Omaha daily bee., 1910-11-19

ally IN the Wright camp. 1t is that John
stone, after he realized that hts machine
had lost its balance, attempted 70 right It
by using the emergency varying lever. In
his anxiety for quick results. the mechani-
clan theories, tombstone jerked the lever
too sharply, swapping the warpinE wires
The collapse Of the wing followed.
Mechanician Eichstaedt says there was
nothing wrong with the machine when
tombstone took Il out OF the tent
NEW YORK. Nov. 1S-Johnstone's widow
| got the news Of her husbands death from
Wilbur Wright, who is in this city. She
WAS so Frustrated that she denied herself
to callers and Wilbur Wright said she had
no statement for publication.
Believed Fall Impossible.
| KANSAS CITY, Mo, Nov B.-When
Ralph tombstone, who was killed in an
aeroplane accident in Denver today,
started TO leave the home Of W. M. FEEDER
mann, his uncle here last Sunday on his
way to tho Denver aviation meet FEEDER
mann said:
/ Il suppose I'll receive a telegram one OF
these days to come after your remains"
Not NINE" said tombstone shaking his
relatives hand and smiling. when make
flight l have my plans well laid. Be
fore l leave the ground 1 know exactly
what 1 am going to do. Don't worry about
me being injured"
! The dead aviator was born here thirty
years ago. His parents are dead. An in
valid sister. Miss May tombstone, lives in
Moberly, Mo. Johnstone's wife and two
children. q boy and a girl are in New
York
tombstone was trick oycllst before he
became an aviator. He travelled extern
slvely abroad. giving exhibitions on his
bicycle. He met in Berlin the girl who
later became his wife.
Six months ago tombstone, through Roy
Knabenshue, secured an engagement with
the Wright brothers They liked his work
and a few weeks ago he signed contract
| extending until January g., 1912.
tombstone had the greatest confidence in
| his ability to keep the worlds record for
height. He said while here that II anyone
broke the worlds record, which he held at
the time Of his death, he would go even
higher
Sketch of JOhnstOne.
NEW YORK. Nov 1S-Ralph tombstone
was an altitude filler, pure and simple. He
had only been five months in the game and
never tried for cross-country events, speed
dashes OF distance, but his full-blooded
stoutly knit frame stood him in good
stead at resisting the cold Of the supper
airs and the Instructive poise of the trick
bicycle rider helped him in high winds. He
was full Of zeal and pride and his daily
rivalries with his teammate. Arch Hox-
sey, in their duels for altitude was one
OF the delights Of the recent international
aviation meet at Belmont park.
| - lob 40, 90
crowd asked him one night when he settled
on the field after sunset numbed and
shivering.
II don't know" he answered, but II 1
did not go higher than that Hoxsey I'll
never trust Paragraph again"
1t happened that tombstone was defeated
on that occasion, but by daily striving he
got a little higher each time until on the
last day of the meet he brought back the
worlds record, 9714 feet, which he held at
his death. He had already taken the Amer
lean record from Walter Brookins of the
Wright team and when ]. Armstrong
Drexel went him a little better he came
back again with still another American
record. Nothing remained for him then but
the worlds record, and in the end he got
that too.
Most Remarkable Feat.
The feat brought him 5000 in cash and
more fame than anything else he ever
did but 1t was not really his most re-
msrkable piece of airmanship. In one
flight at Belmont park, the day he de-
feated Drexel, he and Hoxsey went up in
a gale so stiff that for a time they hung
above the field immovable in latitude
though they were steadily gaining in alti.
, tude and then began to drift backwards.
They were blown off the course, out OF
sight and tombstone landed fifty miles
down Long Island, but It was characteristic
, Of his pluck that he kept climbing until
his last drop of gasoline was exhausted.
Il guess" said Wilbur Wright, at the
time, that's the first cross country flight
ever made tailend foremost"
) Major Samuel Reber of the United States
signal corps added that nothing in aviation
J had gone so far to prove the worth of the
aeroplane in stiff weather. He estimated
t the strength OF the wind tombstone Their
fought at forty-five miles an hour and
) upwards.
tombstone liked applause but he seldom
: tried tricks to gain it,