Zurich Herald, 1929-06-27, Page 6Anniversary of Courageous
Flights When Mock
and irowu Flew Atlantic
This Early Conquest of the Atlantic Out.
strips Lindbergh's Performance So Fax
As to Make Comparison Farcical
ICING BORROWS SWORD
In the "Montreal Standard," Charles 'building of Rayhanas badly wrecked
Harrisou Gibson, a Canadian writer Martinsyde wont forward night and
and aviator of note,' tells of the ;epoch day, the task of the workers being
making night which established a rec- somewhat like taking a perfectly good
ord for speed and performance never radiatorcap and fitting a new motor -
equalled In .dying, at a time when air- car motorcar to it.
crafts were in their iutancy. His tale He heel sinashed while injudiciously
in part is as follows: tryiug to follow hawker out, Morgan,
Inauspicious Start • his navigator, who already had lost a
foot in the war, sustaining in this mis-
hap
The publicity value of the. big race injuries through which he lost
In iris view had petered out. his sight. Kerr and the Handley -Page
Tire edge is off it," he growled— were at Harbor Greece, forty odd
"Public's fed up" utiles away as the crow and the air -
In large degree he was right, Hav-
ing
man fiy, tuning up and aliuost set.
been all keyed tip with emotion Alcock, at St. John's, was -ready.
for exciting days, while Harry Hawker The three outstanding rivals in the
and his mate Grieve was "missing," test had raced for a hectic week in
the audience had relaxed. Its fickle
interest for the time being was lost
complete]yf and for the full front
pages Hawker's unlucky and ill-ad-
vised trial had commanded, Alcock,
the victorious, was lucky to get scant'
001nn1ne. In world attention, his great
achievement even at the sime suffered
as cruel neglect as it has iu the after
years.
If Hawker and Grieve had not mys-
teriously lost themselves just long
enough to iuivest their dramatic exper-
ience with universal human interests,
and if American seaplanes had not in
their own leisurely fashion, testing
out their Liberty motors, accomp-
lished a first relay serial bridging of
the northern ocean, the spyglasses of
the world would not suddenly have
lost focus upon Newfoundland and the
great achievment to be entered to the
glory ot Captain Tobin Alcock, D.S.C.
and navigator Arthur 1ZThidcleu Brown.
"No' doubt about it," the former
grunibled,,between pulls at a consola-
tory cigarette. "We're about as in-
teresting to the public*now as Dr.
"Ananias" Cook, We can go• ahead
and make it—yes, and win the coin.
But the audience isn't going to be im-
pressed by our performance. Their
hands, are so blistered clappingfor
Harry Hawker we'll be lucky to get
a languid hand.."
And the record "shows -that the air
conqueror of the .Atlantic wastes in
this was psychic,
Alcock -Brown Conquest
The Alcock -Brown conquest of the.
Atlantic in so many ways differed
from the later Lindbergh performance.
that comparisons are farcical. Alcock
was in a race that began in land prep-
arations for which he and ne one else
ibl and with a limited
the work of getting ready, each
spurred by ambition to complete in- h.p., and under 'full power developed fighters lending their ruachrue ,un
stallations and 'try -outs and steal a a maximum 103 miles an hour, or un and humoral support to the Turkish an exchange iu 1917.
march on the others. • der throttle an average J0 n1Ile cruis•' partner. He was one of the: first pair There is one thing about the return
A,,,1 it scorning the most sacred Ina pace. A marvel of the trip she of aviators to bomb Adrianople and of
eAlcock ir istoricBrown flight to thatn isn after
little
superstition of orthodox sallormen, made with Alcock at the.stick is that,'
Coustantinople, besides which he was known seemingly, yet has in it the
glamour of the days of chivalry.
