Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-08-08
Train Had Handicap.

a good landing, just getting over the
telephone wires on the pike"
Train Had Handicap.
NEW YORK, Aug. S.4-Cheered by
a group of fifty early risers c. Murvin
Wood set out from the Hampstead
Plains, on Long Island, at 4:36 a..
m. today in monoplane to race with
q Pennsylvania Railroad train which
left Jersey City. N. j., at 4:30 a. m.
Wood hoped to overcome the man,
dicap of thirty miles in distance and
six minutes in time, which the train
had.
After a wide circle over the neigh
boring town of Westbury to get his
bearing and satisfy himself that his
machine was working satisfactorily,
Wood pointed westward directly over
Coney Island and was soon lost to
sight in the fog. At New Brunswick
n. j., where he expected to first
touch the actual course of the train,
he was reported at 5:34, twenty min
utes after the train had passed. He
was flying so high that he could
hardly be seen. The train was due in
Washington, 225 miles away, at $3.50.
Returns This Afternoon.
Wood planned to return to Hemp
stead by the air route this afternoon,
and incidentally to break four Amer
lean records, those for speed, distance
in a continuous fight, duration and
total mileage between sunrise and
sunset. The American distance rec
ord for continuous flight was hung up
last April by Lieutenant Thomas De
Witt Milling, of the United States
army, who flew a distance of 224 miles
in Texas in four hours and twenty
two minutes.
Wood passed over Baltimore thirty
five minutes ahead of the arrival at
the Union station of the Pennsylva-
ria train. Flying high and swiftly,
the monoplane passed over the north
ern outskirts of the city at $40
o'clock in a southwesterly direction.
The train which ran behind the Bos-
ton express for Washington all the
way down was obliged to remain
here ten minutes to allow the lead
ing train to clear the tunnels.
Train Arrives at $3.50.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Aug. s.
The train Wood was racing and
which had made a nonstop run from
New York with guests, officials of
= the Aero Club and newspaper men.
did not arrive in Washington until
$3.50 O'clock Woods assistants, when
they learned of his mishap, hurried
on to Gaithersburg to get his plane
In condition to resume the fight.
Wood began his fight from Hemp
stead, Long Island, at 4:36 o'clock
this morning and at 4:30 the train
started for Washington from Jersey
City. Wood got ahead and sus-
tanned his lead, passing over Balti-
. more thirty-five minutes before the
train reached there. From Balti-
more to Washington his route was
in a southwesterly direction, over a
level country, but he flew too far to
the west
Army and navy aviators and other
officials assembled at Fort Myer to
see the landing thought Wood would
have had no difficulty in reaching
Washington and crossing the Poto-
mac to the fort. after passing Balti-
more. because he had the three tall
wireless towers at Arlington to guide
him. While the day was bright
one, an early morning haze hung
low.
While waiting for his mechanics to
arrive Wood wrote a statement
claiming to have broken the Ameri-
can nonstop record between two
points. The statement, written on the
leaves of a notebook, while Wood
was standing guard over his machine
in the field where it landed. was car
ried to the telephone station. mile
away, and telephoned to Washing
ton.
IT had engine trouble all the way
wrote Wood (which made 1t very
hard to keep a desirabl altitude. The
best altitude during the flight was
made at Havre de Grace, Md, when
reached 1850 feet. Anyway, l have
broken the American nonstop record
between two points, and only hard
luck has prevented me from breaking
the records / set out to capture"
The relief party, travelling in auto
mobiles over rough roads, found
Wood with his monoplane in Dia-
mond's field, just before noon. Wood
briefly told the story of his flight
wood Tells His Stery.
was lost almost from the minute
started" said he. Getting across
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