Such information as is given here concerning the Wright Brothers is
derived from the two best sources available, namely, the writings of
Wilbur Wright himself, and a lecture given by Dr Griffith Brewer to
members of the Royal Aeronautical Society. There is no doubt that so
far as actual work in connection with aviation accomplished by the two
brothers is concerned, Wilbur Wright’s own statements are the clearest
and best available. Apparently Wilbur was, from the beginning, the
historian of the pair, though he himself would have been the last
to attempt to detract in any way from the fame that his brother’s
work also deserves. Throughout all their experiments the two were
inseparable, and their work is one indivisible whole; in fact, in every
department of that work, it is impossible to say where Orville leaves
off and where Wilbur begins.
It is a great story, this of the Wright Brothers, and one worth all the
detail that can be spared it. It begins on the 16th April, 1867, when
Wilbur Wright was born within eight miles of Newcastle, Indiana. Before
Orville’s birth on the 19th August, 1871, the Wright family had moved
to Dayton, Ohio, and settled on what is known as the ‘West Side’ of the
town. Here the brothers grew up, and, when Orville was still a boy in
his teens, he started a printing business, which, as Griffith Brewer
remarks, was only limited by the smallness of his machine and small
quantity of type at his disposal. This machine was in such a state that
pieces of string and wood were incorporated in it by way of repair, but
on it Orville managed to print a boys’ paper which gained considerable
popularity in Dayton ‘West Side.’ Later, at the age of seventeen, he
obtained a more efficient outfit, with which he launched a weekly
newspaper, four pages in size, entitled _The West Side News_. After
three months’ running the paper was increased in size and Wilbur came
into the enterprise as editor, Orville remaining publisher. In 1894 the
two brothers began the publication of a weekly magazine, _Snap-Shots_,
to which Wilbur contributed a series of articles on local affairs that
gave evidence of the incisive and often sarcastic manner in which he
was able to express himself throughout his life. Dr Griffith Brewer
describes him as a fearless critic, who wrote on matters of local
interest in a kindly but vigorous manner, which did much to maintain
the healthy public municipal life of Dayton.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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