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[[stamped]] 143 [[/stamped]] [[newspaper clipping]] THE SACRAMENTO UNION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1911. [[line]] AVIATOR FALLS AT THE STAT May Be No More Air Flights During the BIPLANE CRASHES TO DESTRUCTION Wiseman Loses Control of Machine and Pitches Fifty Feet to Ground. [[line]] BIRDMAN ESCAPES DEATH [[line]] Effort's to Be Made to Repair Damage Before the Fair Ends. [[line]] The failure of the gasoline feed pipe of his flying machine to perform its functions properly nearly cost Aviator Fred J. Wiseman of Santa Rosa his life shortly after 11 o'clock yesterday morning at the State Fair grounds, when his 50-horsepower biplane crashed to the ground from an altitude of about fifty feet, reducing the machine to a pile of junk, and slightly injuring the aviator. Wiseman's injuries consist mainly of a badly skinned knee and other bruises about the body. Wiseman had been in the air less than two minutes when the accident occurred that may result in the discontinuance of aviation at the Fairgrounds this week, although an attempt will be made to get the machine in shape for flights Wednesday or Thursday morning. FALLS FIFTY FEET. At 11 o'clock the machine was hauled from the field of the race track, where it had been assembled and tested earlier in the day, and taken to a point on the race course nearly a quarter of a mile north of the grandstand. A few minutes later Wiseman was soaring past the crowds at an altitude of about fifty feet, his machine wavering unsteadily. He had reached a point less than half a mile distant from his starting place when the planes of the machine were seen to careen at a dangerous angle, as if the aviator had attempted to make too short a curve in order to follow the circumference of the racetrack. Wiseman at this time was not higher than fifty feet, and without warning, the air craft pitched violently, turned half over in the air and fell crashing to the ground. A cry of horror rose from the thousand or more spectators who had witnessed the flight from the grandstands, and for a few moments it was believed that Wiseman had met the common fate of many birdmen during the past year. Before assistance could arrive the aviator had succeeded in extricating himself from the mass of wreckage, and was calmly regarding the remains of the machine when the crown reached him, Mrs. Wiseman in an automobile being among the first. DAMAGE NOT SERIOUS. Within two minutes after the fall of the biplane an emergency ambulance had reached the scene, but Wiseman's injuries were not sufficiently serious or painful to require immediate medics' attention, and he remained on the grounds for nearly half an hour after his fall. Inspecting the wrecked biplane and answering hundreds of questions asked by curious spectators, who had thronged to the spot where the machine had fallen. After viewing the wrecked machine Wiseman announced that the damage was not as serious as it appeared, and that an effort would be made to repair the biplane in time to begin flights Wednesday morning. A number of the wooden stanchions and supporting rods were snapped cleanly off, but duplicates of these parts were brought to the city by the aviator, to be used in case of emergencies. Before the flight yesterday morning Aviator Wiseman declared his confidence in making a creditable showing on his initial appearance in Sacramento. The engines had been given a preliminary run for several minutes, and not a hitch occurred. SECOND ACCIDENT ON GROUNDS. Everything worked beautifully, and the crowd in the grandstand was eager to see the slight-build, youthful bird man wing his way through the upper air lands. The flight was beautiful while it lasted, but there was a feeling of apprehension in the crowd as the big machine sailed by, high overhead. Suddenly it fluttered like a bird with a broken wing, and dashed to the ground in an open space just off the racetrack, in the southern part of the grounds near the paddocks. As the machine fell it narrowly escaped crashing into a temporary blacksmith shop. Accompanied by Mrs. Wiseman and his manager, Don Prentiss, the aviator drove his automobile to the city, and retired to his room in a local hotel, where his injuries were dressed. Yesterday's accident marks the second disaster that has overtaken aeroplanes on the State Fair grounds. Last year during the State Fair Aviator Charles K. Hamilton was badly injured when his 115-horsepower biplane went wrong at an altitude of nearly 100 feet, and crashed to the ground, less than half a mile from the spot where Wiseman fell yesterday morning. [[/newspaper clipping.]] [[image - photograph of crashed plan with men standing near plane]] [[image - photograph of man piloting plane]] [[image - photograph of biplane on ground. Men standing near]] [[newspaper clipping]] Fair Attended by Largest Crown since Opening Big Delegation From San Francisco Arrives Today [[line]] [[boxed]] TODAY'S PROGRAM. [[line]] San Francisco Day. Visiting excurs will groun 10 showi mals 1:30 ning 4:30 girl 7:4 8:3 seum [[/boxed]] an excellent performance during his imitation of a drunken cowboy. This feat is an extremely hazardous one, as the rider is compelled to stand on the find it in the most complete and sanitary condition, although but recently pitched upon the fair [[/newspaper clipping]] [[advertisement]] [[boxed]] 4% ON SAVINGS DEPOSITS FARME SA Sacramento [[?]] Peter J. Shi[[?]] W. F. Gorm[[?]] Phillip Wolf. Geo. V YOU CAN [[/boxed]] [[advertisement]]
