Page:Famous Living Americans, with Portraits.djvu/595

572 FAMOUS LIVING AMERICANS fashioned high wheels connected by a fifteen foot gas pipe. OrviUe was a good amateur bicycle racer, being especiaUy snccessfnl when riding with a close competitor. It is necessary here to mention his relations with his broth- er, Wilbur, who died in 1912, and who was his co-worker in the invention of the aeroplane. Wilbur was the older and more reserved of the two — a bit phlegmatic as contrasted with OrviUe 's enthusiastic frankness. The combination was a happy one, for each mind checked or stimulated the other in practically every undertaking in which either was inter- ested. Neither claimed the preeminence in the great achieve- ment for which they are justly famous. The boys were fond of reading, and eagerly devoured every book which treated of scientific and mechanical devices. The home library of more than two thousand volumes contained many works of this class and the parents heartily encouraged both the reading and the experimenting. The mental atmo- sphere was stimulating and conducive to original work. The early interest of the boys, aroused by the helicoptere toy, was revived by their reading of the experiments of Otto Lilienthal, a German inventor, who had made some successful flights in a gliding machine. Even the news of his death — by falling eighteen yards from his machine — did not check their ardor. They eagerly sought all that had been written on the subject of aeronautics by Chanute, Langley, Sir Henry Maxim, and others. They did not have a fortune to waste in experiment- ing. They made and repaired bicycles for a living. They had no wealthy patrons to back them and no scientific asso- ciation was interested in helping them to the goal. Their rivals in the field of aeronautics had personal fortunes, scien- tific cooperation, and governmental encouragement. With lit- tle more than pluck, persistence, and confidence in their own ability, without college or technical training, they have gone ahead of many who with wealth, training, and encouragement have been experimenting for many years. The impression has gone forth that the Wrights were sim- ply skilful mechanics who studied the problem of flying as a mere mechanical problem, but the truth is to the contrary.