Access to this collection is generously supported by Arcadia funds. Will W. Beach, in suit and tie, displaying poster reading: The Knotty Problem Finally Solved! Aerial Navigation at the rate of 500 miles an hour! J. Micromegas Carayan will fly like a bird by means of artificial wings and tail from the Telegraph Hill, Saturday, June 30, at 3 P.M. and will open the gates of aerial [portion illegible; text from newspaper article:] [fields to mankind for travel. No more trains! No more steamers! You will breakfast at San Francisco, dine at New York and supper at Paris, France. The North Pole will be no more a mystery and you will be aware to the fact that the earth is not of spherical shape. J. Micromegas Carayan, inventor of flying machine, will construct a large airship by which he will explore the North Pole, the inaccessible localities and the interiors of the earth.] Do not fail to see the flying winged human being! This photograph appears with the article “First Coast Flyer Flops. No! Airman Didn’t Crash to Ground That Day in 1894; He Didn’t Go Up so Couldn’t Come Down,” Los Angeles Times, 31 July 1927: B2. The article states: “… in San Francisco in 1894, as recalled by Will W. Beach … a Frenchman climbed up the hill … begged of Monsieur Beach the privilege of flying from the top of his observatory over San Francisco. … The next day an expressman brought up a pair of wing-like affairs fabricated from canvas and sticks. … handbills were scattered … announcing the great aerial flight to be made from Telegraph Hill. … On the designated afternoon Telegraph Hill was black with people. … no ‘winged human being’ appeared. … When it looked as though the crowd would become unruly, a San Francisco newspaper man had presence of mind enough to get up on a box and shout the announcement … that the King of France had died and the ‘winged human being’ as a loyal Frenchman has canceled the proposed flight …” Text from newspaper caption: Air Stunt Stirs Early Bay City. Gives Story of Premier Aviation Meet. Will W. Beach and handbill of scheduled flight in 1894. Text from nitrate negative sleeve: Beach, Billy
Type
Image
Format
b&w nitrate negative
Identifier
uclamss_1429_0904 0904 ark:/21198/zz002db892
Language
No linguistic content
Subject
Telegraph Hill (San Francisco, Calif.) Human powered aircraft Beach, Will W., b. 1853
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