Land ;0
the Viking :to Attempt Her Pioneering Voyage
PLAN .A TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT FROM SWEDEN
The Sverige, in which Capt. Albin Ahreuherg plans to fly from Stocltholm to New York in June, arri•.ea at
Stockholm front Dessau, Gerunany, where it was built.
with a snout machine to many in 191 as a prisonmeof-war, be -
was twin -engined by Rolls-Royce, 700 eft and returning to his English
land, she had 20 'odd gallons left. She po
is orelse
gage one or more of Fritz's air Ing later repatriated toSwitzerland
honleand
aspired to sail, if possible, on that par-
ticular day, the lath, with, the�bene-
diction of "the full moon.
The outstanding significance and
with the following gala's assistance,
!officially credited with "hav ng
she made the run in • still unbeaten t factoi•ily accounted for seven ` Ilun
time, at an averaged hundred and ! machines, thereby winning his D.S.C.
twenty. -six miles per hour, twenty -1 His last duel in the clouds he wasn't
purpose of that maiden trans-Atlantic three miles an hour better than her 1 likely soon to forget. For just as he.
fight even yet is but superficially best possible power performance. I-Ier'
had crashed his not inconsequential
grasped by the lay public. It was a structural peculiarity was that her antagonist and was on the point of
test of navigation skull and resource- two seats, for pilot and navigator, calling it a day and speeding supper -
fulness under wholly unfamiliar con- were placed • side by side instead of ward, his propellor burst and his ma-
ditions—a test in navigation rather tandem, a minimum of discomfort, ]'chine fell from the :12,000 foot level
than aviation, as Alceok contended. through cramping during long flights I with himself and his companion in
The war had already fairly well de- thus being sought and gained. 1 hard luck, Captain Hugh Mrd and
termined the ultimate possibilities of "It's a curious coincidence,," re Engineer -Lieutenant P. J.r Wise—
all types and classes of aircraft, but marked Alcock, chatting one day at ; ;plump into the Gulf of Saros.
red in the
i v CrosbieH .that h1 my I None of the trio was nilu
Thea• had barely reached the Met-
ropolisflounced.
from Ireland and had snatched Nanseu said mooring masts would
a bite and a snooze, r,'nen they were be, erected at both places immediately.
politely commanded to attend at the Tine flight is. scheduled to start next
Palace and tell the King himself all spring,
about it—which would be for Alcock The principal alias of the expedl
amore terrifying assignment than an tion will be to fix the boundaries of
order to fly back across .the sea. the deep Arctic Ocean and to seek pee-
welcomed—royally.
But they went, of course, and were s11)1e landing places for dirigibles in
the northern ice fields.
And .it was .on that occasion that There also will •be a tour of the
King George shattered precedegts of North Pole area, and later a photo- .
a century to assert an -old-time right
graphic trip along the Siberian coast.
The expedition is scheduled to com-,
piete its work in three weeks, prob-
ably late in April.
Tire Graf Zeppelin will carry a
double crew ou the trip,
EXPLORER MAKES TOUR
�rillijaltuur Ste£ansson, Arctic ox.
plordr, will make a lecture. tour of
Western Canada, following Aero Con-
vention at St. Louis.
Nas :n's Arctic
Pians . Changed
American Base at Fairbanks -
Rather Than at Nome
Oslo, Norway—rridtlof Nausea, fa-
mous Norwegian 'explorer who plans
an Arctic flight in the dirigible Graf
Zeppelin next year, announced, re-
cently, certain 'changes in his flight
bases in Burope and Alaska,
The European base will be at Fin.-
markeu, on the northern coast of•Nor-
way, instead of at Murmansk. The
American base will be at.Fairbanks,
rather than at home, as fin st an -
as to trans -ocean navigation, unproven the • ouse, . a while e o of kingship Ion submerged in the
theories anti undemonstrated aids and Vimv is of the type of Vickers bomber graduated descent and the plane kept 9 p g
hat better than true mechanism of politica
contraptions were all the pioneering mobilized at Bedford fora bombing I afloat for somewhat
air navigators had to go upon: raid on Berlin just before the Arrais- hours, during which hopes of rescue, .. He whispered to a conveniently -near
general and from him recewed a
,
Thus the distance cruise of the tice, that Handley -Page of the Admin- ran high. Then the plane, without .
