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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0348.PDF
(7) Multiple blades raises the question of the requisite strength and consequent area of the sections from boss to tip, which cannot be decreased indefinitely without fear of bursting taking place. Advantage may however be taken of the fact that a very slight forward rake is usually sufficient to convert the whole stress into a pure tension, and consequently a much AFRU. 12, 1917. smaller section can then be employed. It should, however, be noted in passing that the centres of area of the blade sections along the blade should not in general lie on a straight line, but on a curve, the determination of which may be accomplished, as a rule, without much difficulty. All the sections will then be stressed in pure tension. __ <$> <$> THE DEPERDUSSIN CASE. JUDGMENT in this case was delivered in the Seine AssizeCourt on March 30th. In the indictment against A. Deper- dussin it was alleged that he made fraudulent use of hisposition to obtain huge sums of money which he converted to his own purpose. The indictment further set forth thatM. Deperdussin was the creator of several new aeroplane models, the owner and manager of two great aeroplanefactories, and of the well-known aerodrome in the Champagne country. In recognition of his services to the cause ofFrench aviation the Government created him a Knight of the Legion of Honour. After his great success in the aero-plane world he began to take a hand in theatrical enterprises ; he established a private sanatorium for wealthy persons ;he financed a hot-air therapeutic institute, all of which enter- prises were, it is alleged, built up with funds obtained byfraud. Armand Deperdussin lived in Belgium until 1901, when hecame to Paris to reside permanently. He was possessed of very small means, being a traveller for a silk firm in theRue des Jeuneurs. He was a man of ambitious schemes, the principal of which was to form a gigantic " silk trust."With a view of carrying out this scheme, he got into touch with the Comptoir Industriel et Colonial, the managers ofwhich were greatly struck with the possibilities of profits shown by Deperdussin. For a period of ten years—namely,from July, 1903, to July, 1913, he carried out, with the assistance of the bank, a series of gigantic financial transac-tions in silk, totalling some ,£8,000,000. In the course of these transactions it is alleged against Deperdussin that hecommitted a number of frauds and forged numerous orders, in the course of which he caused the bank to suffer a lossof over 28,000,000 francs, and misappropriated to himself 16,000,000 francs. His wife was arraigned in the dock withDeperdussin. She was a shop assistant at a silk mercer's when Deperdussin married her ; a woman of great businessability, who, it is alleged, aided and abetted her husband in all his transactions. Deperdussin had made a prenuptialcontract with his wife whereby there was a complete separa- tion of property rights between the couple. This, it isalleged, enabled Deperdussin to pass over the proceeds of his frauds to his wife. The lady is now in possession of asubstantial fortune, which she alleges she made by speculating on the Paris Bourse. Deperdussin, who looked as though his long confine-ment had told on his health severely, unreservedly admitted his "guilt. He pleaded guilty to all the charges of fraudbrought against him, but argued in extenuation of the offences that the great services he had rendered to the country shouldbe taken into consideration. The Judge remarked : It transpires from the evidencethat you spent a sum of about £120,000 on aviation. The prisoner replied : I expended more than double thatamount—more than £250,000 ! The Judge : Yes ! But this money, fraudulently obtained,was the cause of your being honoured. The prisoner : It is true, but I seemed to live in a sort ofmirage. I ended by believing that the thing was quite natural. If I spent so much money on aviation I was inducedto do so by the great popularity I enjoyed. Everybody was throwing incense at me. I became a " mug." When a manwanted to borrow a pound from me I gave him a " fiver." That is the sort of man I had become. It is sad for me toconfess it, but once caught in the groove I was obliged to go on doing this or lose my position. There was no escapefor me. Speaking of the Champagne aerodrome, Deperdussinalleged that he acquired the place to prevent Mr. de Mumm, the great German champagne grower, of Rheims, fromconverting it into a centre of German espionage. It was true he had bought jewels to the extent of £40,000, but mostof these jewels were given away as presents to aviators who had won prizes. He declared that his wife was quite innocent,that she was his first and his greatest victim. Mme. Deperdussin, for her defence, stated that she neverdreamed her husband had robbed all the money he was supposed to earn. It was only two days before his arrestthat he confessed the whole thing to her. Many well-known French military aviators gave evidence,among them Vedrines and Gilbert. Adjutant Vedrines said : I am bound to say that Deper-dussin, by the keen interest he took in aviation, rendered an immense service to the French nation. It was he whohad the first notion of rapid flying, which was strongly opposed and flouted at the time by all the official exponents of the newscience. Lieut. Gilbert said : Deperdussin, by his generosity, bythe real knowledge he showed, by his clever initiative, paved tlte way for our present military superiority in the air, and Ihave only one regret to express ; that is, that Deperdussin was not set at liberty at the outbreak of war, so that thecountry might have had the benefit of his wonderful know- ledge. The second day of the trial was chiefly taken up with anaccount of the heavy losses sustained by the Comptoir Financier. Major Roche, Director of the State School of Aviation,having given evidence to the same effect, M. Georges Prade, the -well-known expert aviation journalist, stated asfollows :— " Deperdussin came on the field at a time when, for lack offunds, the progress of aviation in France was at a complete standstill. All our best specialists had gone to Germany,engaged there at big salaries to build aeroplanes for German manufacturers. Then it was that Deperdussin, a man ofundoubted genius in all that concerns the construction of aeroplanes and air machines, began to spend large sums withan unstinting hand. He raised up the declining industry ; he caused the closed aeroplane factories in France to be re-opened ; he gave numerous orders ; he engaged one of the best engineers to be found, M. Bechereau, and opened upan entirely new vista. Hitherto nobody, either in France or Germany or England, had studied the speed possibilities ofthe air machine. Thanks to the untiring, costly and energetic investigations of M. Deperdussin and his engineer the problemwas solved. The war avions mounted to-day by all our most renowned ' Aces ' are'nothing else than a transformationmade, for military purposes, by M. Bechereau, of the Deper- dussin speed avion formerly mounted by Vedrines." The general manager of the Spad Avion Company, who are now controlling the Deperdussin factory, gave evidence to the effect that since the war the French Government had given orders for Deperdussin aeroplanes to the value of 70,000,000 francs (£2,800,000). If Deperdussin had remained in the company his share of this would have amounted to 14,000,000 francs (£560,000). On behalf of the Comptoir Financier evidence was given in detail as to the extraordinary frauds of which it had been the victim for a period of ten years. Deperdussin being now insolvent there was no chance of getting t"he money back, and the bank was, therefore, fain to claim the sum of one franc for nominal damages. The Advocate-General, M. Fremont, for the Public Prosecu- tor, asked for' a severe verdict and sentence against Deperdussin. He made no objection to the acquittal of Madame Deperdussin, the charge against her of complicity and receiving stolen property not having been proved. Deperdussin's services to the science of aviation had nothing to do with the criminal offences he had committed. On the third and final day of the trial Maitre Henri Robert addressed the jury in defence of Mdme. Deperdussin. The jury retired with nearly 2,000 printed questions to answer. After some delay they asked to see the Presiding Judge, his assessors and counsel for the defence, when the Foreman said : " The jury have unanimously decided to ask the Court to give the prisoner Deperdussin the benefit of the law of ' Sursis ' (indefinite postponement of the carrying out of a sentence, in the case.gf first offenders) or First Offen- ders Act." After a consultation extending over three hours, the jury found Deperdussin guilty, with extenuating circum- stances, and his wife not guilty. Mdme. Deperdussin was acquitted and Deperdussin sentenced to five years* penal servitude, with the benefit of the First Offenders Act, so that he was immediately released. 348
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