New-York tribune., 1911-01-01
jeAuGHT IN SPIRAL GLIDE
dangerous Swiss Cheese At
mosphere Killed Hoxsey.

panperous Swiss Cheese At
mosphere Killed HoxSey.
Los Angeles, Dec. 31-The winds
,-rr,osA treacheries Arch Hoxsey so otten
Sehed and conquered killed the noteu
aviator to-day. AS If Jealous Of his IN
+repidity. they seized him and his traslle
Aying machine, flung them down out oI
the sly and crushed out his life.
He fell dead on the field from which
he had risen only short time oetore'
with a laughing promise to thousahuS
,s cheering spectators TO surpass MS
,vn phenomenal altitude records ana
soar higher than any other man mas
dared go.
Cross currents. vhirled off by
ragrant storm that foated in from rhe
sea. caught his biplane and shot nm
downward 563 feet 10 earth. Catching
his frail machine N one of the spectacu-
lar spiral glides that are dangerous IN
even the calmest weather, the warning
winds sported with it moment Jug
vIed It and then suddenly hurled II 10
the ground.
When field attendants reached the spot
where the wreckage lay Hoxsey was
dead. One side of the face. whose en-
gazing smile had won the regard OF
thousands Of spectators each day during
the meet, had been crushed into an un-
recosniZable mass
His body was broken and twisted out
of all semblence OF humanity. All Of
the spectators in the grandstand Wit
messed the tragedy, as it occurred
directly in front of them on the op-
posite side Of the course. Hundreds sat
in awestricken silence until the an
.nouncer gave the news through the mag
ephone:
Measphone Tells the Story.
"Hoxsey has been killed
Then from every part Of the great
stand came shrieks and sobbing OF
women. who had but a short time before
cIspped their gloved hands as the avia-
tor arose from the fleld for his fata
flight
Hoxsey had promised as he left the
ground 80 soar higher than he or any
other man he'd ever flown before.
"Of course the success Of this attennp
SIS contingent upon the kind of weather
J find up there" he said. Some of th'
,&ernperatures one encounters in the high'
Ter attitudes arc simply beyond human
endurance. But if can stand IL and my
Smotor works rs we'll as ii has beer
working I'll come down with a record d
$4,000 feet or more"
Even ar that moment the wind hat
attained velocity that kept more eau
+ious avistors on the ground. After h'
Ihsd ascended Il gained rapidly In vio-
iience. Moreover. ii created what avia-
tors diagnose as Swiss cheese" atmos-
gphere. the most treacherous meteorolog-
Zeal condition that airmen have to con-
stand with. There is nothing to show
why Hoxssy did not go higher than the
S.14s feet which his bapgraph showed
ne had attained, but he apparently en-
,countsred at that altitude the same con-
iftctjng air currents that finally overcame
rir1
Fatal Rolling Dip.
Notwithstanding this, and with the
.sarne daring he has displayed daily dur
line the last week, he descended by a
series Of spiral glides and was perform
ing one Of his thrilling rolling dips wher
his biplane suddenly capsized in midail
and shot 70 earth.
over and over the aercplare turned
as It fell, with a speed so swift that Of
all the thousands who saw the tragedy
rot one could yell what effort the aviator
roade 70 save himself when the wreck
age had been cleared sufficiently so that
his body could be reached, he was found
p!antea firmly in his seat. his arms
around the levers. The fall telescopet
the bipIane.
The steel sprooket which drove tn,
propellsrs Jay across Hoxsey's face, th'
motor resting upon tho right side Of h;
body. Every one of the ribs on tha
side was shattered. Au iron upright
broken by the force Of the crash, held
the avlators oody impaled upon it!
tagged point. The stop watches in th'
etsnd registered the exact second Of 2.1.
o'clock when Hoxseys machine turnec
over and plunged in its fatal fall Th'
news Of the tragedy was on the telegraph
wires leading out Of the press stand be
fore the machine struck the ground.
The aviator had been in the air al
hour and a half when the accident oc
Cured ard had sailed again over th'
siopsd summit Of Mount Wilson, who's
height he had conquered twice since th'
meet began.
walter Brookins, who originated th'
tplra! glide ard the dip which brough
Hoxsey 70 his death, was standing il
froat Of the press stand, watching hi!
colleague Of the Wright team perform.
Tremendous Sigh Goes Up.
Then the shout went up. "Hoxsey /:
Ealing" AT the same instant sigh oI
sasp, NOT loud. but OF tremendous vol
une. rose from The packed gTandstand
That single suppressed sigh was almost
che. css.y seHnd that came from the crowd
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