The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1911-01-06
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ARCH HOXSEY AND
MOISSANT KILLED
Thousands See Noted AVIatOrs
Dashed to Death

John B. Moissant and Arch Hoxsey,
the aeroplane aviators extraordinary,
have been killed. Both fell out Of
the treacherous air with their ma
chines-neither from great height
and Moissant's remaining minutes of
life were so few as to count as naught
Hoxsey was killed instantly. Mois-
SAINT met his death attempting to
alight in field near New Orleans.
Hoxsey, who went into the air early
in the afternoon at Los Angeles lay,
at 2:12 p. m, broken, crushed, life
less mass in plain view Of the thou
sands who were watching the aviation
tournament.
Thus the last day of 1910 brought
the total number of deaths of those
who have sought to fly to thirty-four,
capped the list with two Of the most
illustrious of aviators, who have been
writing the history of aviation in the
sky of two continents.
Moissant, a Chicagoan by birth,
after an adventurous life in Central
ton in France less than a year ago.
He scared into public recognition
through his plucky flight from Paris
across the English channel to Lon
don with a passenger, and later, find
ing himself without machine, by
buying one from a friend, and within
ten minutes, starting on a winning
Dol Do rIy
around the Statue of Liberty for a
prize of $4,000 A sudden puff of
wind caught Moissant within 100 feet
of the earth, turned his machine over
and a broken neck terminated his
career.
Arch Hoxsey, after a year of uni
form success with the Wright aero
plane, in which he had come to have
a name for fearlessness and COM
petence in the air and in which, with
in the past week he had set a new
worlds altitude record of II, Ala feet,
and then to show his contempt for
the earth had sailed majestically more
than 1000 feet above the highest
mountain in California, ran afOul of
the same kind of shifty, boiling,
treacherous wind when a matter of
some 500 feet in the air, and min
ute later a Mortified crowd aroused
from its shock was rushing madly to
where a broken mass of humanity
lay beneath a torn bit of canvas and
some broken spars.
Both met death in almost the same
manner. Each machine was headed
for the earth and suddenly seemed to
stop, hover in the air, then turn over"
and dive headlong to the earth.
Moissant's machine was a Bleriot
monoplane, and in addition to the
heavy engine in front of the main
planes he had fastened tank holding
thirty-five gallons of gasoline. Avia-
ton experts believe sudden puff of
wind stopped his machine dead In the
air and the heavy weight ahead
dragged the light framework to the
ground From his position partly
back of the main planes Moissant was
tipped out clear of the machine and
struck the ground on his head, break
ing his neck. He died on fiat car
en- route to New Orleans.
Hoxsey, likewise, was returning
from a journey into the clouds. He
was within 500 feet of the earth when
his machine seemed to stop still, shud-
der and whirl over and over to the
ground. AS in the other air tragedy,
the rear elevator, rendered useless
when the momentum was gone, tipped
around helpless to aid the main planes
and by the use of the rudder, but be-
fore sufficient momentum was gained
the frail structure crumpled to the
earth. Only a farmers aid saw Mois-
SAINT fall to his death, but Hoxsey's
end came before the Mortified gaze of
thousands. Both men were born in
Illinois. Moissant in Chicago and
Hoxsey at Staunton, near Springfield