The Washington times., 1910-09-23
CHAVEZ IS INJURED
IN ALPINE FLIGHT
Machine DasheS to Earth At
Terrific Speed When
5000 Feet Up.
Continued from First Page-)

devil motorist drove his car upward
and then out Of sight beyond the
mountain wall
The start Of the Peruvian was au-
spicious- He got a gloricIs send of
Il I'm the crowds
The weather at dawn gave promise
Of at least an attempt at the fight
today and the crowd was extra large
Chavez was afoOt with the morning
light He casually inspected the sky
and jOked with his mechanic while
the motor was being tuned up.
The peaks were capped with clouds
and across the valley the massive
falls Of Saline gorge IoOned black
and menacing in the shadows Of the
morning light.
Crowd flushed In Wonder.
Chavez climbed into his machine while
the great crowd exclte5ly gave way to
cheering. The motors thrUmmed and
the machine arose as gracefully as a
huge bird Higher and higher 1t few.
the Peruvian taking a circlinE course in
order to pass beyond the rocky vail
across the valley
When ne had attained a height recl<-
oned 20 be above 700 feet the machine
started forward over the garze and to
ward the SimDIOn peaks As he dis
appeared over the -ocky summit the
crowd vas hushed in wonder
The aviator 4iyfng ir a monoplane was
attempting TO negotiate the dangerous
course BY the SimpIor Pass route the
most daring fight yet undertaken in the
history Of aviation.
Chavez started his tssns-NIpine at
tenpts on Monday morning With Henry
EVeEmann, an American Foul weather
though the Peruvian accomplished the
feat flying T.546 feet above the salt
Inc gorge
Most Dangerous of Trips.
Chavez. weynann. and PailIet&e. and
C4ttireo comprised q quartet Of eleven
aviators who originally planned this
flight. Elaborate precautions had been
maintained ever since Monday morning.
while the aviatCrs held themselves II
readiness 70 take advantage Of the first
fair DAY.
Aerial experts maintained from the
first that the trauS-Alpine undertaking
Vas the most fooIhardy venture yet
mentioned in connection with aeronau-
tics Every foot Of the route IS beSet
the craSgy heights OF the Alps offered
little opportunity for landing places,
and a fan meant a terrible death
Thousand Of spectators have gathered
teau overlooking the Rhone valley,
where the aerOdrome IS located Visitors
from as far away as Paris gathered at
Bruzt 20 watch the start OF the famous
The first available landing place be-
yOud the aerOdrome IS at the SimplOn
peak. seven and one-half miles from the
starting point The next stopping place
Is eighteen miles further away. at Do
r1odCss0Ia. where Chavez was crushed
-Tvl7fs section is q perfect wilderness Of
peaks The mountains are fntersected
with CANYONS ard The cliffs are sheer in
The route from DouodossoIa lies over
lakes and plains, which do not offer so
much danger
Selected the Hardest Route.
Chavez elected to try the more dan
geroUs route His plan was TO ascend
Immediately after the start and top the
mountain wall on the opposite side Of
che Rhone. 500 feet in height. wey-
mann chose the route I'D the valley.
one was as dangerous as the other
BCJn men planned TO carry as little
weight as possible and both took pre-
cautions 20 protect their motors and
fuel from the intense cold Of the high
attitudes The oil pipes were wrapped
and the motors were securely packed
10 prevent the fuel from freezing.
Flags and straw fires marked the
route, and at every available point auto
supplies were stationed Alpine guides
were sent 10 various peaks 70 render
what assistance they could in the event
Of accident Telegraph and telephone
/ lines were installed along the mountains
beneath the route Of the aerial flyers.
Weather An Important Factor.
The flights on Monday demonstrated to
both men that the weather would be a
serious factor. Chavez said he nearly
perished while soaring over the Saline
gorge That point Is above the clouds
and from the splendid height which he
attained ne could look down upon the
most gorgeous panorama conceivable by
man. Forests Of peaks and snoW-csp-
ped mountain ranges swept out to the
right and left beneath him and the val
leys were marked like ribbons.
Hubert Latham was one OF the first
entrants. but as he realized the great
danger he withdrew. There were oriEf-
nally eleven entrants, but they dropped
out one BY one
Chavez held the worlds record for aIti-
tude, $40 feet.