The Moral Vision
Quiet Endeavour
~ 174 ~
This sensational news was received with scepticism
by most national newspapers. When Moore sent out
telegraph queries to newspapers all over the
country, only five papers printed it. How could two
unknown brothers, they thought, have achieved
such a wondrous feat?
At the same time, much-publicized efforts to make
the first flight in the history of man were continuing
up the coast at Widewater, Virginia. The site was
about thirty miles south of Washington D.C., the
capital of America, and the eyes of the nation were
on the project. The machine prepared there was the
product of Samuel P. Langley, who was then
America’s most distinguished aeronautical scientist.
Despite having the advantage of funds, publicity
and expert know-how, attempts to make the first
flight were unsuccessful. There were two failures,
the last on December 10, 1903, before the Wright’s
epic feat.
The Wrights achieved by quiet endeavour what
others could not achieve by much-publicized
preparation. They kept their sights set firmly on the
goal ahead of them, and ignored all other
