The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-12-31
JOHN M0IsMT FALLS
TO IRAe|c Death
At new OALEAsN

NJ UlU UltIlHUJ
Continued from First PageD
saint away He simply threatened to
blow the head off the first man who
came on board There was a second
expedition to ship and Moisant shot
the corsu,s hat off He held the ship
until it was destroyed by the storm.
and he himself was rescued by the con-
sui.
The brothers engaged in many of the
South American rebeilions, finally get
ting in right" in Salvador and clean
Ing up fortunes,
Career as Aviator.
IS an aviator Moisant sprang into
fame with one flight. He went to
France about q year sgo tn have built
an aeroplane after his own plans In
the meantime he bought Bleriot pas
senger- carrying monoplane. After
three preliminary flights. which We're
unimportSna Moisant started his IA
nous Paria- TO- London flight with FL
lent his French Mechanic. who had
never been IN m aeroplane. rs a. pas
seager.
1t was on August i6 of this year that
the cables brought word that an uni
Identified man with passenger, was
trying to fly from Paris to London. 1t
was hours before the French corre-
snondents could even learn his name.
50 little known was Mosant.
Starting from IssN. near Paris, at
IN the evening. he reached Aniens. 81
miles away, at $50. Remaining there
over night. Moisant started at - 10 in
the morning and flew to Calais, ON the
channel. At 7:15. He left Calais at
lo45. steering by compass and landed
al Tilmanstone. near Deal England.
at fl:l5 He remained at Tiitnanstone
over night and started for london at
4sb the following morning. bat was
forced 10 descend after an hour, at Sit
tinEbourne. where he smashed his pro-
peller. a.id WAS compelled tn await a
new one, which was loaned by j. ARM
strong DrexeI. the American. For sew
eral days he made a. number of starts.
but was always forced by tho gales 70
descend. He finally reached London
and scared above 100. 600 persons gath
! cred about the crystal Palace
Moisant's next feats OF note We're in
the International Aviation Tourney at
i Belmont Park, Long Island. last octo-
! Der. lie made numerous cross-eountrS
! flights with passenger In high winds
that forced the other avistors to re-
main on the ground. He seemed ALSO
] lutely without fear. Selected a. suh
stitute member If the American speed
i team Ter the Gordon Bennett trophy.
he was made n member Of the Amcri
/ can team on the last day IF the ccm-
j petition.
In an ineompleted speed machine.
which astators told him was danger
Gus. he assembled and made a brave
] try To retain the honors fer AmsrI-
+ ca. The wind had become a gale
and Moisants monopiane was NOT
even properly put together. He
fought the wind, holding one piece ot
his aeroplane together while stee.
] ing with another. Aviators on the
ground turned away, believing every
instant he was about to be dashed
to death It was as brave an Afr
stunt" as they had ever seen. but
the patehedup machine was not able
to do the work Graham White. In
a loo-horsepo@e monoplane. led ali
the contestants for the $40 900 prize
offered by Thomas Fortune Ryan fer
| the quickest flight around the Statue
] Of Liberty from Belmont Park Re-
lieving Hamilton and other Amsri-
i cans would enter the contest Moisart
had made no effort to repair his ma
chine. Grahamo- White had taken a
long. safe course, and Moisant was
| sure the other Americans could beat
him. But the other Americans haik-
ed at the job. II was too late for Mol
SAINT TO repair one OF his own acre
planes. He and his brother rushed
into the hangar of Alfred Leblanc,
! OF the French speed team, and paid
him $4,000 out Of hand for his SO
horsepower Bleriot Moisant sprang
into the seat and flashed across the
starting line just as the cannon an
nounced the close of the time allowed
/ for starting. In high wind he point
/ on etraQhf iaIu nj faau
ed over Brooklyn and its miles Of
crowded streets, with no place in
which he might land II the new ma
4 chine went wrong, He cireled the
statue and came back tbs same way.
/ The 5000 persons gathered at Bel
! mont saw him come back. 900 feet
in the air. aiming straight for the
finish line. Seconds counted and Moi
SAINT literally fell over the finish line,
his machine hardly under control
lie won by few seconds and the
| crowds went wild.
| After the international meeting
Moisant. Hamilton and others form
ed the Moisant Aviation Circus and
! toured the South. In Memphis a few
! days ago Moisant. in his Bieriot racer,
defeated racing automobile.
/ Four dave ago. i. New Orleans, Moi
/ SAINT assembled 5000 feet and glided
| down to earth. He flew over the Mis-
| sissippi river. over the city of Mem
! phis, over the city OF Nashville and
| over the city OF New Orleans, so
the poor could see him." he said
Special grounds had been laid out
at Harahan to enable Moisant TO make
try for the Miehelin long distance
fight trophy. Carrying big tank
Of gasoline In his b0-horsepower Bile
riot monoplane, he reached Harahan
In safety. He landed almost imme-
mediately and reascended. prepared
to fly until later this afternoon, then
complete spectacular record by
! return fight to the aviation field here.
The aviator circled the field three
or four timet at an elevation of per
haps 200 feet.
Suddenly something went wrong
with the machine. 1t bucked and
pitched downward. Moisant mean
time was lighting valiantly to regain
its balance At u height of perhaps
ono hundred feet. tho strap which
held Moisant IN his seat broke, and
the winner Of the Statue of Liberty
flight was prccipitated from his ma
! chine.
He fell Ike lead. understanding the
machine TO the ground Horrible
spectators rushed to the wounded
man and picked him up, He was
still breathing. He WAS hurried To a
nat car and Il special train started
back to the city. Before its arrival