细节
WRIGHT, ORVILLE. Typed letter signed in full to Lester D. Gardner of the Gardner, Moffat Co., Dayton, Ohio, ll December l943. 1 l/2 pages, 4to, on Wright's personal imprinted stationery.
ORVILLE RECALLS THE NEWSPAPER REPORTS OF THE KITTY HAWK FLIGHTS, FORTY YEARS LATER
A most interesting letter, recalling the eventful period immediately following the Kitty Hawk flights, and the inaccurate, often disbelieving press coverage those flights received, and mentioning, in passing many well-known figures in early aviation. Wright has received a letter from a friend of Carl Dientsbach, which "called to mind a letter I received from you [Gardner]...in which you enclosed a 'copy' of a letter [from the Wrights] of a 'letter of Carl Dientsbach' on the l8th of December l903. I do not understand just what this copy is supposed to be. It is not a copy of Carl Dientsbach's leter to us dated December l9th, l903....At the time of writing that letter he had read the EVENING TELEGRAM of the l8th, which said that we had flown three miles at Kitty Hawk with a machine that had two screws, one for lifting and one for propulsion. He also had read the NEW YORK HERALD of the l9th, which said we had flown 59 seconds with a machine having two screws, both...for propulsion. He was very much impressed with the idea of the lifting screw [reminiscent of a helicopter's rotors], and seemed to think it probable that the TELEGRAM'S description of the machine was more accurate than that of the HERALD.
"We never had a letter from him written on the l8th [Orville is mistaken; Dientsbach wrote to the Wrights on l8 December l903, as the original letter is part of the Gardner collection, to be offered subsequently]. The ideas expressed...are almost identical with those in the letter of the l9th...I hope Dientsbach has not represented your copy to be an exact copy of the letter sent to us. I consider Dienstbach reliable and trustworthy, one of the most trustworthy among the writers with whom we have had experience. Sometimes he has been fooled by people...for example, Herring and Zahm. I remember [Octave] Chanute told us in l904 that Dientsbach became very angry when Chanute, in conversation with him, called Herring a 'blackmailer.' Chanute had seen a letter written by Herring to us; Dienstbach had not seen that letter. [Herring, who pretended to have designed flying aircraft, had written to the Wrights suggesting that they shuld pay him a certain sum not to enforce patents he claimed to have.]
"Fred Kelly stopped over...in passing through Dayton....I let him read over the letter I had written to you about the Langley motor. He told me he thought you were inclined to believe we were mistaken about Manly having visited our flying field in l905. There can be no question about that in my own mind...."
ORVILLE RECALLS THE NEWSPAPER REPORTS OF THE KITTY HAWK FLIGHTS, FORTY YEARS LATER
A most interesting letter, recalling the eventful period immediately following the Kitty Hawk flights, and the inaccurate, often disbelieving press coverage those flights received, and mentioning, in passing many well-known figures in early aviation. Wright has received a letter from a friend of Carl Dientsbach, which "called to mind a letter I received from you [Gardner]...in which you enclosed a 'copy' of a letter [from the Wrights] of a 'letter of Carl Dientsbach' on the l8th of December l903. I do not understand just what this copy is supposed to be. It is not a copy of Carl Dientsbach's leter to us dated December l9th, l903....At the time of writing that letter he had read the EVENING TELEGRAM of the l8th, which said that we had flown three miles at Kitty Hawk with a machine that had two screws, one for lifting and one for propulsion. He also had read the NEW YORK HERALD of the l9th, which said we had flown 59 seconds with a machine having two screws, both...for propulsion. He was very much impressed with the idea of the lifting screw [reminiscent of a helicopter's rotors], and seemed to think it probable that the TELEGRAM'S description of the machine was more accurate than that of the HERALD.
"We never had a letter from him written on the l8th [Orville is mistaken; Dientsbach wrote to the Wrights on l8 December l903, as the original letter is part of the Gardner collection, to be offered subsequently]. The ideas expressed...are almost identical with those in the letter of the l9th...I hope Dientsbach has not represented your copy to be an exact copy of the letter sent to us. I consider Dienstbach reliable and trustworthy, one of the most trustworthy among the writers with whom we have had experience. Sometimes he has been fooled by people...for example, Herring and Zahm. I remember [Octave] Chanute told us in l904 that Dientsbach became very angry when Chanute, in conversation with him, called Herring a 'blackmailer.' Chanute had seen a letter written by Herring to us; Dienstbach had not seen that letter. [Herring, who pretended to have designed flying aircraft, had written to the Wrights suggesting that they shuld pay him a certain sum not to enforce patents he claimed to have.]
"Fred Kelly stopped over...in passing through Dayton....I let him read over the letter I had written to you about the Langley motor. He told me he thought you were inclined to believe we were mistaken about Manly having visited our flying field in l905. There can be no question about that in my own mind...."