Evening star., 1911-08-16
Officers Are Criticised.


The officers Of the meet. including Har-
| old F. Mccormick, who has financed the
affair, were severely criticised by the
aviators participating for permitting the
program to be carried out in spite OF
the death of Badger. Had the days
events been called off following Badgers
death. they said Johnstone would not
have perished
Badger was the stepson of John f.
Goettman Of Pittsburgh, Pa. His mother
wealthy. He was flying in the local meet
as an amateur. and without being as
sociated with any firm of aeroplane
makers. although he few a Baldwin ma
chine exclusively, having purchased 1t a
few months ago. Badger was twenty-five
years old. and took up aviation after he
had exhausted the possibilities Of auto
| mobile racing as a source of pleasure.
He became interested in aviation dur
ing a meet In Pittsburgh last summer
and expressed his determination to buy a
machine and secure an aviator's license.
After months of practice he was success
full and made a number of successful
flights at Mineola- l.. l., before he got
the coveted permission from the Aero
Club of America.
His Chicago flights were his first pub
lie performances. and he had attracted a
great deal Of attention to himself by his
recklessness and daring. He had entered
the Boston meet which will open next
week.
Badger had hosts Of friends among the
airmen of the country. His good-natured
face. topped by hair OF fiery red, led his
friends to nickname him and his machine
| Red and his Red
This red machine challenged the atten-
| tion OF the spectators and his spectacular
| performances soon taught them to iden-
| tify him even when flying high.
Flew as Amateur.
| Like Badger, Johnstone few as an anna
| teur. His father. DR.. Stuart Johnstone, a
practicing physician here, however, had
refused to buy him an aeroplane. John
stone. who was twenty-six years old and
| ambitious. started to build one, and went
| to France. where he entered the DreXel
| School of Aviation. He then went to the
| Bleriot school and learned to ny. Still
| his father again refused to buy him an
| aeroplane and his answer, found yesterday
| in a letter written by the father to his
son almost a year ago, seemed to foretell
the fatal accident.
MY conscience will not permit me to
contribute to your certain death by pro-
viding you with a flying machine he
wrote. ''I can't buy you one St CroiK.
After learning to fly in France john
stone went to Havana, where ne was
the first to fly over the city. He was the
first also to fly around the wreck OF the
battleship Maine. He returned to the
United States late in the spring and was
| Immediately engaged by Alfred Moisant.
and had since been with the group of
French aviatorS.
This was his first serious fall, although
month ago in Detroit, Mich, his ma
chine dropped some distance, but the
aviator escaped without a scratch.
After his return from Havana john
stone established one American record.
During a flying exhibition at Mineola Au-
| gust :. he remained in the air four hours,
one minute and fifty-nine seconds.
Johnston had been one of the spetacu-
! lar flyers during the four days of the
present meet Although he had won no
| races. lie had become a favorite with the
| crowds. which had come to know hims as
| a daring airman.