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[[newspaper clipping]]
[[page number]] 28 [[/page number]] SHOWERS THIS MORNING WILL NOT PREVENT BIRDMEN FROM FLYING AT THE DRIVING PARK

"AFTER a Shower Is the Best Time to Fly," Declares Fred J. Wiseman, California Aviator Who Has Won License and Fame in Machine of His Own Make.

[[image - photograph of biplane in the air]]
[[image - portrait photograph of James Radley]]
[[caption]] Fred J. Wiseman of Santa Rosa flying his California-built aeroplane, and James Radley, the Englishman, who flies the fastest aeroplane ever taken aloft.  Radley is to fly from Tanforan to San Jose this morning. [[/caption]]

[[inset]]
By R. J. H. HOPE,
Manager for James Radley.
ALTHOUGH he won his spurs at the San Francisco aviation meeting and has already qualified as one of the best amateurs who has ever made a flight in his own machine, Wiseman's success or failure at the San Jose meeting will probably decide his future in the game.  The flights Saturday and Sunday will mean much to him and I have seen him at work enough to know that if it is possible for anyone to fly he will make the attempt.  A wind such as blew yesterday will have no deterrent effects. 
[[/inset]]

DESPITE clouds and winds, despite even showers up to noon today, the aviators will fly at the San Jose Driving Park this afternoon.  A heavy rain this morning would preclude Radley's much-heralded flight from Selfridge Field to San Jose, but, provided that it clears up by noon, the birdmen will give an exhibition this afternoon.

With all the pressure that has been brought to bear upon the weather men the best they can promise for today is unsettled weather.  "Rain tonight and Saturday," predicted Maurice Connell yesterday for San Jose and vicinity.  "Rain tonight and Saturday," said the forecast for San Francisco and vicinity, adding "moderate south-east wind."  "Rain tonight and Saturday, moderate southeast wind" was the San Francisco office's prediction for the Santa Clara Valley.

[[inset]]
By DON PRENTISS,
Manager for Fred J. Wiseman.
IT MAY RAIN intermittently all day long without causing a postponement of the meeting or of Radley's great flight from Selfridge Field to this city.  Just after a shower the atmosphere offers more favorable conditions for flying than at any other time.  The humidity is greater, giving more service from the engines and there is more support for the aeroplane in the air.
Radley will make his flight to this city if he can get ever so short an interval of sunshine.
[[/inset]]

The outlook is not encouraging.  It can only be hoped that the rain will hold off long enough for Radley to get his start from Tanforan.  Then [[?he]] must keep on, whether or no.  It can be hoped, too, that the "moderate southeast wind" will continue to be moderate southeast wind throughout the day.  Such a wind as that of yesterday afternoon would be ideal.

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[[newspaper clipping]]
WEATHER CAUSES BIRDMEN TO ABANDON MEET – EXHIBITIONS PROMISED BY FRED WISEMAN

RADLEY Has Sold Monoplane and Is Returning to England This Week – Young Californian Is Still on Ground and Is Only Waiting for First Clear Day to Give Exhibitions.

[[image - photograph of man at wheel of plane]]
[[caption]]  FRED J. WISEMAN.  The Santa Rosa inventor and aviator, at the wheel of his big biplane in which he will fly at the Driving Park this week. [[/caption]]

THE original aviation meeting has been abandoned.
Another has been arranged, however, and will be held as soon as the weather clears.
Fred J. Wiseman, the plucky Californian, has his machine ready and is determined to fly in it on the first clear day.  He will give exhibitions on his own account within the week.

WINDS and rains both conspired again yesterday to prevent San Jose from enjoying flights by the birdmen.  It was evident that the weatherman or old J. Pluvius had not been sufficiently propitiated by the committee in charge of the proposed aviation meeting.  This was discovered too late, however, and the rule of the elements loosed his storms on the valley at just the wrong moment.

San Jose will probably never see Radley fly.  He has sold the big Bleriot monoplane he used at the San Francisco meeting, and which he was to have used on his flight from Selfridge Field to San Jose, and is returning to Europe this week.

The local aviation fans will, however, see Wiseman in action.  The plucky little Santa Rosa inventor came to San Jose to fly and he declared last evening that he would do so on the first clear day.  He will await his chance, with his machine all ready, for at least a week and believes that he will surely have an opportunity to get up in that time.

Radley Disappointed.

James Radley, the star of the San Francisco meeting and who is declared to be a true sportsman by the local committee, was genuinely disappointed at not having been able to make this much-heralded flight from Tanforan to San Jose.  He expended several hundred dollars in preparation for the meet and received not a cent in return.  Among all the aviators at the San Francisco meeting he was the only one who would take this chance and he realized that he would not have the weather alone to contend with.

Radley sold his big Bleriot monoplane in which he has made all his records and won fame to a Mr. Remington of Pasadena during the Francisco meet [[?]]
New York for England February 8.

Wiseman Will Fly.

Wiseman has assembled his machine at the San Jose Driving Park grounds and is waiting for a clear day to use it.  His manager, Don Prentiss of Santa Rosa, will enter into a contract with Ray Mead, manager of the Driving Park, today and this contract will, in almost all respects, be the same as that to which he was a party for yesterday's meeting.  Provided the weather is clear, Wiseman will give exhibitions Saturday and Sunday afaernoons.

Wiseman is waiting for a clear day and at his first opportunity will take his machine out and fly over the city.  He contemplates, also, a flight to Mount Hamilton.  He is working for a reputation as an aviator and believes that San Jose is one of the best places he has seen in which to win it.  The feat of flying to the Lick Observatory would be no mean one and would assure his future as a birdman.

Mr. and Mrs. Wiseman, who are staying at the Hotel St. James, will go this morning to Salinas, where they will be the guests of Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Cooper until the weather clears.  Wiseman will pass a few days hunting ducks.

Committee Issues Statement.

The following statement was issued last evening by the Executive Committee of the Santa Clara Valley Aero Club:

The Executive Committee of the Santa Clara Valley Aero Club entered into a contract with James Radley, the English aviator, and Fred J. Wiseman, the California flyer, to give exhibitions at the San Jose Driving Park on Saturday and Sunday, January 28 and 29, weather conditions permitting.  The agreement provided that the admission money would be refunded those [[at?]]