A second piece in Mysterious Powers and Strange Forces (1979) tells the tale of a young French man called Bertaux. Again, we have my pet-peeve with these books: they mention the last name but can't spare a column inch for the first name. How many young Frenchmen called Bertaux are out there? Probably more than a few – and even fewer meet the scant biographical description given in Mysterious Powers – but, to me, providing the full name gives it more authenticity.
In 1876 a young French man called Bertaux had his fortune told by a gypsy at a fairground. She said that he would become head of the army but saw a vision of his death...he would be killed by a "flying chariot." Bertauxwas surprised by her predictions as he did not want a military career and aeroplanes did not yet exist. However, he became a politician and was made Minister of War – head of the army. In 1907, while attending a display of the new military aircraft, Bertaux was killed, when one of the planes crashed into the crowd.
Searching for the French Bertaux quickly led me to Henri Maurice Berteaux (1852–1911), two-time French Minister of War (1904-05, and two months in 1911). Ah, we have an error in Mysterious Powers, which claims the events occurred in 1907.
Further searching yielded further details of the opening event of the 1911 Paris to Madrid air race:
Minister of War Berteaux was killed and Premier [Ernest Monis (1846-1929)] dangerously injured thru being struck by an aeroplane at the beginning of the international air race from Paris to Madrid promoted by the [French newspaper Le Petit Parisien]. An immense crowd had collected on the aviation field at Issy les Moulineaux early Sunday morning and the guards had difficulty in keeping them back. In order to clear the field while the aeroplanes were rising a troop of cuirassiers galloped across the track to force the spectators back into line. This was just at the moment when [Louis Émile Train] in a monoplane of his own construction and carrying a passenger was getting under way. His machine was not working well and the wind was gusty so he barely avoided the cavalry by passing over their heads and making a sharp turn. But clearing the troop and attempting to land on the other side he did not see the group of Cabinet Ministers and other prominent persons who had walked out into the center of the field in order to get a better view. The propeller struck the left arm of Henri Maurice Berteaux cutting off his arm and crushing his head and the Premier was only saved from an instant death by being pushed to the ground by his son. The monoplane fell upon M Monis and fractured his right leg, broke his nose, and inflicted internal injuries which it was feared might prove fatal.[1]
Documenting the demise of the young Frenchmen Bertaux is fairly easy, and Wikipedia goes as far as to show an image of the crashed monoplane on its page detailing the 1911 Paris to Madrid air race [2]. What is not documented, of course, is the premonition Berteaux had in 1876. However, I don't know how much stock we can take since Mysterious Powers was a bit loose when Berteaux died. Bertaux's premonition occurred in 1876.
From here, copyright and language barriers limited the search results. While Google Books limits what you can read, there are other sources to the premonition story:
- [...]recorded by Professor Charles Richet. In about 1880 Berteaux as a young man consulted a fairground clairvoyante who told him that he would one day be head of the army and that he would be killed by a flying chariot... [3]
- French Minister for War Maurice Berteaux, consulted in his youth (1874) a clairvoyant, who predicted that he would be rich, famous, and would one lead the army and be killed by a flying car. Berteaux was a bank officer at that time. [4]
- Maurice Berteaux reported the prophecy to his sister, his wife and his friend, Professor Richet who told us the story [5].
There were more search results, but my lack of reading French became apparent. What did we learn from these results, though? The event took place as early as 1874 and as late as 1880. Berteaux, born in 1852, would have been 22 in 1874. Two books refer to the killer object as a flying chariot or a flying car, and two books seemingly cite Professor Charles Richet as their source.
So, who was he? Charles Robert Richet (1850-1935) was a French physiologist and Nobel Prize winner. He devoted many years to the study of paranormal and spiritualist phenomena, coining the term "ectoplasm". He also believed in the inferiority of black people, was a proponent of eugenics, and presided over the French Eugenics Society towards the end of his life [6]. Ugh.
Your Thoughts?
Richet seemed to enjoy hearing and collecting stories like Berteaux’s and would have enjoyed using the minister's death to prove his theories and beliefs. I assume there may be more out there on this story, mais je dois d'abord apprendre le français.
References
- [1] "Monoplane Crushes French Ministers"; The Independent, May 25, 1911 (Vol. LXX, No. 3560).
- [2] Wikipedia: 1911 Paris to Madrid air race
- [3] Spiritualism: A Critical Survey; Simeon Edmunds, 1966
- [4] Parapsychology: A Scientific Approach; Milan Rýzl, 1970
- [5] La premonizione e il nostro destino. Avvertimenti e presagi che possono cambiare la vita; Jean Prieur, N. Spicacci, 2001.
- [6] Wikipedia: Charles Richet
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