flight of- to-day ?" ""No," he replied ; . "my actual experience in steering has been confined to yachting on the lake. My practice with the Arrow to-day should give me a great advantage in my next attempt." x . "Say, are you from New Zealand?" 1 was so interested in my chat with Knabenshue that I did not notice the call till -itwas repeated. When I looked around Captain Baldwin was standing" at my elbow and was making the inquiry. /He had evidently caught sight of ; my New Zealand badge. , "Do you remember me?" he said, . as he offered me his hand. He remembered the names of the towns in the order in which he had made his balloon ascens sions in 1888, except that he spoke of New Plymouth as Plymouth. "Gentlemen, here is representative of the finest country I passed through in my travels," he safcid. The compliment w,as a nice on© to_ cmr^ country, especially when we come to reflect that he had a better opportunity of viewing it than most visitors. Coming .from the . world's greatest balloonist his .compliment was ont to be appreciated. - Tie "success of Baldwin's;- airship has ( been/a source .of great satisfaction i to .the . American public, for until now Anlerica 'has done little towards proving the prac-ticabiliiy-of, airships, though, she'may have - contributed much" in other- branches • pf/ aeronautics. , "'" ' „- \ '> .- ~ I£nab,enshue, despite his ' name; "Is -" a typical , American -,'Jbpy. I was somew,h!i ! t- 1 - amused, *by " the gravity - with, which ~) tie. received "a, -suggestion "from' a lady -writer \J iliat he was probably, of German extraction, j He, shook his head/ .seriously-^-"StricifclyH ' American,, strictly. -American !"-* in '.a ,Vay, that showed 'he wanted "all. the honour "to go to his native land. He did . own up to a little Irish on his mother's side. "But," said- -he, "it's a long way back, a long way back." On Monday, November 7, the first flight j for the 100,G0pdol airship prize takes place, j The monster craft , of M. Hippolyte TTran- J of Paris, will be sent up. A. D. I Reynolds, from Los Ang-elos, also" Tias his airship ready. There is no-motor on his craft, which will be propelled by the operator's own energy; There are. two ; mngs attached to his airship, and they measure 16ft 6in from tip to tip. They resemble as nearly as possible the wings of ,a bird, and will be manipulated- by the operator's hands, and. feet. Count Henry de la Vailx, president of the Aero Club of Paris, and the great rival of Santos-Dumont, is here to watch the Te-sult-s of the coming week. > He thought the aeronautic contests of the Fair had fizzled out with the return of Dumont, but being in New York, and reading of the remarkable results --of Baldwin's balloon, he came along to watchf the various contests for himself. -.:^