The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1911-01-04

LOS ANGELES, Dec. Slime
winds whose treacheries, Arch Hoxey
so often defied and conquered. killed
the noted aviator today. AS If jeal-
GUS of his intrepidity, they seized him
and his fragile flving machine. flung
them down out of the sky and crush
ed out his life. He fell dead upon
the field from which he had risen
but a short time before with a laugh
ing promise to the thousand cheering
spectators to pierce the zenith heav-
ems, surpass his own phenomenal al
titude records and soar higher than
any other men dared CO. Cross cur
rent whirled off by a vagrant storm
that floated in from the sea. caught
his biplane and shot him downward
$50 feet to the earth and to his death.
Spectators Awe Struck.
When the field attendants reached
the spot where the tangled pile of
wreckage lay. Hoxev was dead. The
body was twisted almost out of all
semblance of human form. All Of
the spectators in the grandstand wit
messed the tragedy as it occurred di-
rectly facing them on the far side of
the course. The sat awe struck and
silent until an announcer gave the
news through megaphone: Hockey
has been killed"
Then from every party in the grand
stand, came the sobbing Of women
who but a short time before had
clasped their hands in salute to the
daring aviator as he rose from the
field for the fatal flight. Just before
starting to break his own wonderful
altitude record of 11,474 feet, HoXey
said: "Of course the success of this
attempt is contingent upon the kind
of weather i find up there. Some
of the temperatures one encounters
in high attitudes is simply beyond
human endurance. But If | can stand
it and my motor works as well as
it has been working, l will come
down with q record of 1900 feet or
more"
Trouble With Winds. %
I'D. up. up the daring aviator soar
ed until he was a mere speck in the
sky and then he was noticed to be
on descend when nearly 500 feet from
the earth he was seen to be in trouble
and then came the dreadful end. The
Paragraph on his machine examined
after the Wreckage was cleared away
showed he had attained height of
,7142. What caused him to descend
will never be known, but probably 1t
was the same conflicting currents
which finally caused him to lose con-
| troll of his machine and plunge to the
earth. When the wreckage was clear
eli slfic iently so that the body could
be reached, f1e-Was found planted
firmly in his seat his arms around
the levers.
The fall telescoped the biplane. The
steel sprocket which drove the pro-
nellers lay across Hoxeys face. The
motor was resting upon the right side
of the body. Every rib on that sidf
was shattered into fragments. Ar
iron upright sounded by the force OF
the crash held the aviator's body
impelled on it's jagged point The
exact second was PIP o'clock. The
aviators had been in the air one hour
and a half when the accident hap
lpened.
Partner Cries Like Child.
Il Walter Brooklins who originated thu
spiral glide and dip which brough
!. Hoxey to his death was standing il
front of the press stand watching hi
colleague of the Wright team per
form. Suddenly the shout went up
Hickey is falling" At the same in
slant a sigh or gasp not loud but o
tremendous volume, rose from th'
packed grandstand. That single sup
lpressed sigh was the only sound tina
came from the crowd for fully TWEEN
lty minutes after the accident, saw
the sobbing of women. Brookins ut
tered one word, "God." His voic
gave away beneath him and he fel
: in the roadway. Although he hat
been in several serious accidents him
self, he rose thoroughly unnerved ant
; cried like child.