Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1910-07-15
SIX KILLED IN TWO DAYS
IN AIR CRAFT ACCIDENTS
Oscar ErbsIoeh, German Aeronaut,
and Four Companions Perish
Capt. Rolls Killed in England.

Capt. Rolls Killed in England.
Leichlingen, Rhenish Prussia.-Os-
car Erbsloeh, the German aeronaut
who won the international balloon
race at st. Louis in 1907, and four
companions were killed Wednesday
when the dirigible balloon Erbsloeh
burst at a height of several hundred
feet and dropped to the earth a
crumpled mass.
The Dead
Oscar Erbsloeh, inventor and bal
loonist.
Herr Toelle, manufacturer of Bar
men.
Engineer KranZ.
Engineer Hoppe.
Motorman Spicke
The craft was of the nonrigid type,
176 feet in length and 33 feet in diam
eter. The motors were of 125 horse
power and drove the airship at a
speed of 2812 miles an hour.
The war department recently pur-
chased one of Erbsloeh's balloons.
The cause of the accident is a mat
ter of conjecture, but it is believed
that the bursting of the bag was due
to the expansion Of gas by the warm
sunshine.
The wreckage fell so heavily that
the gondola was broken to bits and
the motor buried in the ground. The
victims were frightfully torn.
Bournemouth, England.-The first
flying machine tournament of the
year in England was brought to a
tragic close Tuesday by the dramatic
death of the most daring and popular
British aviator, Hon. Charles Stewart
Rolls, third son of Lord Llangattock,
and who recently made a fight from
Dover to France and return.
In the presence of a great company
of spectators, a majority of whom
were women and children, and many
personal friends of the young aviator,
the Wright biplane on which he was
flying fell suddenly with terrific speed
from height Of 100 feet.
1t struck the ground close to the
crowded grand stand, smashed into
tangled mass, and before the doctors
and their assistants could reach the
spot Rolls was dead.
The event in which Rolls was COM
peting was for a prize for the aviator
alighting nearest given mark The
goal was directly in front of the grand
stand, where the spectators were
massed. He had risen to good
height, then shut off his motor and
was gliding in a broad circle toward
the mark.
Without warning the tail piece of
the biplane snapped Off. The machine
gave a sudden lurch. and the frame
work crumpled up in the air. When
it struck the ground it was smashed
to splinters. The doctors found that
Rolls had sustained fractured skull.
The wreck Of the machine and
twisted stays surrounded the body, so
that there was difficulty in extrica-
ting it.
Lord and Lady Llangattock, the par
ents Of Rolls, narrowly escaped wit
Messing the tragedy. They were yacht
ing along the coast and put in at
Poole, near Bournemouth, intending to
attend the aviation meeting, but post
poned going until later
Rolls was 33 years old, and was one
of the most popular young all-around
spOrtsmen in England. His death will
DE a great blow to the aristocratic
sporting enthusiasts, with all of whom
hn 60
ballOoning, at motoring and later in
the field of aviation he had distin-
guished himself by his utter fearless
ness, and was satisfied with nothing
short Of record-breaking in whatever
line of sport he took up
Undoubtedly his browning feat was
his round trip across the channel be-
tween Dover and Calais in a Wright
biplane on June 2 last. Two French
men, Louis Bleriot and Count de Les
sep, already had crossed the chaanel,
and Hubert Latham had almost suc-
ceeded.
Betheny Plain, Rheims.-Barones
De la Roche, the first French
woman aeroplanist, was injured prob
ably fatally here by falling from a
height of more than $50 feet
Baroness De la Roche had flown
around the field once at height of
so meters (250 feet, when suddenly
in front of the applauding tribunes
she appeared to become frightened
and confused at the approach of two
other aercplanes. She began to de-
scend, but while still so meters from
the ground lost control of the ma
chine. The aeroplane turned over and
fell like a log.
The baroness legs and arms were
broken. Her mangled body was re-
moved from the wreckage and taken
to the hospital, where she is said to
be dying. 1t was found that her skull
was fractured.
While momentarily conscious the
baroness said that the rush Of air
from motor passing over her head
mad frightened her, whereupon she cut