The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-22
ATLANTIC FLIERS IN DUEL.
KAISER WILHELM H.. BEATS Ia
PROVENCE BY MINUTES.
TIT Kaiser Is the superior ship In Tonnage
and Power, but M Frenchman Kept
On In the F~Os-They Pass Into the Hook
Within Railing Distance OF Each Other

and Power. but the FrenchmAn Kept
TN In the Fog They Pass Into the Hook
Within HaiIinE Distance OF EAch Other
The last Of the big Christmas ships, La
Provence OF the French Line and the North
passed in to the Hook within five minutes
Of each other yesterday afternoon.
The race is not always Il the swift, but
1t was yesterday by an in~consequentisl
margin, counting from the hour, about
noon on Wednesday, when the Kaiser was
abeam and about fou miles north, or to
s~tarboard, OF the Frenchman. Since the
international incident Of 1874 there has
been some feeling between the Germans
and French afiost and ashore, and Capt.
Hogemann of the Kaiser was no less desir~
GUS than Capt. Poirot Of La Provence to
make a record run to this port.
The Kaiser has nearly $1,000 more horse
power than La Provence, and normally
il better than her by more than a knot an
hour. But in a 5000 mile contest there are
other things than power to be considered,
one Of which is national spirit and another
the sporting enthusiasm Of passenger.
along her course Of 3,0te miles from Cher
bourg breakwater to Sandy Hook If It
had not been broadly limited in Paris that
La Provence Intended to land her passen-
gers here ahead Of the Teutonio twin screw.
Capt. Hogemann decided to sec about it.
Capt. Poirot knew hat he would have
small chance of winning glory II the race
had been from gunflre from a particular
J point on the other side Of the sea. He de-
| pended more On his aim model than on the
power behind the screws. .
Capt. Hogemann got word at ~Cberbourg
that La Provence had left Havre at 9:lS
OF Saturday morning. The Kaiser bounded
westward from Cherbourg breakwater
| olaxnap ho,tra lahar Al uaurn Ia ahONlt
seventy-four miles further from Sandy
Hook than In Cherbourg, La Provence had
a little more than eight hours start OF the
Kaiser. They got into wireless ommun
operators Of both ships were -cagey,'
neither giving the position Of the other.
The limit of sea communication between
ships by wireless is about two undre and
fifty miles and the operators had 70 guess
by the clearness OF messages how close the
ships were TO each other.
The Frenchman decided that what he
lacked In power be might make up in di-
plomacy. Capt. Hogemann, always careful,
did not drive his ship on stormy days,
feeling that he had a cinch. Messages
we're frequently snapped between pas
sen gers of the rival liners.
The stokers had a faint impression that
there was something doing, and II the soft
coal smoke blurring the wake ofth liners
could rave woven letters on the sky they
would have spelled race" too.
On Wednesday Just before dawn the
Kaiser's lookout in the crows nest dis
cerned dimly the liz hts of the Provence
fifteen miles on the port bow. There had
been much betting aboard the German
ship that she would reach New York be-
fore the Provence, otwithstsndlng the
lead OF the frenchman. Stewards had
been notified to arouse the Eettors on the
Kaiser when she got within sight OF the
Provence and the stewards did their duty,
although it was after 5 O'Clock in the morn
ing.
deck TO witness the discontinue of the
hackers of Gallo nerve. The superior en-
CINE power of the larger German ship told.
At noon the Kaiser was abeam and foul
miles north of the Provence.
Thu sea was rough and the air at times
was thick with s~nowsqualls The com
manders of both ships declared later that
they were not racing. but each ship there
after made better speed than she had de-
veloped on the preceding days OF the trip.
The Kaiser reeled of $50 miles on h
nautical day ending at noon on Thursday
and the Provence went almost 10 her limit,
against head seas, by logging S32 sea miles;
Wirelessly passengers with friends aboard
the Provence jeered at them at 5 o'clock
N Wednesday afternoon when the hlgh
powered Kaiser vanished below the western
horizon, twenty miles ahead OF the French
man. Capt. Poirot kept right on, how
ever, burning as much coal as the ships
furnaces could take in all the while the
wireless experts of both ships snapped mes
sages, but neither told the other anything
about latitude and longitude.
The Frenchman kept right on carefully,
Of course, in seas and mist and fog. Capt.
Hogemann didn't like the aspect OF things
aloft after he had passed Fire Island at
$50 O'Clock yesterday morning and an
chored. Meanwhile La Provence was
cautiously coming this way. The Kaiser,
unaware of the proximity OF her rival,
got up her mudhook and proceeded. She
dropped anchor of the Hghtsbip, staying
there until about noon. Then there wa
a stir aboard, particularly among the
bettors. La Provence was seen IN the
fog, which was lifting, directly %astern:
The Kaiser's anchor never was dragged
from bottom so swiftly. Capt. PoTot,
from the bridge, saw the rival ship about
the same time that Capt. Hogemann set
eyes on La Provence.
IF we had been a minute sooner, said
Purser Salvy-Keatley of the French ship,
I'VE would have beaten her into port
There really was not much more than a Few
| minutes-some estimated it "a three and
| some as hve-between the giants at the bar.
With pilots aboard, they even strove for
supremacy coming up the ship channel, and
there were merely minutes between them
at Quarantine.
The Kaiser was first at her dock at Ho-
boken. This did not distress La P~rovence's
passengers interested in the contest. They
telegraphed by wireless to their friends on
the Kaiser: we will be waiting for you in
New York" And they were, az it is a long
trip by ferry from Hoboken to Manhattan.