Newspaper and Eyewitness Accounts

Table of Contents
Newspaper and Eyewitness Accounts

Online in the Chanute Pages

Other than Chanute's diary, the eyewitness accounts of newspaper reporters are the best record of what transpired in the dunes along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. These reports cover the time from Chanute's first experiments in Miller to the flight of Herring's motorized glider in St. Joseph, Michigan two years later. There are other interesting accounts which may be added at some point, in particular Henry Bunting's recollections of his visit to the Chanute camp written years after the event.

1896
June 23 - Chicago Chronicle (PDF)	Intriguing first article published by the Chronicle. The very first article about Chanute's experiments. Evidently a scoop since the Tribune's article is the next day.
June 24 - Chicago Tribune	The first article published by the Chicago Tribune. Printed on the front page only two days after Chanute and party pitched their camp in Miller.
August 2 - Chicago Tribune (with drawing)	Focuses on the 'Katydid' glider. This article also dealt with the camp at Miller.
September 8 - Chicago Tribune (with drawing)	This short article is the first dispatch from the Dune Park location - the second experiments that summer on the beach. It deals chiefly with the Albatross.
September 11 - Chicago Chronicle	Unfortunately missing several paragraphs, this long article goes into a lot of detail about the experiments at Dune Park.
September 12 - Chicago Tribune (with drawing)	This article details the experiments of Friday the 11th, some of the more promising and successful due to a pretty stiff wind out of the north - 22 mph. (see Chanute's Diary)
September 28 - Chicago Record (with drawing)	Reports on Sept 26th, the last day of the experiments, when the Albatross was launched unsuccessfully.
October 3 - Westchester Tribune	Details the failure of the Albatross on September 26th, the last day of the experiments.

1897
September 5 - Times-Herald	Very good article on A.M. Herring's flights a year later in the dunes at the same location as the previous summer's experiments near Ogden Dunes.
September 8 - Times-Herald	A reporter visits the Herring experiments and tries a flight himself. He soars 110 feet and writes about the experience.
September 12 - Times-Herald (three drawings)	Relatively long and interesting article about the experiments that hints at the conflict between Chanute and Herring at this time. Chanute is recognized as a "visitor" to the experiments of 1897, but the writer hints that these are really Chanute's experiments. This is a very interesting article in many respects.

1898
November 11 - Elmira, NY Daily Advertiser	Perhaps the most interesting account of all, for it chronicles the controversial 'first flight' of Augustus Herring.

Later Newspaper Accounts