Central High School - Caldron Yearbook (Fort Wayne, IN)

Page 8 text:

Uhr Qlalhrnn A Elinrfunair Arrihrnf Fred Houghton was a boy of seven- teen, living in Fisherville, a small iso- lated town in Wyoining. He was very much interested in aviation, and indeed everyone said he was '4loony on the subject, on account of l1is incessant reading about aeronautic happenings, and because he was continually making small model aeroplanes. However, Fred was well versed in the scientific side of aviation, as well as having a fairly accurate knowledge of the con- struction and operation of most of the good aeroplanes, although he had nev- er seen a real one. When Fred was seventeen years old, interest in aviation had spread over the country so much that the principal men of Fisherville 311Cl the vicinity de- cided to try to get an aviator to give a three day exhibition at the town. After considerable correspondence they finally engaged a man named Jim Braithwaite for three days early in the spring. Fred was all excitement, eag- erly waiting for the exhibition, as he had never seen a man fly before. Wlxeii the day came for the flyer to come to town, Fred skipped school, and waited for the train at the station. The train came, all right, but the aeroplane was so wrapped up that Fred could see nothing of it, although he knew from pictures what the assembled machine looked like. He had to content himself with talking to the single mechanic, Jones, by name, who talked of aviation on the way to the field where the flying was to take place. Fred stuck around at the fiying field and helped put the parts of the machine in the shed, which was on the field, until late at night, and then when he found that the aeroplane was 11ot going to be sembled that night, he went home to bed. Fred was up early the next morning, the first day of the flying, and watched the n1e11 assemble the machine, helping here and there, whenever he was al- lowed to. He stayed at the field all day without the knowledge of his parents, who thought he was in school, and Braithwaite took him for several pas- senger rides while tuning up the ma- chine for the afternoon. At first the passenger experienced a delightful sen- sation of security and exhilaration, but wl1e11 the novelty of the thing had worn off somewhat, he devoted himself to watching the aviator manipulate the control levers to see how he managed the machine. He got on excellent terms of friendship with the mechanic Jones, who took a great liking to the boy. At noo11, when Braithwaite was at dinner, Jones let Fred sit in the avi- ator's seat, and work the controls, un- til he felt quite confident of being able to run the machine in the air by him- self. ln the course of trying out the engine, Jones let him work the engine controls along with the others. Al- though he had never operated an auto- mobile engine or any other kind be- fore, far f1'on1 being frightened when he heard the powerful sixty horse pow- er aero engine banging away behind him, he was supremely happy, although greatly excited, and he opened the throttle as wide as Jones would let him. While starting the propeller for the last time at noon, Jones let it hit his hand. lt broke several bones and cut him so badly that he was put out of business for acouple of weeks, so far as his me- chanic work was concerned. Incident- ally Fred was installed as mechanic's assistant for a time. lt was the time of the spring thaw and as there had been an unusual amount of snow on the ground, the river was very high and had swept away several bridges near Fisherville. ln spite of the bad roads and the swollen river, the farmers fiocked in from miles around to see Braithwaite fly. The first day was fine, without much wind, and Braithwaite fiew well before the largest crowd that had ever been in Fisherville. Doctor Hamel, the o11ly physician in the neighborhood, had traveled the six miles from his home to the town over the muddy roads and the

Page 7 text:

Elhv Glalhrnn Vol. IX JUNE I9l2 Number 8 Page A l m'tmm1v A1-1-imlvrli CS1m'y1 .... ,,,, 6 Ill-ss. ' QStur.vJ .............. ,, 8 'l'l11- Futurv CStm'.vJ ......... ,,, 11 A 'l':ll4 ul' VVm' fl,0l'lllP ,,, II l'hlitm'1zlls ....... ,,, 12 l :u'ul1,v .............. , , , 14 Svlmol Nutvs ........... ,,, 15 Wllnt 's Wim! :mel Why .. ... 16 Vluss Pic-I urn-s ........ ,H 17 Vluss Ux'g'm1izn1iol1 ... ,,,, 253 Vluss l,I'UIDlIl'l'.Y ..... ,,,, I 44 S1N'il'1'V ............. . U JST Iinsm-Imll 'l'4-um C1311 5 .. N, :Ss A1lll1'1l1'S .........,.. U, 3353 .lnlu-s .. ..... 40 l41xc-l1:nl1gw- ,H 42 Z A F' ,n f ,z' I ll I sul I l um Sn kg iv f I X'-X 41 l NN . ' 4 I I I I ' qx 'ii'1l - n I H I ' I ' Q I - I X Q ull' al I I I I ill.: -R ljjlil A, W in 1 I I I ff' X v- L ll ml, I 2 nm EIIMIEII ll U U l+'m't NNZIXII4' lligll :md Manual 'l'l'nini11g- S1'll00l 5 -'lilllllill

