Evening star., 1911-08-20

BUFFALO,. n. Y, August bland
ing in New York state after flying in an
air line 90 miles from Swanville. Pa. to
aviator who is attempting to break the
worlds long distance aeroplane record.
Is tonight within 439 miles OF his pro-
posed alighting place at Coney Island.
Its only a birds hop to New York."
said Atwood. stepping out of his Burgess
Wright biplane in the grounds of the
Kenilworth race track.
He made the 90 miles from Swanville
to Buffalo in flying time of two hours
and twenty minutes, with one inter-
mediate stop at Erie, Pa. Leaving Etie
at 4:53 pm. he arrived in Buffalo at 7!O2
pm. long. after the people had given up
hope Of seeing him, on the assumption
kirk, NY. The eleven miles from Swan
vile to Erie Atwood had covered at
noon In 16 minutes.
Four Days to Finish.
The Bostonian now is confident OF win
ming the worlds record in four days
more. His distance from the start in St
Louis last Monday to date is S26 miles
as compared with worlds record OF / 10,
miles
But Atwood's time, counted in days
devoted to his flight. is far ahead Of the
record holders, koenig, Vollmuller anl
Buechner. who, flying over Germany
ended with best time of 30 days from
gives him credit Of having flown ovel
portions of six states and a distance
easily equal to one-fourth the way across
the continent.
Another instance of the uncertainty OF
aviation attended Atwood throughout his
99-mile spin along the lake shore today.
Rising in cornfield at Swanville, with
crowds Of farmers as spectators. his
machine was almost dashed to the ground
before he could get his bearings. He
made three unsuccessful starts before he
got away and then landed in Erie two
hours after his scheduled time.
Found Favorable Wind.
The wind was SO strong it was almost
with the announcement that he would
stop at Dunkirk overnight. But when
we'll on his way, speeding at sixty miles
an hour and finding the wind favorable,
he decided il possible to continue on to
Buffalo without a stop.
Twenty miles out Of Erie he crossed
the New York-Pennsylvania state line.
Three miles further on, at Ripley, n. Y,
he was reported passing at 5:16. giving
him a credit of twenty-three miles in
twenty-three minutes. Up to the time
the aviator swung into view Dunkirk was
confident 1T was to see him alight there.
Crowds were in the streets and on the
roofs Of houses awaiting his appearance.
At 5:32 pm. the operator at the station
nine miles away reported, Hes over here
now and headed straight for Dunkirk.
The reception committee formed In line
and a few minutes later Atwood spun into
view at high altitude. He kept straight
ahead, however, and soon was lost to
sight.
Lost Way in Buffalo.
In entering Buffalo Atwood became con-
fused blythe smoke and was not. able to
find the race track until he made a wide
detour over the city. He reached the
western outskirts at 6:15. but 1t was
three-quarters of an hour before he
located Kenilworth. A crowd OF nearly
10000 people had waited patiently from
1 o'clock until nearly q. when the rumor
spread that Atwood had decided not to
come through Buffalo tonight, and the
Atwood swept into view more than a
score Of people were on hand. He made
a perfect landing In the center Of the
mile oval.
feet day for air sailing" said he. There
was sharp wind sweeping in of the
lake and before / had covered forty
miles my hands began to feel numb. Con-
ditions did not improve any, either.
Today's Plans Uncertain.
..The smoke from the steel plants on
reaching Buffalo confused me and the
swing Of the river to the north puzzled
me.
Under the circumstances and with
the wind getting brisker and more flukey
every minute, decided not to risk much
flying over the city.
I'm a little uncertain about my plans