The Washington times., 1936-10-05
DOT KILGALLEN
HELD BACK BY
BAD WINDS
Rival Catches Same
Plane at Brindisi;
Race Is Close
BY DOROTHY KTLGALLEN

BY DOKOTHY klLGALLEN
Copyright, 1885. by international News
Service and New York Evening JOurnalO
BRINDISI. Italy, Oct. 5 U.N.S0.
Grounded for nearly seven hours
by adverse winds (doeS it never
blow from the WestO the big I'm
perial Always passenger plane
that's taking me to the Orient
slowly rose from the landing field
here and started out over the blue
Adriatic for Athens at 12:4l p. m.
BY the wrist watch on my right
arm, which keeps New York stand
ard time. that's 6:41 a. m. In less
than five days of this hurting
quarter of the way around the
world, the local time-keeper on my
left wrist is now six hours ahead.
Perfect Setting
There was a perfect Italian set
ting under blue and gold-fleCked
sky as the airliner City of Stone
haven" zoomed into the breath of
a light breeze for the four-hour
hop to ancient Athens.
The course lay for a few miles
down the coast of Italy's heel"
Then across the mouth of the
Adriatic over Corfu, with a dim
glimpse of Albania promised in
the distance.
Leo Herman, whom I left be-
hind in Frankfort, caught up with
me in Brindisi, largely because of
the planes delayed take-off, and
here he is grinning broadly in
nearby seat.
All the wild haste, all the worry
and Snatching Of every loose Sec
ond to get down here from Frank
ford-on-Main was rendered useless
when I arrived here before dawn
today, Sleepy-eyed and breathleSS,
only to learn that the air liner
was held up by persistent head
winds.
Series Of Quick Hops
AS a result, all the rest Of the
journey clear across western
Europe and Asia will be series
of quick hops without a second to
be lost if am to make plane and
boat connections in time to take
the China clipper from Manila to
San Francisco in time to get back
to New York by the all-commer-
cial route in 81 days.
In spite of a lot Of delays,
though, I've managed to stick re-
ligiouSly to ordinary passenger
route all the way.
Adverse winds held up the Hin
denburg, so that I missed plane
and train at Frankfort, and there
may be more tieups along the
long trans-ASian route, but doubt
if therell be any nuttier delay than
the one on the road to Rome.
It's been three years since there
has been a breakdown on the rail-
road from Florence to Rome.
Breaks Duce's Laws
But could the train choose
any other time than when Dorothy
was trying to get around the world
for a crack-up?
Just so miles out of Rome the
speeding train came to a screech-
ing halt, and as I thought of that
Brindisi train already Steaming up
to leave the Rome station, was
fit to be tied.
Forty-five minutes we were
stymied out in the Italian coun-
trySide with some trouble in the
locomotives driving shafts. =,
So in Rome I broke couple Of
Mussolini's laws by understanding
railway policemen when F dashed
around the rear of the train and
across the tracks just as the
BrindiSi rattler-itSelf 10 minutes
late-chugged southwark. I made
a flying tackle and went with it.
Cheated of Bath
At first I was glad of the wait
in Brindisi. ''I'll get bath, any
way" I thought. But I soon
found that all the tubs in the
hotel were filled up-not with
bathers, but with beds for guests
in the overcrowded town!
So I wandered down by the
Quay and watched the sun rise
over the Adriatic.
The hasty run down from Frank.
fort was a queer kaleidoscope of
hurried impressions, like a jerky,
sped-up movie.
There was Munich, whittier I
flew In a Lufthansa plane with a