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FROM THE FLYING PIONEERS BIOGRAPHIES OF HAROLD E. MOREHOUSE
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flying activities there for some time. He remained at the Field through November, then there was a contestant at the Tanforan Air Meet at Tanforan Park, San Francisco on December 26th and 27th. Flying also at this event were: Lincoln Beachey, Tom Gunn, Silas Christofferson, Robert Fowler and Roy Francis. There Kerns was flying as well and put on a good show. On both days he and Fowler "played tag" with each other, to the great amusement of the audience. The Meet was truly an aerial circus and a very successful event. 

On Lincoln Day, February 12th, 1913, Kerns treated his home townspeople to an exhibition when he flew over Chico dropping over copies of the local news-paper. He had a minor smashup on March 26th while attempting to fly cross-country from Gridley to Live Oak, California where her flew exhibition dates, but was not injured. On April 19th and 20th he was a competitor at an air meet at the State Fair Grounds, Sacramento, California. Flying there also were: Roy Francis, Silas Christofferson, Harold Blakely and Tom Gunn. This was a well attended event and the aviators put on a good show. Kerns did very well there and stated that he was planning a mid-west exhibition tour very soon. 

On May 5th Kerns made several flights at the Rose Growers Carnival at Princeton, California, flying there from Chico to fill the engagement, then returning home by air. On May 17th and 18th he flew at Santa Rosa, California. There he carried mail both days when he was authorised by Postmaster Tripp to fly mail from a special sub-station at the field to a point near the Post Office where it was dropped from his plane for collection. In late June Kerns shipped his plane to Emporia, Kansas where he flew on July 4th. After this event he returned with his plane to Chico.

After assembling the plane Kerns started on a check flight on the evening of July 15th to see that everything was in order. After flying off for some distance he turned and was returning for a landing. When near his home at about 75 feet altitude the lower wing spar failed, causing the plane to turn over, out of control, and dive to the ground. Kerns was instantly killed in

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