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The first day of the meet was marked with only one slight accident. Otto Brodie's machine caught fire when his engine began back-firing. Little damage was caused.

[[underlined in red]]Paul Studensky, who fell with the National Bleirot Tuesday, flew throughout the day, apparently little affected by his narrow escape.[[/underlined in red]]

The Melles twins, 11 years old, of Oak Park, the most enthusiastic aeronauts for their age in the country, attend the meet daily.

When asked why they did not take part in the model flying contest they both laughed merrily and said they had passed the toy age.

They will exhibit a Wright glider and intend using it after the meet is ended. They maintain they will be ready for an international license by fall.
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PLENTY OF THRILLS BY CICERO BIRDMEN

PARCEL DELIVERY BY AIR ROUTE IS DEMONSTRATED
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Brodie and Studensky Win Two Heats of Five Mile Handicap--Both Events Go Off Like a Horse Race.
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Without an accident to mar the pleasure of thousands of people who gathered to watch the evolutions of the air craft, the opening program of the four days' aviation meet at Cicero was carried out yesterday. No hitch in the program kept the crowd anxious "for something to happen," and every event was flown off just as it was scheduled.

No records were broken, no attempt was made to gather records, but a clean-cut exhibition of the progress made in the art of flying was given to the entire satisfaction of the spectators.

There were plenty of thrills, some of the more experienced aviators performing feats of seeming danger with deceiving ease, but there was none of the foolhardiness that frequently marks the efforts of pilots of heavier-than-air craft when they have thousands of eyes upon them.

Mestach Gives First Thrill.

The first event of the matinee, after the parade of the air craft at the field and the examination of the different models kept there, was the sky cruise of members of the Aero Club of Illinois, under the auspices of which the meet was held.

This event was livened by the appearance of George Mestach, who had flown from the grounds earlier in the day with his mail-carrying Borel monoplane. While Otto W. Brodie, in his great Farman biplane; Marcel Tournier, in the Nieuport Curtis, were [[underlined in red]]circling the field, passing under and over each other,[[/underlined in red]] Mestach appeared, his machine a glistening speck in the west. He circled the grounds several times in a long spiral to the center of the field, and was greeted by a shouting throng of men, women and children who had been inoculated with the germ of the "aero" bug the moment his machine was sighted.

Following the sky cruise, Andrew Drew, a former newspaper man, son of a St. Louis millionaire and field director at the Cicero field, demonstrated the McCormick-Romme "doughnut," a peculiar type of monoplane designed for automatic stability. Though unable or unwilling to get the queer-looking craft very far from the tops of the grass blades, he made several short flights.

Parcels Post by Air Route.

Parcel delivery was accomplished by Otto Brodie, who took a parcel from a man in the grand stand, delivered it to another man in another part of the field, accepted his receipt and, returning to his customer, collected his fee. This event was an impromptu one and was the result of a suggestion by the customer.

[[underlined in red]]Brodie and Studensky won the two heats of the five-mile handicap race, through their handicaps. Both were exciting events and were flown off with as much precision as if the contestants had been riding horses instead of air craft.[[/underlined in red]]

Shortly after this event, Jimmie Ward, in his Shooting Star biplane, dropped in at the field to pay a friendly call upon Max Lillie and Mr. and Mrs. Lee Hammond. He had flown from Riverview park to Grant park and from there to Cicero, reaching an altitude of 8,500 feet.

Will Try for Licenses.

Hammond, who was one of the prominent figures at the meet at Grant park last summer, has given up the flying game in order that he might win the young woman who stood close by his side during the flying yesterday. He received Ward's felicitations upon his marriage, but Lillie at that time was having trouble with the police at Grant park and Ward had to leave before he reached the Cicero field.

Today Dr. Lloyd Thompson and Brodie will try for their pilot's licenses, executing the difficult figure eights and right hand turns prescribed under the rules governing the granting of pilot's licenses. Miss Catherine Stinson, who was Lillie's passenger in the flight to the Columbia Yacht club yesterday afternoon, will also give a demonstration.
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