Page 9 text:

Uhr Olalhrnn high river, and he found it so bad that he decided not to come the next day. During the afternoon, liraithwaite asked for volunteers to go up with him as passengers, but Fred was the o11ly one that offered to go. The trip lasted about half an hour, and by the time the machine came down, Fred was certain he could handle it even though he was not given a chance to try it. 'Phat even- ing Fred got a scolding from his par- ents, both for skipping school and for riding with liraithwaite, but, although he said nothing, he resolved to take the chance of another ride if he got a chance. The next day, as Fred was watching the flights with a larger crowd than the day before, the biplane, when about fifty feet from the ground, was see11 to dive suddenly, throwing the aviator out of his seat. The upturned elevator, however, took effect just before the ma- chine hit the ground, and caused it to straighten up as suddenly as it had dived a few seconds before, and the aeroplane landed going parallel to the ground, without breaking even a wire, or doing any other damage. It was thought for a few minutes that Hraith- waite, who had landed on a stump, was killed, but when it was discovered that he was still breathing, people began to call for Doctor llamel. As he was at his home, a couple of miles away, sev- eral men started after him in a WVHg011, but everyone knew that it would take them a couple of hours to get him, 011 account of the bad roads and the long detours necessary, and the aviator might die in the meantime. Somebody then suggested that Jones drive the aeroplane after the doctor, as he could get him in about half an hour, but Jones could not drive on account of his injured hand. Finally Fred told the mechanic that he thought he could take the machine up. Jones immediately agreed to let him try it, so Fred mount- ed the aeroplane, one of the spectators started the propeller, and Fred was off before anyone knew what had hap- pened. After a long, bumpy ru11 over the ground, he elevated sharply, and after turning this way a11d that very errati- cally, he finally got the hang of the c011- trols tllltl started off in the direction of the doctor 's residence at a terriffic speed, in the effort to get him before the aviator died. Fred 's passenger rides with the Hyer the previous day helped him to manage the controls, as he had watched Braithwaite closely. He had to raise and lower his elevator, turn from side to side, and operate the ailerons continually, but by some strange chance he was able to catch the machine each time before it fell and keep it in the air. Ile went 011 a11d on, hours, it seemed to him, until he saw the doctor's place below him, and then he throttled the engine and began to plane down, as he had seen Graithwaite do. The landing wheels just missed a low fence, but luckily Fred was able to make a graceful landing without break- ing anything. The innnense yard was none too large, for the machine did not stop until it was almost touchingthe house. Doctor Hamel seeing the ma- chine, had come out into the yard, and he was very much surprised to see who was driving it. Fred had some trouble to induce him to ride back, but the doe- tor was reassured by the graceful way in which the landing had been made, although it was mere good fortune, so, after helping to tur11 the machine around he lmrried to get his medicine case a11d instruments. Fred had not shut the engine completely off, so when they were ready, he speeded it up and they started. The long run afforded by the great yard scarcely gave speed enough to clear the fence again, but the machine got safely over it and they were off. 'l'he doctor had some misgivings about riding in an aeroplane, but it was necessary, and he got there all right. lt was only about fifteen minutes from the time the machine disappeared from the people at the field that it appeared again coming fast. A great cheer arose from the crowd and did 11ot stop until the aeroplane hit the ground. When Fred started to land, he shut off his e11gi11e while he was still high in the tContinued 011 Page 10D