, 1923-01-20

nesses that the cause OF the tragedy
wss an effort to execute the perilous
zimmerman turn while too c:ose 10
the ground. Other eye-witnesses state
that +he maheuvef that preceded the
crash was not tho zimmerman turn"
but 'ioopinR-the-loop.'' These, who
witnessed the fan from the sids, rot
from tho position straight ahead that
was occuriet by those inclined 10 the
Zimmerman loop theory, say the
airplane made two complete perpendl-
cular loops. the first wide and at q
sufficient altitude to have enRbled the
mach ne to flatten out safely. the
, 5ther very shor and &c close to the
ground that the crash came Just az
the ship began to fla;ten out on . hor.
isontal course.
Whatever the cause of the acci-
dent, 1t virtually Is certain that the
death of the two fliers was instantan'
eous The ARP ane-DeHavilnnd Four
mail ship No. 2sS-truck nose first
with terrific impact and even as the
dust raised by the crash spurted up
1t was enveloped in a burst OF flame
that scared the grass for thirty feet
in all directions. Racing from the
hangar a quarter Of n mile distant,
the ( rst persons to reach the scene
confronted a billowing mass OF wind.
whipped fire that made efforts to
reach the bodies of tho dead men
temporarily impracticable. So hotly
did the highest gasoline from the
machines fuel tank burn that W thin
on minutes the limbs and head had
.an burned from Acor's corpse and
= y the burst and blackened trunk
manned. Cakes body, which was
rown clear OF the wreckage but lay
h n h rad us of the fire, WINS not
, thoroughly burned and wns recog.
zable. All tina remained of the air
pane when the fire vas subdued with
-cxtinguishers from the hangar were
metal parts and these had been
Warped and twisted by tho intense
heat.
The accident was observed by
scores of persons. all with the ex.
cept'on Of the hangar attaches on the
edge of the city nearly a mile distan'
So many were watching the ship DO
cause, m clircllng from the hangar
on a test flight after overhaul'ng, it
swept so low over the city that it
attracted apprehens!ve attention. Stu
dents Mt the high school, interrupted
Mt their classes by the roar OF the
planes propeller elise overhead,
crowded to windows and watched the
ship aa it swung on the wlde sweep
that preceded the fatal termination
of the flight. They stnl were watch
Ing when. at an altitude OF perhaps
500 feet, its nose suddenly was turned
-... - - A.. kv.-
DIZZY loops that ended with the crash.
Cakes. after a circle of several
miles. had headed the ship into a for.
ty-mile gallo when over the eastern
edge OF the landing field. apparently
with this intention of slanting down TO
a landing close to the hangar at the
western edge, Suddenly a ~streaner
OF black smoke spurted from the air
plane and the two loops followed i'm
med!ately. What vas the significance
of this smoke-whether It was caused
by the ship catching fire from a leak
IN the gasoline tank, a circumstances
which would ave made the follow.
ing crash an accident to which the
pilot was in no way n culpable con.
tributor. or resulted from sudden in.
crensing OF the engine speed in order
that momentu mmight be gained for
the designed looping-the-loop-ls pure
~ conjocturnl. Aviators. however, are
loath to credit the theory that Cakes
IN experienced flyer, attempted either
the Zimmerman turn" or a perpen.
dlcular loop at 30 low an altitude I'm.
less he were forced TO a desperate ex.
pec.ent by some untownrd develop
mont m the flight such. perhaps. rs
the firo resulting from a gasoline
leak.
An official Investigation OF tn acc'e-
don't was instituted riday when Su.
p~erintendent Eide Richards OF thu
mr. mail service. returned from an in.
spoction trip. Coroner Bayiey Fink.
biner had not decided Friday morn.
ing whether an inquest would be
held.
Cakes was 81 years old. He came
to the Cheyenne division about three
months age from Cleveland, between
which city and New York no had been
flying on an air mail run.
Aeor was - years old and had been
a resident OF Cheyenne for twenty-five
years. Before he became a mechanic
at tho air mail hangar he was EN-
nloyed in the Union Pacific shops.
At one time he was a rough rider OF
note. Tit fatal flight Thursday was
his first.
Thursdays accident was the first
involving death TO occur at tho Chey-
onne field, and there had been eniy
ono other Crash" there. The latter
accident occurred about two years
ago when Eddie Rickenbacker. en-
quite on n transcontinental flight.
wrecked his ship here while attempt.
ing a night landing, The spot where
Rickenbacker fell Is about 400 yards
wAsHINGTON-Frnnce's winter