The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-09
SLUR ON
 MO|SANT'S MECHANIC Claim Machine Did Not Cause Accident WHITE PROTESTS AWARD Was Hoped That After Moisant's Fatal Accident White-Would Withdraw
 Contest - Claims MOisant
 Was Not Qualified
WHITE PROTESTS AWARD

NtW Olht Jaiuoiy or Oui ol tilc
 international aviators who were with
 Moisant at New Orleans when he fell to
 his death have sent to the Associated
 Press a signed statement of their find
 ings in an examination of his machine
 made on the spot after the accident.
 Rene Simon, Rene Barrier, Garros and
 Audemars all declare that the evidence
 shows that Moisant had shut off the
 power, that every stay and control was
 Intact and that nobody will ever know
 why his wonderful and admired air
 manship" met defeat. But on one thing
 they were emphatic-that Maisont's
 mechanicians, Gerspach and Flet, had
 taken every precaution, and that his
 death was in no way due to any omis-
 sion of theirs.
 Albert Fileux's statement published
 here that Moisant's Bleriot had been too
 often broken and repaired and that 1t
 was overweighted with gasoline when
 he went up for the Michelin prize, they
 deny as an unfounded imputation of
 neglect. Fileux was the mechanic who
 made the Paris-London flight with
 Moisant and in a personal letter to
 New York newspaper man received to-
 night Garro writes for his fellows sup
 plementing the statement of the Asso-
 ciated Press In part as follows:
 "An discrimination of careleSSnesS causing death is a professional dis honor for those boys who are known in France among the best men who ever worked on aviation fields. What was printed about them made them so sorry that they eric when they talked to us
 about it. They deserve nothing but
 praise for the way they prepared Moisant's machine, spending a whole days time changing every bolt and every wire of the controls TOT new ones."
 The formal statement follows. In
 sports the language rings a little oddly to American ears but the writers were laboring with an unaccustomed Ian
 guage and they expressed the wish that it not be altered In so much as one
 word:
 Astounded at Report
 I've have read with astonishment in
 several leading papers of New York the
 report of an interview with Albert
 Fileux, the late John B. Moisants
 mechanician. Fileux. who was dis
 charged by Moisant during the late
 Memphis meet insinuates that the men
 who replaced him lacked care or abil-
 ity in the care of the machine used by
 our regretted friend when he was Kill
 ed Fileux does not seem to realize the
 responsibility of such an insinuation.
 We shall be obliged to you Tor Kindly
 publishing the following:
 I've have carefully examined the
 wrecked Bleriot few minutes after
 the accident and we hereby certify that
 all the controls of the machine were ao-
 solutely intact. It was stated that the
 motor had stopped, but Moisant had stopped it himself. He was obviously trying to land in little space especial ly prepared for the purpose, few feet from the fatal spot. In fact we found the ignition shut off. What Is the cause that defeated Moisant's wonder ful and admirable airnanship every body will talk about, but nobody can know. But we are positive that noth- ing went wrong with the machine. .'The two mechanics who were in charge of it were Rene Gerspach, who belonged to the works of Louis Bleriot, from the beginning until he was selected to be Emil Aubrun's man. It is interesting to note that one of the most remarkable features of Aubruns brilliant career is that he never, had any acident of any kind and never broke a piece Of any aero plane from the first day he used one. Au- brun is the only known aviator in that class ana CeTSpacH was HIS iuSSieiiiSieiii nearly all the time he flew
 Gerspach Wished to Stay
 sWhen Auburn went home after Bel mont park, Gerspach asked permission to stay in America with Rene Barrier and Moisant Jean Ferlet worked in aviation in the very beginning with Guyot, who
 made a great name in Russia, flying the second machine ever built for sale by
 Blerot. Guyot gave up aviation after bad fall.- J. FeFlet was engaged by Rene Simon, then at his debut, and took cath of him all through his recent cqpSspaig in Europe. which made him fan7Sous the best prize fighter of France. Ou mechanicians are proving their prdrSes sional ability and devotion to us every day and we cannot allow Fileux, nor any one else any disgraceful insinuation about them. R. E. GARROS, IRENE BARRIER, IRENE SIMON, ''E. AUDEMARS." Coincidently with the arrival of Garros' letter the Aero club of America made known tonight that 1t has given up all hone that Grahame- White. the British aviator, will withdraw his protest against the award to Moisant of Thomas F. Ryans $10.o0O prize for the Statue of Lib erty flight.
 White Maintains Protest A hearing on the protest is to come be- fore the Federation Aeronautique Inter- nationale in Paris day after tomorrow. but it had been thought that in view of Moisant's unfortunate death at New Orleans the protest might be withdrawn. No word of any such intention having been received at the eleventh hour the Aero club gave out tonight an informal resume of its position and of the brief which 1t will submit to the international arbitrators. In a word the club believes if was perfectly justifiable in awarding the prize to Moisant at the close of the international meet here and 1t will fight l to the end for his memory and estate, and for the good name of American sport, Briefly, Grahame-White's original pro- | test to the Aero Club of America was | based on the fact that he was not al- | lowed to pake a second trial against Moisant's better time, but the protest now filed In his behalf by the Royal Aero | Club of Great Britain takes another ground. The Royal Aero club holds the original requirements for qualification provided that no entry for the Statue ol | Liberty flight would be received unless | the applicant had previously remained ir the air one hour during the international meet. .Moisant had not. for an accident cut him a few minutes short
 Was Special Programme
 | To the first of these protests, although | 1t Is no longer entertained. America re- piled that the meet closed officially or | Sunday night, October 30, and that Mon- days events were a special programme with special prizes run off for the benefit of spectators who had been given wind and rain checks. To the second protest xH-- .&rs <t