Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1916-09-08
EVOLUTION or SPEED
WHITTIER HAS TRACED ira PROG
REss THRcUots CENTURIES.
An cg Mana ingenuity, However, tiaa
Not Caused Him TO Devise haeans
- Travel Faster Than
the Little Swallow.

Those twittering swallows have
something to twft about Until an
hour ago I thought OF them only AZ
friendly decorations in the sky Now
nee them in their true light, az
mans rivals in the struggle for speed
supremacy.
was sitting by q sunny bay win
low, overlooking a stretch of the main
street In sleepy Southern village. In
III the landscape nothing had stirred
or half an hour but the swallows.
sassing motor car, and a schcoIboy
acing in its wake in the vain hope OF
hooking q ride. Motion, however
sven 70 little or II as this--has a way
II monopolizing our attention from
verifying else. Il set me 70 thinking
sbout speed: wondering. in particu.
ar, how motor cars and swallows and
selR-propeIIed humans compared I'm
he worlds record. got down 3
newspaper almanac. pad CT paper.
lad q pencil. and began to enliven
some slow moments by tracing the
dizzy evolution OF speed
The standing OF the selfpropelled
luman. soon enough discovered. was
oItifulIy low in the averages. In his
ightest apparel and favored with
spiked shoes and q well-r0lIed track OF
cinders. the best that the best man
among Us can run . mile IN Is ct =
eate that would carry him only IA
niles an hour. Even IL human mus
el0 could maintain for an hour the
pace OF . wosfd's championship 100
yard dash. our record would be only
81 miles and small fraction.
But see how mans pride and his
Inst for speed have urged him TO ex.
pedients. Mounted on the best Of race
horses he has managed to have him
self propelled for ; mile at . rate Of
nearly 40 miles m hour.
BY invanting the bicycle be then
FLiBed the rate at which he could
cover . mile at = speed Of 81 1-s Iailes
an hour. The motor cycle almost
succeeded I'm doubling this pace. ItB
rate for the mile IL 100.
Meanwhile, man vas developing
other inventions. IN q locomotive he
attained ; speed. eYes short course.
OF no miles am houF HE experiment.
"a with flying machines, until On tie
fastest monoplanes be managed to huri
himself through the air at . rate of
six and one-half more miles IA hour
than be had been able to force out OF
a railway engine. This rate is enough
70 make the brain reel. but think. next.
OF the terrific speed at which he has
driver : motor ear-142.S miles an
hour
Cause for congratuiation truly. but
not yet enough to allow hirc TO crow;
for. even with this. man has not be
come the speed king of creation
Hswks and vultures. our scientists
say. car attain . speed OF 100 miles
an hour And not only can they pass
up in ahort-distanee sweeps and
spurts: they also can maintain their
greater speed over long courses On
an air route from Antwerp 10 Com
piegne. 3 swallow-no picked athlete.
either. but (suppoesdly) 3 common.
horneb0dy bird, eager TO get back TO
the family chimuey--flew 10 miles
the other day at an average speed OF
12S miles an hour. No worlds cham
ton lnotor car OF mOnoplane has =
record that compares favorably with
this Cor such a distance
Man il swiftly progressing; no can
motor > mile nov at a speed ten
times as fast as he can run Il: and
he may ret become the speed king Of
creation. But meanwhile and this IL
what gals him-he has to take on his
hat TO an ordinary little twittering
swallow Charles Phelps Gushing. IN
New York Evening Post