Omaha daily bee., 1919-10-09
Machines Leave MineoIa and
San Francisco to Blaze Aer.
iaI Trail l5,400 Miles Across
Continent and Return.
BAPTIST MINISTER
SCORES LONGEST FLIGHT
Lieut.. B. W. Maynard Makes
840-MiIe Flight First Day,
Resting for Night in Chicago
Five Forced Landings.

Mineola. N. Y, Oct. s.-Forty-
seven airplanes, piloted, with one
exception, by American military
aviators, started from here today to
blaze an aerial trail 5,40O miles
across the continent and return in
the greatest speed. endurance and
reliability contest in history, while
from San Francisco Is planes took
the air for the east Five more
planes will leave here tomorrow.
At sundown tonight Lieut.. B. w.
Maynard, Baptist minister and
winner Of the recent trip contest
between New York and Toronto,
had flown $40 miles from Mineola
and landed at Chicago, while sew
eral other westbound contestants
were resting overnight at Bingham
ton, Rochester, Buffalo, Bryan and
Cleveland control stations along the
way.
Eight accidents, in which three
persons were killed and one injured,
had been reported tonight to the
headuuary-rs % the American Fly
ing club here, which is cooperating
with the army service in conducting
the contest &
N ~ Instantly Killed.
Maj. D. H. Crissey was instantly
killed. and his observer. Sergeant
Virgil Thomas. received injuries
from which he later died. when the
plane in which they had left San
Francisco early this morning
crashed in attempting to land at Salt
Lake City.
Sergeant W. H. Neville died this
afternoon of injuries received when
a plane in which he and Col. G.
Brandt were riding fell to the
ground at Deposit, N. Y. Colonel
Brandt was reported to be not seri-
ously injured. ~
Five forced landings were re-
ported. Lieut.. Rose Kirkpatrick
came down at Vernon, n Y, when
his compass ceased to functions He
received permission to return TO !,
Mineola and start again tomorrow.
Lieu.. r. L. Maughan landed at
Glensdale. N. Y. with motor trouble.
Lieut. Willis R. Taylor was COM
PEELED to land at Nicholson, Pa.
Foreigners Eliminated.
The only foreign entrants in the
race, Air Commodore L. E. o.
Charlton, air attache of the British
embassy in Washington, and Cap
tain De Lavergne, air attache of the
French embassy, were eliminated
before they had an, opportunity to
cross til, state boundary. -
Commodore Charlton, with Flight
Lieut.. P. E. Traill as the alternate
pilot of his Bristol fighting plane,
wrecked his machine in making a
forced lauding at Ovid, N. Y.
Captain De Levergne, who was
flying as passenger in aDe Havi-
land machine, and Lieut.. D. B. Gish,
his pilot, were, compelled to with
draw fromth race when their plane
burst into flames and was forced to
land at Canadice, N. Y.
The only accident on the local
field occurred about noon when a
plane piloted .by Capt. Maurice
Cleary OF Everett, Wash, and car
rying Benedict Crowell, first assist
ant secretary of war, as a passenger,
crashed to the ground from height
of 100 feet and overturned
Element of Mystery.
An element of mystery was in
jected into the race when a plane
bearing the number "88" descended
from the sky and. flew towards the
starting line. Col. Archie Miller,
commanding all aviation fields on
Long Island, thinking that the plane
had checked out" waved for it to
proceed. The plane touched its
wheels to the ground and continued
without stopping. Official time
keepers marked the starting time as
:56:36, but when they came to
check up they found that the plane
was not entered on the official list
and all attempts to learn its iden.
tity had proved unsuccessful at a
ate hour tonight.
Journey Ends for Two.
San Francisco, Oct. S.-Eleven of
The IS airplanes which left here
his morning in the 5,4O0-mile race
across the continent and return
.eached Salt Lake City, 7s5 miles
east of here, before sunset tonight.
For Maj. D. H. Crissey and Sere.
Virgil Thomas the journey ended
here. Both were killed as their ma
shine was alighting. Z
The lone Fokker plane in the
.astbound flight. piIoted BY Cadet 3
Donald II. Cardiff, was stalled to-
light at Salduro, Utah. Two other s
planes had not been heard from
.fter leaving Reno, New. at o:lO fhis