American seaplane t.ud not parallel or al's is one of the veiy machines fitted warning and very iuconvenietttly, sword. Then he told the boys to
coufiict with the neve ambitious and out in London for a similar expedition l simply left them. The inhospitable kneel and, bewildered, they knelt.
adventurous plans of Hawker and and the same objective.." jonemy short was a mile away, and in They felt their shoulders touched in
Kerr et al. The crossing of the At «Quite so," the Admiral smilingly every other direction was water and
turn and at His Majesty's word again
]antic in a series of hops by the con- agreed—"only, of course, we, weren't, yet more water.. And this'at the end stood erect before him—Sir John Al•
voyed N.C'.'s was a trial of motor un getting ready to bomb Berlin, you of a perfect day.
der sustained and extreme demands know -just military works in and! • As a choice of alternative evils, the
upon it, Their voyaging over convoy about Berlin." l shore call Avon. All three swimmers
'ships in series, with Which ships they Captain Alcock and Lieutenant made it, cold, exhausted and desper-
were in continuous touch telegraphic B were ofacers.with picturesque -'ate: Then they spent fifteen hours
ally, could accomplish little or noth-
cock and Sir Arthur Whiddei'; Brown!
U.S."TJ.riff and Canadian
Trade
chequered
Manitoba Free Press (Lib.): Cana -
Lord,
chequered and dramatic war.rbc=' dodgiirg Tr%'co soldiers and citizenly,
' h"t se inching for anything resitcijtely diens might as well realize that for
ing in the solution of air navigation orde, the former enjoying unique die wv i e the present, and perhaps for a gen-
puzzles such as must confront the tinctiou as an inventor and ,buikler1resembling food. It didn't seem, to
skipper of hurtling overseas liners of of aircraft of his own. He was, in' exist in those 'pasts. So they relua enation to come, it will be useless for
the new era. fact, the only pilaf in the air' services tautly gave themselves up and the them to try to cultivate and beteg- i
Place of the Sextant of the Allies to have designed and con- hospitable Turks expeditiously intro- lisp permanent trade relations with
reit- strutted a machine of his own, dis•� (laced them to the civil jail, in which; the United Cates. That country will'
Could the air navigator place i continue to buy fioni Canada because
ance on the faithful sextant of sea=etintIy original in•il's'otttstaudiug fee tthey were afforded evresearch. her people cannot help themselves,
faring clays if deprived of "his horizoHires, while of decidedly.active ser -]for entoi3iological ue a c Filth, but.no• particular line of export bust._
Lina on which to base his metaphys -i- vice. This was in 1916, the Alcock i rain andlow iistics tote. t
Tu to outstanding
diTo nese to the United States is safe for
alculations for determination of fighting scout by piano being con i characteristics noton3 m
was responsible, car c
business man's expense allowance to his position? ceived and given actuality in off-duty vary the ow pies5ure�no ,
ex edi- tart'. prisoners, under excuse ot
T. a 'minute in the Iight of the attitude
ie- of the United States legislators. A
work upon. Could the ui11Q. p,ed speed be even' intervals ,between bombing p ! Canadian U who would invest money in
Planes were even more primitive closely approximated? tions from the Madras base directed' prisals, were not infrequent trans
preparing a particular article for he
a
things then, as compared with the would the drift indicator show de against Adrianople and Constantin- tel to elle dark, dank dungeons, American market would, under exist -
"Spirit of St Louis," than a twentypendably the deviation from course ogle. •where they as not infrequently cried, lug conditions, take a gambling chance.
year-old
mobile would be now in attributable to side -setting currents of "The Alcock I. was the fastest lit , miserably and speedily.
