The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1910-11-22
WORLDS HIGHEST FLIER DE.AD.
Balph Johnstone's Aeroplane Falls 500
Feet-AEiator is Tangled in the
Wreck and Every Bone is
Broken.

DSuFGf, COlO., NOV. w I'LL oIlS
wing tip of his machine crumbled like
a piece of paper, Ralph Johnstone, the
daring young aviator, holder of the
worlds altitude record, dropped like
plummet from a height of five hun
dred feet into the inclosure at Over
land Park aviation field this afternoon
and was instantly killed. When spec
aators reach him his body lay beneath
the engine of the aeroplane, with the
white planes that had failed him in
kis time Of need, wrangled about it like
shroud. Nearly every bone in his
body was broken.
He had gambled with death once too
often, but he played the game to the
end, fitting coolly and grimly to the
last second to regain control of his
broken machine. Fresh from his
ariumphs at Belmont Park, where he
had broken the worlds record for alti-
tude with a flight Of 9,714 feet
Johnstone attempted to give the thou
sands of spectators an extra thrill
with his most daring feat, the spiral
glide, which has made the Wright
aviators famous. The spectators got
Sheir thrill.
Fell Like Wounded Bird.
The fatal fight was the second
Johnstone had made during this after
noon. In the first flight, when he was
in the air with Hoxsey and Brookins,
he had gone through his usual pro-
gramme of dips and glides with the
machine apparently under perfect con-
trol. Then Johnstone rose again and
after a few circuits of the course to
gain height, headed toward the foot
hills. Still ascending, he swept back
In big circle and as he reached the
north end of the enclosure he started
his spiral gliding. He was then at an
altitude of about 800 feet. With his
planes tilted at an agile of almost W
degrees, he swooped down in a narrow
circle, the aeroplane seeming to turn
almost in it's own length. AS he start
ped the second circle, the middle spur,
which braces the left side Of the lower
plane gave away and the wing tips
Of both upper and lower planes folded
up as though they had been hinged.
For second Johnstone attempted to
hight the plane my warping the other
wing tip. Then the Mortified specta-
Bors saw the plane swerve like a
wounded bird and plunge straight to-
ward the earth.
Desperate Fight for Life.
Johnstone was thrown from his seat
as the nose of the plane swung down
ward. He caught on one of the wire
stays between the planes and grasped
one Of the wooden braces of the up
per plane with both hands. Then,
working with hands and feet, he
fought by main strength to warp the
planes so that their surface might
catch the air and check his descent.
For second it seemed that he might
succeed, for the football helmet he
wore blew off and fell much mora
rapidly than the plane.
The hope was momentary, however,
for when about 800 feet from the
ground the machine turned icompletely
over, and the spectators fed wildly as
the broken plane, with the aviator
still fighting grimly in its mesh of
wires and stays, plunged among them
with a crash.
Scarcely had Johnstone hit the
ground before morbid men and wo-
men swarmed over the wreckage
fighting with each other for souvenirs.
One OF the broken wood stays had
gone almost through Johnstone's
body. Before doctors or police could
reach the scene one man had torn this
piinter from the body and run away,
carrying his trophy with the aviator's
blood still dripping from its ends.
Every Bone Broken.
Frantic, the crowd tore away the
canvas from over his body and fought
for the very gloves that had protected
his hands from the cold. The machine
fell on the opposite side of the field
from the grand stand, and there were
but a few hundred persons near the
spot, but physicians and police weraI
rushed across as soon as possible.
Physicians declare that death must
have been instantaneous as John
stones back, neck and both legs we're
broken, the bones Of his thigh being
forced through the flesh and leather
garments he wore.