18. WRIGHT BROTHERS, AVIATORS
Rarely in the history of the world have two great brothers been linked as closely together as Wilbur and Orville Wright, the pioneers in aviation. Four years different in age, they grew up together, studied, experimented, invented, and dared together. Each has an equal claim to be called the creator of the aeroplane, the Edison of the air, the dean of birdmen, and even “the first man to fly.” Wilbur may have been the first actually to rise from the earth in an engine-driven, “heavier-than-air” aeroplane, but neither of the brothers would ever make a positive statement about it. They always spoke of themselves as “Wright Brothers,” or “We.” Wilbur was born near Millville, Ind., April 16, 1867; Orville, in Dayton, Ohio, August 19, 1871. Their father was a cultured bishop of the United Brethren Church, and their mother was a college graduate. Both boys graduated from the Dayton public school and high school, after which they became printers and bicycle dealers in a dingy, common-place little brick shop. Here fame found them. They had no idea of flying until 1896, when they read the newspaper report of the death of Otto Lillienthal, who, after he had made over two thousand gliding flights in the air, met his death by a fall. In 1900 they became intensely interested in the experiments with air-gliders then carried on by Professor Langley, Octave Chanute, and others. On a country road outside of Dayton they began to fly kites and gliders equipped with an ingenious motive-power method of control. After this they went to Kitty Hawk, N. C., where a number of sand-dunes made a suitable place to glide from against the strong, steady winds that they found necessary for their gliding tests. They studied birds in flight and found that, in reality, a bird is an aeroplane. The part of the wings nearest to the body support it in the air, leaving the more flexible portion at the extremities to flap up and down and act as propellers. By gliding experiments they also found that the air along the surface of the earth is continually undergoing a churning movement, every building, hill, and tree sending up its air wave. In 1903 they made their first real flight of twelve seconds with their twelve horsepower aeroplane; in 1904 they increased their flight from one to five minutes; and in 1905 they made a hundred and fifty flights, making twenty-four miles through the air in thirty-eight minutes. Desiring some government to purchase their invention, they offered it to France, only to be refused. But two years later Wilbur sailed for France, where he was so successful in flights that the French Government paid him one hundred thousand dollars; and in Italy and Germany many private sales were made. Meanwhile Orville was flying his aeroplane at Fort Meyer in the United States, where he succeeded in selling a machine to the United States Government for thirty thousand dollars. In one of his flights Orville received a fall, which broke his thigh and caused the death of Lieutenant Selfridge, the first victim of power-driven aeroplanes. How both brothers ever lived through their early flights is a matter of wonder. A part of the explanation is to be found in their character. They proved their scientific theories to the last point. They were always courageous, never reckless. Unstinted praise should be given them because they have been a conservative influence in the field of aviation. By precept, example, and command, when they could command, they fought against the recklessness of performers who have dared death in unnecessary feats to thrill spectators at a show. Neither in America nor in Europe did either of them make one curve or flight for sensational effect. It seems strange that Wilbur should have died in his bed of typhoid fever, and not have met his death from a fall. He died in the height of his inventive genius and glory, leaving his brother Orville to continue the work alone. He left a large estate as the result of their joint invention. But best of all, he left an unsullied name. Simple, honest, unaffected, devoted to his art, he lived, worked, and died as becomes a true man. He was always gentle and modest, as is his brother. The things he had done never seemed much to him on account of the things he intended to do. In the record of American inventions there is no more brilliant chapter than the story of their marvelous conquest of the air, and no matter what the future may hold in store, the name and fame of the Wright Brothers will live with those of Watts, Stephenson, Howe, Arkwright, Fulton, and Edison.
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate,
Can circumvent, or hinder, or control
The firm resolve of a determined soul,
Gifts count for nothing; will alone is great;
All things give way before it soon or late.
What obstacle can stay the mighty force
Of the sea-seeking river in its course,
Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait?