The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1910-11-25
FALLS TO- HIS DEATH
JOhn>tone Drops 500 Feet in
His BIpIane.

Denver, Col (special) With one
wing Of his machine crumbled like q
/ piece OF paper, Ralph tombstone, the
brilliant young aviator, holder OF the
worlds altitude record, dropped Ike
Z plunuet from height OF 500 feet
I into the iucIosure a. Overland Park
/ aviation field and was instantly
killed
When the spectators crowded
I about the inclosure reached him his
body lay beneath the engine OF the
hlglane. with the white planes that
had failed him in his time OF need
wrapped about il ike shroud.
+ Nearly every bone in his body was
/ broken
He had gambled with death once
too often, but he played the game 10
the end. fighting coolly and grimly
70 the last second 10 regain control Of
his broken machine Fresh from his
triGmphs at Belmont Park, where he
had broken the worlds record for
attitude with a fight OF S,714 feet,
tombstone attempted 10 give the thou
sands Of spectators an extra thrill
with bis most daring feat. the spiral
glide, which has made the Wright
syiators famous. The spectators got
their thrill but 1t cost tombstone his
life.
His Fight For Life.
The fatal flight was the second
JOanstone had made. In the first
fight. when he was in the air with
Hoxsey and Brookins. he had gone
through his usual program of dips
and giides with the machine ap-
parently under perfect control. Then
tombstone rose again, and after a few
circuits OF the course to gain height
headed toward the foothills
StiiI ascending, he swept back in a
big circle, and as he reached the
north end Of the enclosure, he start
ed his spiral glide. He was then at
an altitude Of about 500 feet With
his plane tilted at an angle Of almost
80 degrees, he swOoped down in a
narrow circle, the aeroplane seeming
to turn almost in its own length. As
he started the second circle, the mid
die 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 a second, John
stone attempted TO right the plane by
warping the other wing up. Then
the Mortified spectators saw the plane
swerve like a wounded bird and
plunged straight toward the earth.
The Dash To Earth.
tombstone was thrown from his
seat as the nose of the plane swung
downward. He caught on one of the
wire stays between the plane and
grasped one Of the wooden braces of
the upper plane with both hands
Then, working 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 a second it seemed
that he might succeed, for the foot
ball helmet he wore blew off and fell
much more rapidly than the plane.
The hope was momentary, how
ever, for when about 300 feet from
the ground, the machine turned com
pletely over and the spectators fled
wildly as the broken plane, with the
aviator still fighting grimly in the
mesh OF wires and stays, plunged
among them with crash.
Scarcely had tombstone hit the
ground before morbid men and wom-
en- swarmed over the wreckage, fight
ing with each other for souvenirs
One of the broken wooden stays had
gone almost through Johnstone's
body. Before doctors or police could
reach the scene, one man had torn
this splinter from the body and run
away. carrying his trophy with the
ayiator's blood still dripping from it's
ends. The crowd tore away the
canvass from over the body, and even
fought for the gloves that had pro-
tected Johnstone's hands from the
cold.