The San Francisco call., 1910-07-09
Baroness de la Roche, Losing
Control of Her Biplane,
Drops so Meters
ARMS AND LEGS ARE
CRUSHED, BUT LIVES
Crowd Threatens to Lynch Avi=
ator Who Passed at Moment
of Accident
MONETARY CONFUSION
CAUSESLOSS OF NERVE

~ ETHANY PLAINS, RHEIMS,
X France. July 8.-The second dis
tressing accident of the aviation
meet here occurred this evening, when
baroness de la Roche, driving a Voisin
biplsne, lost her nerve at height of
50 meters. shut off the power and fell
with her machine to the ground. Her
legs and arms were broken and she
suffered severe contusions, but the
doctors who have her case in hand
hope for her recovery. 1t was at first
thought she had sustained a fracture
of her skull. but this was not the case.
At height of so meters baroness
de Ia Roche had flown once around
the field The spectators in the grand
stand were applauding her vociferous-
ly Suddenly she appeared to become
frightened at the approach of two other
aeroplsnes. one of which, a Sommer,
driven by n. Lindpainter, passed direct
" over her
The baroness, in a period of con-
sciousness after the accident, said that
the rush Of air from the motor over
head had thrown her into consterna-
tion and that she put out the iguition
and lost control of her biplane At first
the biplane glided on an even keel. hut
suddenly it turned over and fell like a
lneteorite to the ground.
Crowd Threatens Aviator
The crowds rushed out on the field
and extricated the mangled and bloody
form of the woman aviator from the
tangled debris and conveyed it to a
nearby hospital Meanwhile, Lind
painter had descended and the crowd.
believing him to be responsible for the
accident, threatened to lynch him.
Gendarmes, however threw a Gordon
about the aviator and dispersed the ex-
cited spectators. An inquiry by the
judges committee showed that Lind
painter was in no way responsible for
the accident
The first accident OF the meeting oc-
CURED last Sunday, the opening day,
when Charles Wachter's Antoinette
monoplane collapsed at q height of 500
feet and dropped like stone. instantly
killing Wachter-
Baroness Hurt Before
The performances of baroness de la
Roche on Voison machine have been
much talked of in Paris. This acci-
dent was not her first On January 4
last che ,r-oc earfo,,S1,- s,;,~15 - 49,
Chslous aviation field. In circling the
course she made a wide turn and
crashed into tree, being unable to
elevate her machine quickly enough to
dodge it. She fell from height Of
20 feet and was taken to the military
hospital unconscious. Her right shouI-
der was dfsIocated and internal injuries
were feared, but she recovered soon.
In February last the French aero
club gave baroness de Ia Roche an air
pilots license for her feat in flying
four times around the aviation course
at Heliopolis. a distance OF II miles.
The baroness was one of the pioneers
of aviation. She had also driven motor
boats in races and automobiles at ex-
hibitions. and as soon as flying became
practicable she learned to manage the
planes. There are several other women
aviators in Paris.
Flying Records Broken
Two aviators broke the records for
$50 kilometers at the meeting here to-
day. Hubert Latham covered the dis
tance in hours l minute seconds
and afterward the Belgian, Olislager.
did it in / hour So minutes 20 seconds
Olislsger. not satisfied with his rec
ord Of ] hour 5e minutes and 90 sec
onds for the $50 kilometers, set out
again and cut it TO / hour 50 minutes
81 2-5 seconds. He used a Bleriot ma
chine.
Two other records were broken to-
day. both of them by NJ Leblanc, who
also used Bleriot monoplane.
The first was the 10 lxilometers,
which was made in minutes 33 As
seconds. and the second the FIVE .kilo-
meters. the time for which was caught
at minutes II As seconds.
oiislsger. in Bieriot, won the $4,000
prize for distance He covered 14o
miles in hours 55 minutes 523-5 sec
onds.
CurtisS Flies at Beach
ATLANTIC CITY. N. J.. July 81
Glenn H. curtiss made 10 minute
exhibition flight here before noon to-
day. covering eight miles along the