Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1910-01-07
DELAGRANGE,
NOTED AVIATOR,
FALLS TO DEATH
FRENCH AERONAUT is KILLED
WHILE MAKING FLIGHT AT
BORDEAUX.
USED A BLERIOT MONOPlANE.
Accident Occurs Without Warning While
Machine Is Speeding Through
the Air.
USED A BLERIOT MONOPLANE
GAINED FAME IN AERIAL TRIPS.

grange, the noted French aviator, was
killed while making a fight here today.
Delagrange started in a Bleriot fight
before a large crowd of spectators, and
the accident occurred without warning
to the aeronaut While the machine was
speeding through the air.
Delagrange gained much fame in his
aerial trips in France. He used q small
monoplane such as Bleriot took across
the English channel in less than half
an hour last summer.
Delagrange fell with his machine from
height of sixty-feet feet and was
crushed under the Wreckage. lie had
been flying in a wind that was guSty
and which frequently blew twenty miles
an hour. In spite of this disadvantage,
Delagrange continued, and had circled
the field three times when suddenly as
he was turning at high speed against the
wind the left wing Of the monoplane
broke and the other wing collapsed.
The machine toppled and plunged to
the ground. Delagrange was caught I'M
der the motor which crushed his skull
Death was instantaneous
Ranked Among First.
Leon Delagrange ranked among the
first of the aviators of the world. De-
ce1nber so last at Juyisy he broke all
sneed records. The occasion was an at
tempt to win the Michelin cup. He DAD
not succeed in beating Henry Farman' $
record for distance, but did establish a
new distance record for monoplanes anu
a new worlds speed record. He covered
1914 miles in hours and 81 minutes,
maintaining an average speed OF approx
mately 40 miles an hour.
Delagrange had been we'll known
automObilist, and was one OF the trst
men in Europe to take UP aviation. HIS
feats soon attracted wide attention, and
he is said to have been offered a guar
antee of $4,000 if he would visit the
| United States.
Makes Speed Record.
In October last Delagrange made a
| flight at Doncaster, Eng, establishing a
| speed record for l mile and $50 yards IN
| / minute and II Is seconds. His first
| public flight was made March Ito, 1907,
| at Bagatelle, France, when he assembled
| in biplane. The machine moved thirty
| feet in the air and descended. Some
| days later Delagrange made a flight or
453 feet carrying a passenger. He con-
| tinued experiments with q blplane, and
| visiting Rome III 1908 made flight in
! the presence of royalty. Soon afterwards
| at Turin he took a woman passenger on
| a brief trip. On September 6, 1908, the
Frenchman beat the then existing time
~
| minutes and 53 seconds.
| In May, 1909, at Juvisy, ne won the
| Lagatineri prize, making 6-1O miles in
| 10 minutes and Is seconds. He entered
| the competitions at Rheims in August
| last, appearing for the first time in a
monoplane. He captured the tenth prize
for speed and the eighth prize for dis
lance In September last, he visited Den
mark, and made flight of fifteen min
| utes' duration before King Frederick at
| Aarhus.
In Sensational Flight.
Delagrange's first really sensational
/ flight, and the one that made him a con
| tender for all prizes was accomplished at
| Doncaster October 26, 1909. At that
| time he flew 8 miles in ! minutes 81
| seconds, a rate at times of more than
| fifty miles an hour.
Delagrange has exhibited great dar-
| ing, and at times did not hesitate to as
| sumo grave risks rather than disappoint
| crowds that had gathered to see him.
! On November he fell with his aero
| plane while giving an exhibition at lssy.
| The machine was smashed, but the avi-
| ator escaped with few cuts and bruises.
| 1t was also at Issy that Delagrange
| narrowly escaped crushing crowd OF
| spectators who had taken possession OF
| one end of the field during his exhibition
| This accident happened in May, 1908
| Delagrange was travelling at rapid rate
| when his machine swerved towards the
crowd. The aviator promptly shut OFF
| the power and in descending collided
| with an automobile.
Badly Hurt at Rheims
During aviation week at Rheims the
! propeller of Delagrange's machine broke
and the aeroplane fell and Delagrange
was badly bruised, In July last Della
grange was decorated with the order of
| the Legion of Honor, and last month
| the Academy of Sciences at Paris voted
| him a medal for aeronautic achievements
| In 1907 Delagrange was elected president
| of the aviationst club of France.
| The name Delagrange is the fourth to
| be added to the roll of those killed in a
motor power aeroplane. all within fifteen
months.