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4 NEW YORK HE[[?]] Speedy Delivery of First Aerial Mail [[image]] MR. OVINGTON RECEIVING BAG OF MAIL. [[image]] LIEUTENANT MILLING ROUNDING A PYLON [[image]] GENERAL GRANT AND CHINESE ADMIRAL. height of 800 metres, or 2,640 feet, in an altitude contest, and in an endurance and distance contest flew 230 kilometres, or 142.8 miles. She holds two cups offered by Paris newspapers for women fliers by having won these two contests. "I have had three accidents," she said yesterday. "In the first I fell about one hundred feet, when by Farman biplane ran into a gust of wind that almost turned it over. The second time I fell about two hundred feet, when my engine stopped, and the third time, in Odessa, my machine hit the top of a house." Miss Harriet Quimby and Miss Matilde Moisant flew over from Mineola late yesterday afternoon, Miss Quimby arriving in time to fly in the fourth event, a cross country flight for women pilots. Yesterday's contests developed several protests, one due to the action of the officials of the meet in making changes in the rules without arranging for the notification of all the contestants. Owing to the protests and to the inexperience of the officials, it was announced late last night that no official decesions would be made until to-day in any of the evnts. The first event was a pasenger carrying race for all clases of aeroplanes. It had been announced as a heat event for monoplanes, but as there were not entries enough, the class was extended to take in all classes, and instead of being run in heats the final event for raced by four fliers. George W. Beatty, according to the time announced by the judges, stood at the top of thel ist, but a protest was entered by Thomas O. M. Sopwith, who insisted that his time was not correctly taken, as he had passed under Mr. eBatty, the winner, twice, he asserted. Mr. Beatty, according to the official timers, finished in 16m. 12 2-5s., carrying Wilbur Kimball as a passenger. Mr. Sopwith finished in 16 minutes 34 3-5 seconds, according to the official timers. Lieutenant Milling made the ten miles in 19 minutes 2-5 second. Hunting Hidden "Enemies." The second event was by far the most interesting event of the day to the military men present. There were eight entries and the air scouts were supposed to take the air and search the surrounding country thoroughly for a hidden force of a supposed enemy. Lieutenant Fickel, with twenty men of the Twenty-ninth Infantry, was under attacking cover a mile southeast of the aviation field and in the game of hide and seek that was played the air scouts were supposed to find his force and report it. As soon as the force was discovered a tag was to be dropped anonuncing this fact. Eugene Ely, Harry Atwood, Lieutenant Henry H. Arnold, U. S. A.; Lieutenant Theodore E. Ellygon, U.S.N.; George W. Beatty, Claude Graham-White, Thomas O. M. Sopwith and Lieutenant T. D. Witt Milling, U.S.A., took part, but Mr. Attwood, a civilian, was the only air scout, according to Lieutenant Fickel, who discovered the ambushed force and announced his discovery by dropping a tag. The rules provided that the ambushing force should be in the open-that is, without overhead cover. Lieutenant Fickel's force was in the open continually on a road south of the railroad track, with corn fields on both sides. Twelve aeroplanes were seen to fly directly above the ambushing force as it was skulking along the road, showing that several machines passes more than once, but Mr. Atwood was the only aviator to drop a "discovery tag." This was at five minutes of five o'clock. Courriers on the Wing. In the third event air despatch bearers and couriers were required to pick up messages in the air, tied to toy balloons, to obviate the necessity of their landing. Lieutenant Milling and Harry Atwood were the only contestants successful in the event, Lieutenant Milling capturing one toy balloon and its message, while Mr. Atwood captured two. Mr. Atwood did not carry a passenger as required by the rules, while Lieutenant Milling has his mechanician, Charles Fleet, with him. In the cross country flight for biplanes Messrs, Ely, Beatty, Sopwith, Claude, Grahame-White and Lieutenant Ellyson were entered. They were required to fly to Belmont Park, thence to Mineola, returning to Belmont Park and thence to finish at Nassau Boulevard, taking messages at Mineola and Belmont Park. Lieutenant Ellyson was first to get away and first to return, but his time was not taken, as he did not deliver his message to the judges' stand. Mr. Grahame-White started at 5:58 o'clock, and delivered his message at 5:55.39 2-5. His elapsed time was 17 m. 39 2-5s. Mr. Sopwith started at 5:38.55 and delivered his message at 5:57.41 1-5; elapsed time, 18m, 46 1-5s. Lieutenant Milling started at 5:39.32 3-5 and dedeliver his message at 6:14.01; elapsed time, 34m. 28 2-5s. Lieutenant Ellyson entered his protest last night against the award of the first prize of $600 to Mr. Grahame-White asserting that no announcement had been made to him of the change in the rule which required the aviator taking part to deliver his message directly to the judges. The original instructions were that the message should be dropped on crossing the finish line, which instructions, he says, he obeyed. In the cross country race for women pilots Miss Quimby flew alone. Aerial Post Office Busy. Inspector M. H. Boyle, of the United States Post Office, was one of the busiest men at Nassau boulevard yesterday. Near the judges' stand he has an office in a large tent fully equipped for post office business, while Peter Schmalz, a Brooklyn letter carrier, collected mail from all parts of the grounds to be carried by aerial post to Mineola and despatched from there to all parts of the world. The first mail ever carried by aeroplane in this country left Nassau boulevard yesterday afternoon at twenty-five minutes after five o'clock, and six minutes later it had been dropped into the hands of the postmaster at Mineola, who was waiting for it. The distance is five and a half miles, and mail has never been so quickly conveyed in this country before, except by postal tubes. A special cancelling stamp, bearing the legend, "New York Post Office, Aerial Postal Station No. 1, Garden City," was used and 640 letters and 1,280 postcards were collected and sent off in the first mail. Thousands more would have been sent but for the fact that the supply of stamps ran out. The postcard stand did the liveliest business of any place on the ground, even although stamps could not be procured. When Earle L. Ovington took the mail sack, a regulation United States locked bag, at twenty minutes to five, Inspector Boyle telephoned to the Postmaster at Mineola, who at once ran out into an open field near by to wait for the coming of the first aerial postman in this country. Six minutes later, Mr. Ovington, flying five hundred feet high, caught the signal and sent the mail bag hurtling downward. "I tried to drop it on the Postmaster, but I missed him by a foot," said Mr. Ovington when he got back. Mr. Ovington returned to the Post Office in the aviation field at quarter to five o'clock. To-day there will be twenty regulation mail boxes in the aviation field, being placed where they can be reached by all, and there will also be stations where stamps will be sold. Collectors will take up the mail at regular intervals and all the mail collected will be forwarded by aerial mail. The meeting will begin to-day at two o'clock, instead of three, as heretofore announced, and each day next week the first flight will take place a half-past two o'clock, instead of half-past three o'clock, as originally intended.
