Polk County news-gazette. (Benton, Tenn.) 190?-191?, 1914-03-26

of the North Atlantic purSueS the "ell-tlafeleu
air lanes of Europe safely passes over the oleaK
ond forhiddinp wastes of Siberia and fringes the
almost uninhabited coast line Of northern Asia
and Alaska
But each of these feats has been exceeded al
ready in the air records now on the books no"
all that is needed is the combination OF them. Inc
performance of one great air Journey aIter an
other means luck, enormous luck, to greater oe-
gree than in almost any sporting contest ever
organized.
Several aviators have signifed their intention OF
entering They are willing to take the risks
They are not actuated by the desire Tor golo, LOT
even the successful contender, who Will win the
$3.50 900 first prize and also the $5OOOO oHered Dy
Lord Northclife for the first crossing of the At
lantic will find his 100000 and perhaps more
eaten up by the expenses of his undertaking.
II is quite certain however, that plenty OF men
of large fortunes and sporting proclivities Will be
found to finance this peerless air event
The eyes of the world will be upon the brave
contenders even more than they were upon the
nioneer aviation racers in that first meet at
Rheims in 1908.
/ The attention of the close students OF the race
is centered upon the problem OF the Atlantic
After passing due east from San Francisco across
the Sierras, through Reno, New; Cheyenne Wyo|
Kansas City. st. Louis and New York the ava
TORS will coast along the seaboard to Belle lsle'
between Newfoundland and Labrador here the
flight across the Atlantic will begin. Inc myers
will probably head for Cape Farewell, Greenland,
61O miles away From Cape Farewell to lcelanu
tbe distance is 670 miles, and from lcelahd "
Stornaway in the Hebrides, is oIo miles:
Three enormous leaps-610, go and $40 miles.
None Of them insurmountable in itself But TO MT
the bulps-eye three times in succession
the rub. ,.h,o 30
49, ETaditorraneen. which Roland Garros has now
ros,ad twice There are fog and wind and rocky
landing places -, +bo ooursa
Iant nv their governments in the interests Vi SCI
ence and human progress the rlsA VIZ ~ ho' 10
Greater flor nstance) than that taken ny Tue la'e
1ohr r Moissant when he set of In an untrleu
machine with a fog in his face to fly from Paris
IN London at a time when the channel cfosslne
olone was considered almost miracle.
Comnared with the Atlantic crossing too' the
rest of the Journey seems fairly simple.
The nroposed route is by way OF Edinburgh
1ondon Paris Berlin, Warsaw, ST petersburg
MOSCOW and the TransSiberian railway to Man
churia and then south to VladWostoK me NeN'
Ian takes the aviator across the sea TO Corea'
He must then cross the Japan sea 70 nope ana
1ro,,oo turn north to Kamchatka and travel along
tho coast either to East cape or to the Aleutlan
Islands The distance between the two continents
here varies from 80 to 200 miles From Alaska
the course will be southwark to vancouver oea'-
tie. and home to San Francisco
The aviators who hesitate ABOUT pronouhclns
tba tourney possible In the present stage or their
nm H.
ere calling attention to the distance-zSooV mics
The successful flyer must travel an average o,
more than 200 miles day for four months. WIN
q he possible to accomplish the trip In the rev
months of summer OF the Northern regions
through parts of which the course lies? Veorihes
was five weeks in doing the $500 miles from Farls
TO the pyramids, flying at an average OF only loO
miles daily. oood
This explains clearly how greatly the proposed
journey would Guido anything yet accomplished
pesides the notable flights already mentoneu
Oacar Bider has flown over practically every hlgn
mountain In Europe Garros has made nlgh'
sron Marseilles to Paris without stopping; brhoe
tone des Moulinais has toured the capltals OF
Surone and two besides Vedrines nave reached
Egvnt from France. Yet these Journeys Pale pe
sora the difficulties of the race around the globe
70 a. 70 be noted. however, that the history o.
oy,ation ia one succession of surprises. ScarceD
anvtbing of importance accomplished has no
han called impossible beforehand Aviator'
bava done so much that one hestates to doup
,heir ability to do anything.
SneciaI neroplanes will be constructed Tor th'
roce These will probably be swift, but not bull
Cor the maximum speed. They will make say o.
ni,aa an hour Reliability will be the object