Your letter of 7th has been received. I think such an investment as you are making the most satisfactory that can be made by a man who wishes to be largely relieved of business cares. It is safe; it brings a fair return; and it can, if necessary, be managed through an attorney.
At the risk of causing another trip upstairs not only for your daughter but also for a doctor, perhaps, I sent you several pages from L'Auto containing Coquelle's account of his trip to Dayton. At least 95 % of it is purely fanciful. The adventure of the mysterious workshop is all imagination, that of the phantom paper almost equally so. I cannot find a single witness with whom he talked. However, he confirms the general truth of our claims, so his foolishness will do little harm. If he had denied everything it might have made trouble.
If the French deal goes through all right, we will have no difficulty in securing all the money we need without exploiting our invention commercially or assuming any business responsibilities. It will leave us entirely free to pursue a number of scientific studies which we have heretofore carried only far enough to settle practical points.
Do you expect to attend the N.Y. Aero Club show next week?