Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1920-07-09
Dramatic Fate of General Laper-
rine in Sahara.
NARROWED BY FALL OF PLANE
Lose Bearings Over Immense Desert,
and Shortage of Gas Forces General
and His Companions to Land-Two
Found on Point of Death-Report
Tells Of Dramatic Death of the Com
mander

TIE Oilcldi report OI LleulendHt t-TO-
vost, who found General Laperrine
dead and his companions-AviatOr
, Bernard and Mechanician Vasselin-
on the point of death In the Sahara
desert. has been received by the COM
mander of the Tenth corps here, says q
dispatch from Algiers to La Petit Par
isien translated for the Kansas City
Starr. This report, after telling of
the loss of bearings on the trip, re-
counts the unfortunate landing Of the
general and his dramatic death In
these words:
. 1T was about noon; the plane was
sailing aimlessly over the immense Sa-
nara, for the west wind had blown it
away from the caravan trail, the only
mark which General Laperrine had to
follow. The supply of gasoline was
getting low and finally Bernard report
ed that there was only enough left for
half an hours flight. To avoid the
trouble of landing suddenly forced
by the exhaustion of gas, General
Laperrine and Bernard decided to land
as quickly as convenient heavy
wind interfered with the landing and
caused the machine to capsze as it hit
the sand. The generals left collar
bone was broken in the fall, but Ber-
nard and Vasselin were uninjured save
for few scratches.
Faced Death With Fortitude.
"The first few days after the land
ing General Laperrine suffered greatly
from the broken collar bone; but he
bore the pain with great fOrtitude and
with no word of complaint, for he
realized that he must keep up the spir-
its of his subordinates. He discussed
the situation enthusiastically with them
and sought to calculate a way out of
the difficulty. At last, realizing that
horrible death was inevitably APP
preaching, he said to his companions :
81 have crossed the desert eleven
times, and on the twelfth trip die.
am TO blame for your plight, boys
One would have thought that l must
know the Sahara, but no man knows IL
yet
"In spite of his own despair the
general never ceased to try to encour-
age his companions. He told them
that a mil acle was always possible,
and there was no time to give up the
fight completely.
"In the fall of the plane the reser-
vOir in which drinking water was car
ried was cracked and the water was
lost, and the only water supply avail
able for the air wrecked trio was the
ten gallons in the radiator of the air
plane. They had food for only few
days. About February 25 General
Laperrine's condition became much
worse. He was no longer able to
speak and a delirium set In that rob-
bed him of his mind.
Buried In the Sand.
March 8, at the end of his strength
and for two days in the agony Of
death, General Laperrine gasped his
last in the arms of Bernard and Vase
lin. The two survivors buried the
body Of the general near the wreck Of
the machine, digging grave knee
deep in the desert sand with their
hands. After having thus put to rest
all that was mortal of their leader
they were In very low spirits and
each day more of their courage es-
capped them. for they saw no hope Of
escaping death on the arid waste.
"Thue things went until March 10,
when Bernard began to show signs of
giving way; he was hardly able to
walk The next day fever kept him
down all day and after that, despite
his strong constitution, he was not
able to- get up. vasselin, more robust,
felt his strength slipping also. March
IA he was unable to get up. 4.
Both were lying beside the crippled air
plane. Bernard was unable TO talk !:
he lay motiOnless. That day Lieu
tenant Provost, searching that sec
ton Of the desert for the missing avia-
tors, was seen by vasselin, who, sum-
moning all his strength, got his car
bIne from the plane and fired several
shots, which attracted the attention Of
the cavalry detachment led by Pro-