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Real Race Horses Ran for Sport of Cheering Thousands |
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Now what chance has a horse got these days when aeroplanes and dirigibles are
invading his own race tracks? Latonia, called beautiful by those who hold winning tickets, is the first victim of the
progressive elimination of horse power, formerly so frequently used for the operation of a race track, and Nov. 12 the
famous old place, where horses also run, ha, ha, a joke!), will see the start of a three-day aviation meet, with Glenn Curtiss,
fastest air chauffeur, as star. Thus is the problem "What shall we do with our extinct race tracks?" solved. There is even a
chance for the bookies. Glenn Curtiss is the inventor, proprietor and driver of the "Gold Bug," which at Rheims, France, last summer, went faster than any other machine in the international contest and won for Curtiss a $10,000 prize. He has promised that he will use the same machine at Latonia and try to beat the record made at Rheims. There is a man named C. F. Willard, who is purely an aerial chauffer and uses a Curtiss biplane to travel in. This man's machine is called the "Red Bug," and during the meet Curtiss' "Gold Bug" will race with Willard's "Red Bug" for a cup that is to be given the winner. It is reported Curtiss is guaranteed $5000 for his three day's work, or half the amount of the Rheims prize. Roy Knabenshue and his steerable balloon will be among the fliers present. Knabenshue has flown about the skyscrapers in New York and has perfect control over his gas bag. He will fly every day and will race with Lincoln Beachy, who has also invented a balloon of the dirigible type. And then there is Cromwell Dixon, 13, of Columbus. He is the boy prodigy among aviators, having invented a dirigible different than all the others. Young Dixon travels on his own leg power, his steering apparatus being controlled by a bicycle pedal arrangement which Dixon operates himself. Latonia will take on all the flashy airs of a fashionable Derby Day. The clubhouse will be reserved for the guarantors who are backing the event and their friends. The guarantors are Lincoln Mitchell, J. Benson Foraker, Horace Schmidlapp, Fletcher Huntington, Lee Ault, Jr., Clifford Shinkle, H. Lyon, Max Fleishcmaan, Harry M. Levy, Tyler Field and Rud Cox. The Aero Club of Cincinnati will be asked to draft the rules for the meeting. Webber's band has been engaged to play the musical accompaniments. Several of the guarantors have indicated a desire to fly with Curtiss. They are all single men. Collection of Mary Castro, 2-20-04 |
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Twice before has the serenity of that majestic stream been disturbed by man's audacity--once when Henry Hudson sailed the "Half Moon" up the river to the untold astonishment of the Indians, and again, when amid the jeers of a skeptical crowd, Fulton piloted the Clermont out into mid-channel and inaugurated the era of steam navigation. Curtiss's flight from Albany to Governor's Island must be recognized as one of the most remarkable, if not the most remarkable, of all the feats of the bird men. He contended with the same cross currents that Bleriot and Paulhan had to contend with about the English channel. In point of distance, his flight was but a few miles shorter than that of Paulhan between London and Manchester. We are not yet "aviation mad" as they are in Europe, but a performance of this kind will go far toward making us so. Collection of Mary Castro, 2-20-04 |
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