Chasing Icarus by Gavin Mortimer

Author:Gavin Mortimer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2009-10-29T04:00:00+00:00

The noon trains that departed Pennsylvania Station on Monday were filled to standing room, and the onboard vendors selling aviation magazines had to force their way through the carriages. Some of the passengers squashed in the center of the carriages swung themselves up to the racks and looked through the ventilators as they neared the grounds in the hope of being first to spot a flying machine.

Streetcars bound for Belmont Park “looked like Broadway cars at rush hour,” and by one P.M. not a parking space was to be had. Every one of the ten thousand spectators who clicked through the turnstiles glanced across at the scoreboard and smiled when they saw the flag was white, indicating “flight probable.” Pinned to the bulletin board was a statement just released by the Belmont Park committee, their response to the official French protest of the previous day. The statement concluded by saying that “Mr. [Cortlandt] Bishop again went over the course and made other suggestions as to improvements. This work will be done tomorrow in order that the course may be ready . . . The small trees and signposts are to be removed and it is suggested that one of the pylons be placed more to the north in order to avoid one or two houses and sheds which are in the way. It is not expected nor is it possible to provide a billiard table for the entire five kilometer course, but every effort will be made to render the course as safe as possible.”

It appeared, too, that the Pinkerton security men had heeded Ryan’s censure, and smiles had replaced snarls on the faces of gray-uniformed guards who patrolled the grounds. They were even allowing friends and family members of the fliers to visit the hangars, provided they were vouched for by an aviator. One of the first to flitter over was the delectable Grace McKenzie, the Canadian girl for whom Jacques de Lesseps had fallen. A “clubhouse rumor” was that an engagement was imminent. Tongues were also wagging about Claude Grahame-White, with a battalion of binoculars in the grandstand trained on hangar No. 14 as the Englishman laughed and joked with Eleonora Sears, who after Sunday’s “severely plain costume” was now wearing what the New York Sun’s style guru described as “a navy blue suit with the skirt at least six inches from the ground.” More than one newspaper found it curious that Pauline Chase was nowhere to be seen.

Armstrong Drexel spent a long time chatting with his brother and sister-in-law and generally, as was his nature, “being courteous to all visitors and [he] even allowed his flying toggery to be inspected.” He showed off his helmet to one reporter, explaining that experience had taught him it was invaluable when trying for an altitude prize. Drexel was one of the few aviators to wear a helmet, and his was “leather with several inches of padding . . . The flaps over the ears are perforated so that he can tell how his engine is working.

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