Imperial Valley press., 1932-05-25
'SPORTSP PARADE
OFFERS VARIETY
In TODAY'S NEWS
BY HENRY McLEMORE

NOhitcu Truss CtdlI OOTTcSpOnuentD
NE WORK, May 25. U.P)-That
mad, mad Irisher, Kaye Don, wrote
another chapter into the document
OF speed which is his life story yes
terday, when he Zoomed Miss Eng
land III across Lake Garda for an
unofficial worlds speedboat record
of 131 and fraction miles per
hour.
This topped our own Gar Woods
official mark by nearly 90 miles
an hour. You may rest assured
that brother Don thought pleasant
ly Of this fact as he skinned across
the Italian pond. For topping
Wood, be it official or unofficial,
is probably about the most fondest
thing Don is of as Florian
Slappey would say. The two men
have been rivals for quite a spell,
and that little incident at the
Harmsworth trophy race in Detroit
last summer, wasn't calculated to
bring them any closer together.
Don's forte, it would seem, is on
the water. His yen for getting
places in hurry yus led him into
trying practically every means of
rapid transportation, but it is in
a racing boat that he has enjoyed
the most success. He tried for the
worlds automobile record at Day.
tona Beach in 1890, but he and his
Silver Bullet didn't get to first base.
Don blamed his failure on poor
weather and a faulty machine.
This correspondent was in Day.
tona shortly after Don left, and
several citizens made no bones
about saying that lack of nerve
alone was the reason for Don's poor
showing.
"He had just as good weather
and just as good track as Camp
bell and Seagrave," one good
burgher told me, "but he just didn't
have the nerve to let that Silver
Bullet loose"
You only have to study Don's
dizzy life to realize that the burgher
was all wet. The man may have
faults, but certainly lack of nerve
and daring is not one of them. He's
about SO now, ana ever since he
was big enough to straddle a mo-
torcycle, he has been seeking the
fastest way home. Motorcycles
didn't hold him long, and he went
aloft. But he found flying tame,
quitting the Royal Flying corps for
automobile racing as soon as the
war was over.
Clever Pilot
He established himself as the
most skillful and daring pilot in
England and probably would be
burning up the tracks now but for
the Silver Bullet disappointment.
When he returned to England from
Daytona he found that Lord Wake
field had raised and reconditioned
the Miss England II, the boat in
which Sir Henry Seagrave lost his
life. and was looking for pilot.
Knowing nothing about boats but
plenty about speed, Don volunteered
for the job and was accepted. He's
been slicing off records ever since.
Lake Garda, the Parana river at
Buenos Aires, and the Detroit river
are three of the places he has tri-
umphed.
Good and bad luck have figured
in Don's career. In an early Ulster
race, he won the 500 mile grind
by a few seconds. In another Irish
classic, his car sKidded, smashed up
and burst into flares. On Lake
Garda he missed by inches the
same sort of a submerged log that
killed Seagrave. In South America
the heat nearly killed both him and
his motor. At Detroit last year his
boat, travelling at tremendous speed,
cracked to pieces. throwing him
here to yonder The day he sailed
after the Detroit race, he changed
$500 into English money. Had he
waited "a hours England would
have been off the gold standard
and he would have received $500
more for the same run.