On the 17th of September occurred a sad accident that brought to a close
for the year the preliminary tests that had been carried on thus far
with marked success. When Orville Wright and Lieutenant Selfridge were
flying at a height of about seventy-five feet, one of the propellers
struck a stray wire which coiled around and broke the blade. This
precipitated the machine earthward and fatally injured Lieutenant
Selfridge who died three hours afterward. Orville narrowly escaped the
same fate with a number of broken bones. Aviation at this time was
attended with great dangers and the daring spirits who ventured aloft on
the wings of the wind were in constant peril of their lives.