Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-01
defy DEATH TO FLY
Aviators Acquire Power Over
Air at Great Cost of Life.
Great Deeds Accomplished During
Past Year.

warned:
Watch the death list
Counting Hcxsey and Mosant, thirty
aviators and their passengers were killed
last year i'm falls from heavier-than-air
machines. against five in the two years
previous. And those three years comprise
the working history OF the sport
1t was in 1913 that Lieut.. Thomas y.
Selfridge. L. S. A., fell with Orvile
Wright in the first public trial of an
aeroplane at Fort Myer. He was the
first passenger and the first man killed in
a self-sustained machine.
The other American dead. all killed la st
year. are tombstone. Hoxsey aud Moisant.
Moisant's Defiance of Death.
1t was only little more than two
months ago. at Belmont Park. l.. l.. that
Moisant, helped from the splinters of his
wrecked monoplane. shook the dust out
of his ears and bantered with death.
Hurt" he laughed. Why nothing ever
happens to anybody flying"
Moisant dies before his victory in the
Statue of Liberty flight can be confirmed
by the International Aeronautic Fedora
ton, which still has under consideration
the protest of Claude Grahame- White,
whom MOisant defeated.
HoxSey and tombstone, teammates and
good comrades on EARTH but sworn rivals
in the air. have Joined the issue now.
Each went to his death with world 8
record for altitude.
At the present pace Hoxsey's may last
longer than Johnstone's. for the most re-
markable thing about the year 1910 in
aviation. aside from the heavy mortality.
has been the brief duration of all rec
ords, and the triumphs in the monoplane.
Eighteen months ago. when the mOno-
plane was first beginning to be head OF
on this side, Wilbur Wright was shown
a picture Of Bleriot upset. That's
typical" was all his comment
In little more than a year later the
monopiane held all worlds records-alti-
tude, distance. speed and duration.
Hoxsey took the record for altitude
with him, won In biplane. Tabuetau
also in biplane. won back the record
for distance and duration Friday. In
speed the monopiane is still supreme.
Accomplishments of Year.
Follow a few Of the more notable fea-
lures last year to show how rapid has
been the conquest Of the air, costly in
life though 1t has proved.
Chavez flew across the Alps. into Italy.
along the line that Napoleon marked out
with his armies.
Moisant crossed the English channel
with passenger. flying by compass like
the true pilot of an airship.
Glenn Fl. Curtiss flew down the Hud-
son. from Albany to New York. racing
against a special train.
Charles X. Hamilton flew from Gov
Philadelphia. by a time card. carrying
letter from Mayor Gaynor to Gov.
Stuart. and returned
Claude Grahame-White and Moisant
both flew over the roof tops of Brook
lyn and the crowded harbor, circled the
Statue Of Liberty and returned to the
aviation field at Belmont Park for a
prize Of $1,000
Clifford b. Harmon an amateur, cross
ed Long Island sound.
Eugene Ely demonstrated from the deck
Of the cruiser Birmingham that an aero
plane can rise at sea and land on earth.
French aviators had to be prohibited
from circling the Eifel tower.
tombstone and Hoxsey proved that they
could retain control Of their bipdanes IT.
a windstorm so stiff that it blew them
backward.
Altitude and Speed.
Altitude and speed figures show con-
cretely the progress in construction.
When Louis Paulhan, at Los Angeles last
January scared nearly a mile high, the
world held it's breath. Hoxsey added a
mile to that; two other Americans did
better than 1900 feet with the year, and
two Europeans better than 10000 feet.
In speed the contrast Is no less Strik-
ing. Glenn H. Curtiss at Rheims won
the Gordon Bennett cup with a speed Of
1855 miles an hour. GrahameW White took
the cup back with a performance of 81
miles per hour. James Radley flew q
mile in A 2-5 seconds. Leon Morane few
GS.4 miles In sixty minutes. Capt. Ber-
LANCER few 100 miles in seventy minutes
For the Michelin prize Olieslager. a
Belgian. in monoplane covered IA. A
miles in five hours. five seconds. Maui
rice Tabuteau (French) defeated him Fri
day in bip'ane with the remarkable I'M
broken performance of 1926 miles in
seven hours. forty-ive minutes. No LONG
distance train in the world makes a run
of equal length without stops.
Moisant's Checkered Career.
Moisant. Chicagoan by birth. after an
adventurous life in Central America. be-
came interested in aviation In France less
than year ago. After soaring into pub
lie recognition by his plucky flight from
Haris across the English channel to
London with passenger. Moisant's fear
lessness and resOurcefulness were exhib-
tied frequently.
Finding himself without a machine he
purchased one from friend for 10000.
Within ten minutes he started on his
winning flight from Belmont Park, New
York. around the Statue Of Liberty, win
ming prize of $4,000.
~dolSdIl Uedln was Il great surprise
to those who knew him. He was consid-
cred careful aviator. in spite Of the SEN
sational Paris-to-London flight that first
brought him into prominence.
He was in the habit of going over his
machine personally before each flight and
seeing to all the connections and to the
condition of the engine. He was not
given to high flying and did not attempt
the spectacular performances that won
fame for Hoxsey, Hamilton and other
aviatorS.
His fight for the Michelin cup was a
particularly safe performance from an
aviation standpoint. 1t precluded the pos
sibility of high flying and was simply a
test Of speed and endurance.
Record of Arch Hoxsey.
Arch Hoxsey was born in Stanton,
ILL.,, October 15 1854. When a child his
parents went to Los Angeles. Cal, where
they have resided since.
At the age Of sixteen years HoXsey be-
gan studying the mechanism OF auto
mobiles, and until he was twenty years
He then travelled for a year in Asia and
was with John w. Gates OF New York,
touring Europe.
He aspired to be an aviator from the
time the first experiments were made
Through the recommendation Of Capt.
Baldwin who witnessed an ascent in a
gas balloon of the youth when but eight
cen years of age. he was given an OPP
portunity by the Wrights.
october Hoxsey established an
A merican standard flight record, travel