Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-10-14
FIRST half Of THE
TRAN6C0NT INE:NTAL.
RACE: IS finished

NEW YORK, Oct. ia Baptist
preacher, soldier and school
teacher were hailed tonight as
Americas newest air pioneers.
They were the first men to fly
across the continent from ocean to
ocean and had taken rank in aerial
history with the Montgolfiers, the
Wrights, Santos Dumont and Com
mander A. c. Read, of the NC-4.
Lieutenant Belvin w. Maynard. a
parson, was the first to complete the
epoch-making flight. He left Roose-
welt field, M1neo1a, N. Y, at 1924
a. m. eastern time) Wednesday, and
arrived at the Preside, San Fran
cisco, at :13 p. m. (coast time) to-
day. His actual flying time was
twenty-four hours. fifty-nine minutes,
forty-eight and one-half seconds for
the 2,701 miles, and his elapsed time
was ffty-five hours, twenty-three
minutes.
Major Carl Spatz was the second
to finish. He left San Francisco at
6:54 a. H. (coast time) Wednesday,
and arrived at Roosevelt field at
6:35 p. m. eastern time) today. His
elapsed time was fifty-eight hours,
| forty-seven minutes.
Lieutenant E. c. Kiel, school
teacher, completed the journey from
! San Francisco to Roosevelt field in
| only twenty seconds behind Major
! Spatz. He left three minutes earlier.
! The result wa sa great victory for
the Liberty motor. Lieutenant May
nard, Major Spatz and Major Kiel
piloted DeHaviland AS, equipped
| Nf
| 400 horsepower. Their machines
were capable of making 120 miles an
hour, but this speed was greatly ex-
| ceeded several times under favorable
wind conditions. Lieutenant May
nard averaged los IL miles an hour
| for the entire route.
Five Meet Death
SiXty-tw flyers made the start
| fcrty-seven from the east and fiji
teen from the west. Eleven of the
westbound and six of the east
bound entrants had been eliminated
| tonight. Five men had met deatl.
| These were:
Sergeant w. H. hewitt observer
for Colonel G. c. Brandt, of plane
number four, which crashed at De-
post, N. Y, Wednesday.
Major d. H. Crissey and Sergeant
Virgil Thomas, whose plane, number
sfxty-six. crashed at Salt Lake City.
! Lieutenant E. " Wales, whose
plane, number sixt-three, fell at
| Ovid Pass.
Worth D. Mcclure. observer for
Major a. L. Sneed, of plane number
twenty-four. which made bad
landing at Buffalo.
Twenty-one stops were made in
the cross-continent flight. These
control stations" at which delays OF
al least thirty minutes were re-
Quired to permit thorough inspe' :,
ton of each machine. were: Bing.
hamton. Rochester, Buffalo. C1eva-
land, Bryan, Chicago. Rock Island
Des Moines, Omaha, st. Paul, North
Platte. Sidney, Cheyenne, Rawlings
Green River, Salt Lake City, Sal
duro, Battle Mountain, Reno and
Sacramento.
While the competitors are required
to cross the continent again to com
plete the contest, the ocean-to
ocean flight was generally regarded
in air circles tonight as a race ir
itself. Official announcement was
made In washington that the sec
Gnd flight would not be made before
October 90, so that the planes may
be thoroughly oVerhauled and the
landing field cleared of the slower
machines.
Lieutenant Maynard apparently
was the winner as regards both ac
tual flying time and elapsed time
but the official results will not bt
given out until all the planes hav;
completed the first cross-countrJ
vi
be made for endurance and genera
dcpendability as well as speed The
slower planes will be allowed handi'
-