The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1914-03-28

ST3 Feat after feat of endurance must be
O performed by the aviator who traverses
the broad American continent makes
the great jumps from island to island
of the North Atlantic, pursues the well-traveled
air lanes of Europe, safely passes over the bleak
and forbiddng wastes of Siberia, and fringes the
almost uhinhabited 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 a greater de-
gree than in almost any sporting contest ever
organized
Several aviators have sgnified their intention Of
entering. They 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 Northclife for the first crossing Of the At
lantic, will find his 100000 and perhaps more.
eaten up by the expenses Of his undertaking.
1t is quite certain. however that plenty Of men
Of large fortunes and sporting procivties 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 centered upon the problem of the Atlantic.
After passing due east from San Francisco across
Kansas City st. Louis and New York. the ava-
tors will coast along the seaboard to Belle Isle,
between Newfoundland and Labrador. Here the
flight across the Atlantic will begin. The flyers
will probably head for Cape Farewell Greenland.
61O miles away. From Cape Farewell to Iceland
the distance is go miles, and from Iceland to
Stornaway in the Hebrides. is $40 miles.
Three enormous leaps-610, go and $40 miles.
None Of them insurmOuntable in itself, But to hit
the bullseye three times in succession-there's
the rub.
Then these seas are not always as hosptable as
the Mediterranean, which Roland Garros has now
crossed twice. There are. fog and wind and rocky
landing places. -
But II 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 nstance) than that taken by the late
machine with fog in his face to fly from Paris
| to London at a time when the channel crossing
alone 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 TransSiberian railway to Man.
churia and then south to vladivostok. 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 to the Aleutian
| ISLANDS. The distance between the two continents
| here varies from 80 to 200 miles From Alaska
| the course will be southwark to Vancouver, Seat
| tie and home to San Francisco
| The aviators who hesitate about pronouncng
the journey possible In the present stage Of their
are calling attention to the distance-2s000 miles
The successful flyer must travel an average Of
more than 200 miles a day for four months. Will
| 1t 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 an average Of only 100
| miles daily.
This explains clearly how greatly the proposed
Journey would Guido anything yet accomplished.
Besides the notable flights already mentioned,
Oscar Bider has flown over practically every high
mountain in Europe, Garros has made fight
from Marseiles to Paris without stopping; Brnde-
jonc des Moulinais 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.
1t Is to be noted. however, that the history Of
aviation is one succession Of surprises. Scarcely
anything of importance accomplished has not
been called impossible beforehand Aviators
have done much that one hestates to doubt
their ability to do anything.
Special aeroplanes will be constructed for the
race. These will probably be swift, but not built
for the maximum speed. They will make say so
miles an hour. Reliability will be the object.