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[[image: observers at race track]] [[image: close-up of observers at race track, almost entirely men]] CITY HILLS BLACK WITH SKY-GAZERS Thousands Throng Eminences to Watch Birdmen's Flights. ___ AVIATORS' EASE ASTOUNDS ___ Visit of Ovington and Milling Causes General Twisting of Necks as Rhode Islanders Stare Among the Clouds and Have First Glimpse of Heavier-Than-Air Machines. Rhode Island's eyes all turned upward yesterday afternoon, not only from the hills, but from the valleys, as thousands along the line of the aviators' course gazed aloft to get their first glimpse of an aeroplane in full flight. The blue skies, flecked here and there by fleecy clouds, furnished an admirable and beautiful background as the first heavier-than-air machines to cross over Rhode Island sailed along with apparent disregard of the law of gravitation. Next to the expressions of satisfaction at having at last viewed the new aerial wonders, the thousands who craned their necks and stared at the skies were forced to admiration and astonishment at the seemingly perfect ease with which Ovington and Milling navigated the air. While the crowds at Narragansett Park had the closest view of the aeroplanes and the intrepid birdmen, many thousands who did not go to the aviation grounds were able to get excellent views of the flying machines and in some places even to hear the throbbing hum of the giant motors as the cars came and went from Rhode Island. CROWDS BLACKEN HILLTOPS. Long before the time when the aviators were scheduled to arrive, the hills on the outskirts of the city and in neighboring towns were rapidly filling with throngs of expectant sightseers. All along the Blackstone Valley, the holiday throngs were gathered at the best available points of vantage with eyes turned eagerly up the river. Neutaconkanut Hill, between Johnston, Cranston and the city line, was picked by many as offering an excellent opportunity to see the aviators. All along the ridge of Capitol Hill and at Davis Park [[next column]] OVINGTON GETTING READY FOR START [[image: man looking down, wears raincoat, sits atop plane made of canvas and struts; the wheel has spokes and a white-walled tire]] [[caption]] Monoplane Aviator Snapped by a Journal Photographe r at the Moment When He is Asking the Admiring Crowd to Give Him Room for the Rise on the Last Leg of His Flight, the Stretch from Narragansett Park to Atlantic. [[next column]] The bleacherites and the grandstand patrons, as well as several of the players, were apt to forget that a ball game was in progress. Stampedes to the rear of the grandstand and to the top of the bleachers were frequent as some wag would should out: "Here they come." Everybody would run to the best possible place, stare for a few seconds and then come back muttering. When the machine finally did come, after about four of these futile rushes up and back, some refused to be fooled again and stayed in th[[eir?]] seats. To those who could not resist [[torn paper]] [[?]] the spectacle afforded [[?]]one. Head-on toward the grounds at first, the aeroplane cruising swiftly downward was a beautiful sight and gave ample evidence of its airworthiness, descending evenly toward the race track grounds and then dropping out of sight. CLOSE TO BASEBALL PARK. The ball game was well advanced before Ovington started on the last leg of his flight to Boston. This time the fans were treated to a splendid view of the birdman and his machine. So close to the ball park did the monoplane come that the stead throbbing of its motor sounded like the hum of a gigantic mosquito. The brownish color of the wings was discernible. Ball players and spectators stopped thinking of baseball and all, including the umpires, were human enough to wait and watch until the plane, going at a tremendous pace, soared out of sight, in an easterly direction. When the ball ground crowds were seeing the last of the machine, other throngs at Fort Hill, East Providence, to say nothing of hundreds who gathered in the streets and open spaces of the city, were having an excellent free view of the new aerial wonder. Swiftly and steadily the craft sped along over the lower part of the city and then across the Seekonk at a point above the Narragansett Boat Club's house, and then a rapidly sailed on to the eastward over the Attleboros back to the finish at Atlantic. Hardly had Ovington disappeared toward Boston, when another speck became visible, well to the westward of the point where Ovington had first come into view. This appeared like a bunchier and bulkier machine, and as the craft came nearer, the figure of the aviator could be seen seated in the centre of the planes. Any who had insisted that the first machine was a biplane were now forced to admit their mistake. The two lateral lines of the biplane were easily distinguishable as differing widely from the first visitor. In this case the watchers on the hills and valleys and roof-tops were seemingly certain that Harry Atwood had arrived. In fact, it was some time afterward before they learned that Lieut. Milling was the pilot of the second, and, as it turned out, the final visitor of the day. The huge two-winged affair settled down even more gracefully than had the monoplane. Ovington's machine seemed to shoot downward. Lieut. Milling's craft simply settled gradually until it passed out of sight to all except the thousands at Narragansett Park. LIEUT MILLING APPEARS. It was about 6 o'clock before the watch [[next column]] EARLE L. OVINGTON AND HIS WIFE [[image: photo of lady in wide-brimmed, dark hat, dark suit with a long, slim skirt, jacket with a white straight-edged collar; man in shirt and tie, thick coat with metal buttons]] [[caption]]Mrs. Ovington Carried a Horseshoe in Her Hand from the Time When Her Husband Left Boston Yesterday Morning Until She Greeted Him a Victor at Atlantic in the Late Afternoon. [[/caption]] [[next column]] light company's whistle blew the same signals. At 3:42 Ovington was sighted by Woonsocket people, flying rapidly in a southwesterly direction. To the thousands who wee at Depot square, Court street bridge and Clinton Oval, the aviator and his machine looked like a large bird or a huge "darning needle," but people in the Fairmount district of Woonsocket and North Smithfield and in Blackstone saw the aviator flying over them and about 1000 feet in the air and heard the whirring of the machinery for a few minutes after which the birdman disappeared in a cloud MILLING DODGES WOONSOCKET. Milling, who started about an hour later, was seen at South Uxbridge from the top of the Blackstone Cotton Company's mill in North Smithfield just over the Blackstone line, but was not visible to the people in Woonsocket, who were scanning the skies. [[double line]]
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