All About Inventions and Discoveries
The Romance of modern scientific and mechanical Achievements

252 All About Inventions It was some time before the work of the Wright brothers attracted any attention. The two experi- menters preferred to carry out their investigations far from prying eyes, and to achieve this purpose they went to a lonely, unfrequented sandy stretch of North Carolina. Chanute became interested in their work, and extended them freely the fruits of his experience. In fact, it was Chanute who first communicated some tidings of the work of the Wright brothers, and what they had discovered, to the world at large. Towards the end of 1901 further details were extended by Mr. Wilbur Wright himself. As they were working only with gliding machines, however, their communication aroused but little interest except in those circles interested in the issue. The years 1900, 1901, and 1902 were devoted solely to gliding, and from which the brothers gathered voluminous data of exceptional value. The machine itself under- went but little modification except in detail, the most important of which was the introduction of a vertical tail to assist in steering and to enable the machine to be held more to her course. But the two American pioneers merely related what they had accomplished and the discoveries they had made. Not a word was vouchsafed concerning the machine itself, its design, construction, or method of operation. These details were sedulously kept from the public. Accordingly, it is not surprising to learn that their achievements were regarded with consider- able scepticism by those investigators who were struggling in the self-same realm in Europe. The French were particularly energetic. The possi- bility of human flight was brought vividly home to