company To the extent that the United States
with the 1930 models, the uncharted air? tie fighting scout of her day, the I Alcock and lits co7.nliasfons, after a buys in Canada we are in luck; but
Radio was in its infancy and there How far alight reliance be placed proud father boasted. "Her feature 1 month or more, succeeded in getting
the conscious effort of the Govern -
were no -dependable meteorological on the wireless direction -ander and was unobstructed visibility in all, carr- transferred to an interment camp, `
p meat of this country and of its people
data
or air or current charts or tuian •ulation on the known positions actions, and she was a bit if I do say where conditions, There they comparison,
ought to be to develop markets with
S
proven air navigation instruments., of'sencling stations or ships, for: the it. All the -scouts we've been build-, were lteateniy nun of the nations who believe „in international
It was in that day a gamble with fixing of the position of speeding air- ing since have followed her basic until repatriated ou the signing g trade and are willing to buy as well
fate, a gamble backed by high tour- craft in the great void overhanging principles." I Armistice. as to sell.
rather than the teeing of a prob• the unseen seas Captain Alcock at that particulars Lieutenant (now Sir) Arthur Whid-
his first war expert
age,
f f i 1 1 f otherr l ted time was with the RNA:S. of Great den Brown' hadi •
questions of vital importto students
lam with the resources o a r y ex- These and
a score o e a BEAUTY
act sciences There was all the worry ' t d t Britain. It was his pleasant part to ence with a Manchestor line regiment; u£
of the new problems of navigation
Lord, Lansdo� ne
Quits Irish Senate
Two Vacancies Are Now. to,
Be Filled—Four Women
Already in the Field
Dublin. -The Marquess of Lans-i
donne has resigned his membership,
in the Iri.h Free State Senate.
This now leaves two vacancies, that
of the late Mrs. Stopford Green have'
ing not yet been filled. Already four
worsen candidates are in the field-
Mrs. cos'rave, vice-chairman of the
Dublin County. Council and head' of
the Irish Women Citizens' Associa-
tion who, by the way, is no relation
•
and nerve •strain of keeping oneeye
go up every clay either with a Hanel-' from which he was transferred to the
awaited answer out o the o e -c 'on- toi• explosive a 1 o c s
idled experience of those 'shaping the, calling cards on Tintish military de- down, badly wauaded and sent to Ger
1u r e a an observer. He was shot
i truth, truth beauty
to the President), Mrs. T. M. Fettle,
chairma.i of the Rathmines Urban
Council, blrs. O'Donovan of Rath- %
mines and Miss Kathleen Brown of,
Wexford.
It is highly probable that the Sen-
ate will favor the appointment -of one
of the women candidates in Mrs. Stop:
ord G'reen's place, although twd' men
also are standing for election -4. J.
Brady, farmer Senator,' and Laurence
O'Neill, former Lord Mayor of Dub-
lin. The latter will no doubt be norm
inated to succeed Lord Lansdowne.
The elections will take place on June
Beauty s ru t, ru as '- 19 and 20.
bomber drop o e l that is all we know on earth, and all
on a, bunch of .dangerous rivals to f 1 t b lit ley -Page b p we hoed to know—l�oata:
escape having one -put over. All the
worrying details of racing intruded
on Alcock. whereas Lindbergh's might
was a private one against time.
Historic Flight
To go back to the genesis of the
.Alcock -Brown achievement, it was
scored in competition for a £ 10,000
purse offered by the London "Daily
Mail" as far back as in 1913—but
which, to the honor of the winged
guild, no airman. sought to win during
the years of war --a competition open
to the flight men of all countries save
and except the enemies of the Entente
• powers. Tho prize .was for a, land -to -
land flight, not.. excluding, however,
such craft as flying boats, which
might under the rules alight on the
•
courses for the first of ocean flights.
The very essence of the problem, as
well as their extent and seriousness,
could only be disclosed by daring ex-
perimentation.
xperintentation. And the experiment-
ers had to be dauntless men.
