New-York tribune., 1919-10-16
MAYNARD Flies Over Rockies
at 40 Miles, Then Makes
Amazing Speed of Nearly
Three Miles a Minute
Wyoming Crash Is Fatal
Lieut.. Kirby and Lieut.. Mil
ler Lose Way in Snow
storm and Fall to Earth

Leading the entire field in the great
s40o-mile transcontinental air race,
Lieutenant Belvin w. Maynard, the
famous "fying parson," is tearing
through space toward this city at a
tremendous clip.
In magnificent demonstration of
avinc Yesterday he drove his De Havi
land 4 at terrific speed across the
,rsacherous mountain ranges Of Ne
,sda. Utah and Wyoming. In the
yarer air above the giant peaks of the
Rockies and the Wasatch range, he
tore along at an average speed of 40
miles an hour through rain squalls,
haze and mist.
Nearly Three Miles a Minute
From Cheyenne, Wyo., to Sidney,
Seb. Lieutenant Maynard. aided by Il
stiff wind, flew at Ncord-breaking
sneed, covering the ninety-three miles
between the two towns in the phenom-
enal times of thirtythree minutes-al-
most three miles a minute, or 1863 miles
an hour.
He has now covered $500 miles and
has 1902 miles still to fly. With the
wind behind him he has good chance
TO land at Bryan, Ohio, by sundown to-
night. Should he do so he will un-
doubtedly complete the 5.402-mile flight
at Roosevelt Field about 2:30 TO-
morrow afternoon, as he predicts.
Another disastrous crash in the Wyo-
ming mountains late yesterday resulted
in the death of the two aviators in
airplane No a. This makes a total Of
nine deaths directly due to the race.
two fatal crashes having occurred to
machines On the way to the starting
points just before the start.
Pilot and Observer Killed
Lieutenant French Kirby. pilot of the
machine. was killed instantly, and Lieu
tenant Stanley C. Miller, his observer,
expired before medical assistance could
be rushed to the scene of the accident.
The plane, De Haviland 4. entered
from Hazelhurst Field, Long Island, fell
from an altitude of 200 feet while
Kirby was attempting forced landing
on a small field on the Rigby ranch
between Castle Rock, Utah, and Evans
ton, Wyo.
Lieutenant Kirby was far off his
course, evidently having lost his posi-
ton in the snowstorms encountered
after leaving Rawlins. The machine
was flying high over the ranch whel
the engine suddenly stopped. The man
ager OF the ranch reports that kirb.
Immediately began to glide down and
when 200 feet above the ground, tn,
straight to the ground He was un
doubtedly endeavoring to "sdeslip
into the small landing field.
Physicians Arrive Too Late
By the time the ranch hands reached
the machine Lieutenant Kirby was
dead. Lieutenant Miller was still
alive, and medical assistance was sent
FOR, but before physicians could ar.
rive the unfortunate aviator expired
This is the third fatal accident to g
De Haviland plane caused by side
slipping" into small landing fields.
Captain L. H. Smith, the leading Sar
Francisco entry, was eliminated from
Buffalo. He had succeeded in beating
Major Spatz, who left Mineola on ths
return flight before him, but after HI
had landed his machine caught fire an<
was destroyed
Early yesterday afternoon the in
trepid Lieutenant Maynard success
fully negotiated the longest and mos
difficult lap in the great race. Thi
was the 274-mile course across tn,
mountain ranges, which reach an alti
tude Of 10000 feet, between Salt LAX
City and Rawlins.
Winds Now Favor Maynard
From Salt Lake City to Sidney May
nard broke all records.
From now on smoother flying con
dltlons face Lieutenant Maynard and
with prevalent winds in his favor
mere IS every possibility he may in
crease his average speed to $50 mile
an hour. This would bring him int
Roosevelt Field, Mineoia, for tn
nnish OF the race on Friday after
noon.
,spurred on by the remarkable fyin
o. lieutenant Maynard. two of tn
eastbound entries started out on tn
return fight from Mineola to Sa