New-York tribune., 1919-10-14

ing stage of their flight All the way
from Cleveland to Mineola yesterday a
pretty race was waged for fifth place
between Lieutenant Queens and Lieu
tenant Worthington, in his little 'SE-5.
Only a matter of minutes separated
them at Roosevelt Field in favor OF
Lieutenant Queens. Each Of them av
eraged slightly better than two miles
a minute from Cleveland. Lieutenant
orthington's machine was the first
SE-5 to complete the flight across the
continent, and the only type other than
the De Havilands.
Captain II. C. Drayton, the second
westbound contestant to arrive in San
Francisco. loses second place to a con-
testant who will arrive after him. This
is due to technicality arising out of
i'll luck that befell him Saturday after
noon in Nevada.
While flying from Battle Mountain
to Reno he developed engine trouble
and was compelled 70 descend at Love-
lock. New. In landing his machine was
slightly damaged, and he was not able
10 complete repairs until Sunday after
noon. AS the time was spent between
control stations it is counted in actual
flying time, and goes against his
record
Nav Suffer for Sunday Flight
In addition to this he may also be
disqualified through another techni-
cality. Under the rules Of the race no
night or Sunday flying is permitted.
Immediately after completing his re-
pairs on Sunday afternoon, Captain
Drayton took off and flew to Reno, the
until yesterday morning when he again
continued the flight to San Francisco.
The short flight from Lovelock to Reno
being made on Sunday may disqualfy
him from his position in the race.
The 2,700 miles yesterday proved to
be the best flying day yet experienced
All the contestants in the race were
moving, and the best aggregate
progress was made.
Investigation into the report that
Major Carl Spatz, one of the eastbound
competitors, used influence to get an
early start over his competitors was
continued by officials in charge of the
race. All three of the eastbound COM
petltors who arrived at Mineola yester-
day were questioned closely as to what
occurred at each of the control stops
between San Francisco and Mineola
Complains He Was Held Up
Captain Lowell H. Smith, the third
eastbound competitor, who landed at
Roosevelt Field at 10:50 a. m. yester-
day, complained of being held up at
| Salt Lake City, Rock Island and Des
Moines by the officials of control sta
tions. He said he had been held osten-
slbly because of weather conditions,
despite the fact that he thought the
conditions were good for flying.
AT Des Moines," he said, Il was held
up three hours
In each case. he added. Major Carl
Spatz and Lieutenant Kiel were enabled
to catch up with him because of these
delays. Finally the three arrived at
Bryan, Ohio, together. Captain Smith
was the first to take off from Bryan on
Saturday morning, but slightly crashed
his machine in landing on the wrong
aerodromc
"l believe I surely would have won
the race but for the misinformation
that was given me about the Cleveland
landing field" he said "The field
was directed TO was short. and in land
ing the machine rolled over. breaking 8
strut and the propeller. A spar was
also broken. got a new propeller ant
a new strut, and repaired the spar"
Captain Smith arrived from Bing
hamton yesterday with leaky radiator
He had made a temporary repair with
cornmeal. lie said he was very anxiou:
70 start on the return flight, and was
confident he would win the race.
Lieutenant Robert S. Worthington
who flew small SE-5, equipped with
150-horsepower Hispano-S Suiza motor
from San Francisco to Mneola, highl,
complimcnted the flying ability o
Lieutenant Maynard, winner of tn
| race.
Saw Maynard Land
81 saw him land at Rawlins just af
ter | took off there he said 9TH
field was small. and | felt sure h
would have trouble in setting his OH
down there, so turned around in my
seat and watched him. He circled tn,