The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1914-04-03

OF the North Atlantic pursues the welltraveled
air lanes Of Europe, safely passes over the bleak
and forbiddng wastes of Siberia, and fr1nges 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. Now
all that is needed Is the combination of them. The
performance OF one great air journey after an
other means luck enormous luck, to greater de-
gree than In almost any sporting contest ever
organized
Several aviators have signfed their intention OF
entering They are willing to take the risks.
They are not actuated by the desire for gold for
even the successful contender, who will win the
$4,000 first prize and also the $4,000 offered by
Lord Northcffe for the first crossing of the At
lantic will find his 100000 and perhaps more
eaten up by the expenses of his undertaking
It is quite certain, however that plenty of men
OF large fortunes and sporting proclivties 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
pioneer aviation racers in that first meet at
Rheims In 1908.
The attention of the close students of the race
is conferred 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 ayia-
| tors will coast along the seaboard to Belle Isle.
between Newfoundland and Labrador. Here the
fight across the Atlantic will begin. The flyers
will probably head for Cape Farewell Greenland.
6lO miles away. From Cape Farewell to Iceland
the distance Is $40 miles. and from Iceland to
Stornaway, In the Hebrides. is $40 miles
Three enormous leaps-610 670 and $40 miles
None OF them insurmountable in itself But to hit
the bulls-eye three times in Observation-Disclosures
the rub.
Then these seas are not always as hospitable az
| the Mediterranean, which Roland Garros has now
crossed twice. There are fog and wind and rocky
landing places.
But II row OF warships patrol the course
lent by their governments in the interests of sci
ence and human progress, the risk will not be
greater for instance) than that taken by the late
| John b Moissant when he set Off in an untried
machine with fog in his face to fly from Paris
to London at time when the channel crossing
alone was considered almost miracle.
| Compared with the Atlantic crossing too the
rest of the journey seems fairly simple.
The proposed route is by way of Edinburgh
London. Paris. Berlin. Warsaw, st. Petersburg
Moscow and the Trans-Siberian railway to Man
churia and then south to Vladvostok. The next
lap takes the aviator across the sea to Corea.
/ He must then cross the Japan sea to Kobe and
Tokyo, turn north to Kamchatka and travel along
/ the coast either to East cape or to the Aleutian
islands. The distance between the two continents
here varies from 80 to 200 miles. From Alaska
4 the course will be southwark to Vancouver Seat.
tie. and home to San Francisco.
The aviators who hesitate about pronouncing
tne Journey possible In the present stage of their
are calling attention to the distances 900 miles,
/ The successful flyer must travel an average OF
/ more than 200 miles day for four months WIN
| II be possible to accomplish the trip in the few
| months OF summer of the Northern. regions
through parts Of which the course lies? vedrines
was five weeks In doing the $500 miles from Paris
to the pyramids. flying at average OF only 100
miles daily.
This explains clearly how greatly the proposed
journey would Guido anything vet accomplished
Besides the notable flights already mentioned
Oscar Bider has flown practically every high
mountain in Europe Garros has made flight
from Marseilles to Paris without stopping; Brinde
jonc des Moulinas has toured the capitals OF
Europe. and two besides vedrines have reached
Egypt from France. Yet these journeys pale be
fore the difficulties OF the race around the globe
4 1t is to be noted, however. that the history 81
aviation Is one succession OF surprises Scarcel,
anything OF Importance accomplished has moi
been called impossible beforehand Aviatorl
have done so much that one hesitates to doub
their ability to do anything
Special aeroplanee will be constructed for tn,
race These will probably be swift but not bull
for the maximum speed They will make say 81
lilies an hour. Reliability will be the object