To this he replied, that the press had behaved very handsomely; that
the principal papers of the country had _attaches_ aboard on the first
trip to the Pacific; but that all parties--the government, the editors,
together with De Aery and himself--were agreed that the matter should
be kept strictly private, until its practicality and value should be
established beyond the possibility of question.
I now remembered, that, several years ago, a good deal of noise had
been made about a flying-machine which had been constructed in some of
the suburbs of the city,--and that a day had been advertised when it
was to make an ascent, but, it failed. I mentioned the circumstance to
Mr. Bonflon.
"Yes," he replied. "It was at Hoboken. De Aery and myself spent years
in the construction of that machine, and a large amount of money. On
the day when the trial of its powers was to have taken place, the
weather proved unfavorable, and we met with unexpected delays. The
spectators, who had congregated by thousands, became impatient; and the
mob, breaking in upon us, destroyed in an hour property which had cost
us five thousand dollars and the labor of years."
I felt obliged to sympathize with Mr. Bonflon. He had met with the
usual fortune of public benefactors, and particularly of inventors.
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