Author Notes

JULIA CLARK 1880-1912 Mrs. Julia Clark, a native of London, was just one of the three licensed woman aviators in the United States at the time this tragic event took place. She was killed in a fall when a tip of the wing on her biplane struck a tree and the machine crashed to the ground. Admittedly unprepared for exhibition flights, she had already committed by contract to make exhibition flights at the fair that Friday and Saturday. Julia was testing out her machine in the race track enclosure at the fair grounds. Few people witnessed her as she guided the machine from the ground and started her spin at low altitude. Whether she lost control or whether it was a case of mistaken judgment which caused the biplane to go close to the tree was never explained. The end of a wing struck the tree, the machine toppled, then crashed to the ground. The brave young woman's skull was fractured, and she was rushed to the hospital by automobile. Julia died soon thereafter in Springfield, Ill., on June 17, 1912 . Decisions of Milwaukee authorities were partly responsible for Mrs. Clark not having any preparatory practice time. She had intended to make a flight there two weeks before, but they refused to allow her to go up because it was deemed her machine was unsafe. It had been a month since she had made a flight, but she nevertheless felt confidence in her ability to fulfill her contract. She'd arranged for a two weeks practice period at the Chicago field after her proposed flights on Friday and Saturday. Mrs. Clark was only the second woman to be killed in aeroplane accidents. The other was Miss Susanne Bernard, who lost her life at the Farman school at Pau, France, just two months prior.