Bidding Alcock Good -Bye
It was as I was bidding Alcock
good-bye and wishing him all the
world's good luck, that 1 asked a fa-
vor of him. Wlren I had hoped to be
of the winning team in crossing the
Atlantic by a bridge of air, I had had
entrusted to me' by President Beatty
of the Canadian Pacific Railway three
greeting letters—to itt, Zion. Lloyd
George, then Prime Minister of Great
Britain; Sir George l'erley, Canadian
water on voyage. To win, the flight High Commissioner 'at the seat ot Mu-
lled to be made not only first but pit•e; and Sir. George McLaren
within an elapsed time; from start
to finish, of seventy-two hours. Great
Britain's Royal Aei'o Club, and the
American Aero Club on, this side,
jointly supervised and directed the
race. Major Partridge R.A.F repre-
sented the former organization at St.
John's as o:fflcial starter, having
previously rendered invaluable service
to all and . sundry contestants by ar-
ranging with the 'United States att• in a pocket:. Nor dict he forget, but
tiinrales a co-ordination of meteoro- posted thein at Ciitden, Ireland, the
logical reports from ilrltish and next clay, and each and all reached the
Areet':icau observers., addresses.
A Coming Winner That's. the sort of chap Alcoclr was.
There was no„question in the minds The Vickers machine Alcock swore
of the flight contingent; assembled in tby was of the type known as a Vimy.
Newfuindlend a decade ago that one boin,ber, with overall length of 43 feet,
".kith
of
t plane w
t ii• sat
or other of the racers then ahem was a '78 -foo •tv i gel
a comb*_ winner; and that the big 1.0.6 feet, standing fifteen feet frgm.
ur ze trdtrlci be wale before Canada the grouuud to top plane level, with a
OW weight of seven Am'ricin toric
nest' celebrated her Dominion Day. , r -lite' 870 allows of 1`el.rol, giV-
1laurirer teas, unluckily, out of it,
mid cat S S g
At Heasautvillo, three miles out. sof 1Ing her a flight rairge of 2,440 unites,
tbo anciaaa eaton'tai capital, the 'When she landed at °laden, Ire -
Brown, at that time the C.P.R: chief
executive in old Loudon. I wasn't
flying that time, so I could. not myself
make delivery, 1 explained the situa-
tion to Alcock. He held out his hand.
"Give thein to me if youlike,” he
offered, "ill undertake to pest therm
as soon as we make land.
He wrapped them up carefully is a
bit of oiled paper and tucked them
Canadian
Girls Can Handle the a Wildest
ani
".
c N COWGIRLS, CUTTING CAPERS `.
COMELY C�ANA(iIA � y Waterton Lalteg, � National T'arYt, demo
Viola 73reoken �idge Med 1'larbara i31'own, noted �:ivadian ouwglrls of i
strafing their mastery of bronchus they broke and trained. 1
1.7
4 4 1!
Russo -British Relations
E. F. Wise, C.B., in the Contempor-
ary Review (London): The principles
and ideas represented by London and,
Moscow are in bitter and dangerous
competition. The rivalry of Degland
and Russia in Asia is no new phetom-,
anon. Before the war it was .a strug-
gle of rival Empires for territorial ex
passion and commercial advantages:
It has since taken a different ancl;
more dangerous form. Soviet Russia
stands now as the upholder ofthe;
rights of Asiatic, nations to self -de-;
termination. She offers herself as their,
champion in their struggle for free-
dom from. European interference and
exploitation. England is inevitably re-;
garded on account of tier vast terri-;
tenial influence in Asia as the,
defender of the status quo—of rights'
and 'privileges acquired by conquest
in the nineteenth century.. In the
,Asiatic countries in the next decade
there 'will be constant friction between
England and Russia leading inevitably,
to conflict dangerous to the peace of
the world unless somehow or otherl
friendly relations can be maintained'
on a wide basis of co-operation be -1
tWeen'the' two cotultries.
.
Pear
,No passion so effectually robe the
mini], of ail its power of acting and
reasoning as fear; for fear beteg an
apprehension of Pfuhl or death, it 'op-
erates in a manner that resemblee a
Wel pain. Whatever, therefore, to to
rtble with regard to sight, to subllm
too, whether this cause of terror n•
endued with
nes. of``liniension
v It sneat.5
•
or not; for It is impossible to look 01.
n" anything a striding or contemptible
1 that may' be dti.ngerous,-y--Btike.