The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-11-18
Jol,nstone,s Death

Denver, Nov. 1S--With one wing
tip Of his machine crunpled like
piece of paper, Ralph tombstone, hold
er of the worlds aeroplane altitude
record, late yesterday dropped 500 feet
to his death at Overland park aviation
field while hundreds of spectators
watched the horrid descent of the man
and machine.
He had. gambled with death once
too often, but. he. played. the game to.
the end, fighting coolly and Sgrimly. to
the last second to regain control of
his broken machine. Fresh from his
triumphs at Belmont park, where he
b~cke the worlds record for altitude
with height of D;714 feet, Johnstone
attempted to give the Colorado. spec
tators an extra thrill with his most
daring feat, the spiral glide, which has
made the Wright aviators famous.
The spectators got their thrill, but 1t
cost Johnstone his life.
Fatal Spiral Glide.
The fatal flight was the second
Johnstone made this afternoon. In
the first fight when he was In the
air with Hoxey and Brookins he went
through his usual dips and glides with
his machine apparently under perfect
control. Then tombstone rose again
and after few circuits of the course
to gain height he headed toward the
foothills. Still ascending he swept
back in big circle and as he reached
the north end of the enclosure he
started the spiral glide. He was then
at an altitude of about 800 feet. With
his planes tilted at an angle Of almost
ninety degrees, he swooped down In
narrow circle, the aeroplane seeming
to turn almost in its own length. AS
he started the second circle the mid
del spur which braces the left side of
the lower plane gave way and the
wing tips of both upper and lower
planes folded up as though they had
been hinged. For second Johnstone
attempted to right the plane by warp
ing the other wing tip. Then the
Mortified spectators saw the plane
swerve like wounded bird and
plunge straight to the earth. JOSH
stone was thrown from his seat as the
none Of the plane swung downward.
He caught on one Of the wire stays
between the planes and grasped one
Of the wooden braces of the upper
plane with both hands. Then, work.
ing with hands and feet, he fought by
main strength to warp the planes so
that their surfaces might catch the
air and check his descent. For sec
ond It seemed that he hight succeed,
for his football helmet blew of and
fell much more rapidly than the bi-
plane. Hope was momentary, for when
about 300 feet from the ground the
machine turned over and the specta-
tors held their breaths as the machine.
with the aviator still fighting grimly
In its mesh of wires and stays,
dropped almost at their feet.
Gruesome Souvenir.
Planes and man fiattened like an
egg dropped from roof on stone.
One Of the broken wooden stays went
almost through Johnstone's body. Be-
fore the doctors or the police could
reach the scene, a man tore this
carrying his souvenir with the avia-
tors blood still dripping from its end.
The crowd soon tore away the canvas
from Johnstone's machine and the
more morbid fought for the fragments
and even the gloves that had pro-
tected Johnstone's hands.
The machine fell on the opposite
side of the field from the grandstand
and the larger number of spectators,
physicians and policemen were some
distance from the spot. But all rushed
across as soon as possible. The ply
sicians declare that death must have
been instantaneous. Johnstone's back,
neck and both legs were broken, the
bones of his thigh being forced
through the flesh and the leather gar
ments he wore.