RACE IN THE AIR FOR £10,000. .

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 133, 7 June 1910, Page 4

RACE IN THE AIR FOR £10,000. .

HAW, XOUIS •PATTr.TTA-NT FLEW TO MANCHESTER. DEAMAIIC PURSUIT. PJVAL AVIATOBS FLYING- IN THE. DARK. TEIUMPH OF GENIUS.

(From- Our Special Correspondent.)

LONDON, April 29. The most wonderful race in the world's history 'has given M. Paul-ban a £10,000 prize, and. the English public another hero. This is an aviation week in London. The astonishing exploits of M. Paulhan and Mr. Grahame White in their aeroplanes have eclipsed all other topics. Mr. White's brilliant effort to fly from London to Manchester last Saturday, served to awaken the whole country to a lively interest in the conquest of the air, and when M. Paulhan arrived, and. the rivalry developed into an actual race, the excitement was intense.

The whole thing was so dramatic, so completely novel. It gripped the imagination instantly. Here was- something the world had never seen "before, a race between two men through the air, over hill and dale, over towns and. villages, for a, prize of £10,000 awaiting the winner 186' miles away. There was something startling in its suddenness, too. Paulhan's unexpected start while his rival was in bed, the hot pursuit by the Englishman, the reports from this point, and that, telling of the progress of the race, the rapidity of the flight—all these things accentuated the dramatic and unprecedented character of the great race. At a taipe machine on Tuesday night I watched the instrument tick off the news from this point and that along the route, and. even in the quiet room, where a little cluster of men stood round the machine,, one felt the thrill of that excitement, which, like a great wave, was passing: over multitudes of people along the line of flight, as this aeroplane or that swept overhead. GENIUS IN THE 4TR. Paulhan is the hero of the hour, but Grahame White runs Mm a close second. Naturally, the English people would have liked to see an Englishman win, and sympathy with White in his failure is general and sincere. Undoubtedly, Paulhan would never have come over post haste from France to "lift" the prize had not White shown 'by his first great flight on Saturday that the tiling could be done.

But when all is said for the loser, one must admit that the young French aviator has fully earned, his fame and. his prize. He outgeneralled White at the start, and outclassed him in the race. Panlhan is a genius in the air."" His beaten rival, who a thorough sportsman, acknowledges that he cannot compare skill with the Frenchman. "Panlhan,". he said, when told the news that the race was won, "is the greatest aviator the world has yet seen. I am only a. novice compared with him. Three cheers, for Paulhan."

The race fbegan with dramatic suddenness. White was taken completely by surprise. It was the case of Bleriofc and Latham in th& cross-channel flight all over again. The wind ■was so high, at 5 p.m. oa Tuesday, that no one expected a flight. Grahame White ihad gone to bed to get some socely-needed rest. But Paulhan and his mechanics finished putting their aeroplane together afc 5 pan., and twenty minutes later the little Frenchman, despite the fact that he had! been working for eleven hours on end! getting the machine together, climbed into his saddle, and started on his long journey. "PAULHAN STARTED!" When the news reached White at Wormwood Scrubs he jumped from, hi* bed, flung on. his clothes,, and. rushed to the garage for his aeroplane. His face: was pale and set. Several friends begged, him not to go. He looked, round at the smoke blowing swiftly from, chimneys and locomotives, and his mouth set hard. "I'm going through to-night, light or dark, it the petrol holds out," he said. He thought it would last. Dramatic as hie first start from Park Uoyal on Saturday was, it was tame compared with this. As the crowd closed in, a friend of White roared, "Keep back! Paulhan has started I Give the Englishman a chance!" It took the spectators like a galvanic shock. "Paulhan started!" You could hear it echoed from, man to man. In the first moment the crowd ■was plainly dismayed. Then as it realised that an epic fight was to begin —a race to be memorable for all time— it broke back and gave its favourite a clean path for his aeroplane.

White leapt into the frail seat. The engine mechanic gave the propeller a twist. It whirred with a deafening noise, then the crowd drowned it with a mighty cheer.

Men and women were hysterical with emotion. White was an. hour and- ten minutes 'behind Ms rival. Could, he catch him? In a few seconds the machine was racing on the ground, in fifty yards it rose into the air. It rocked in the gusts, and ascended higher and higher. Then it swept round with the grace of a great bird, doubling on its first direction to pass over the towering gasometer that marks the five-mile radius. Magnificently the machine- flew upward, cleared everything, and headed round for Manchester. The. last words White said were, "I hope the moon lasts for mc!" The crowd, sending a final cheer to the slues, watched until the aviator and the aeToplane were a mere sipeck in the distance, and as they turned away men and women had ijars in their eyeSj and prayed in their hearts for Ms safety. THE COMING OF PAULHAN. I need not go into the details of that thrilling race by night through the air, for the story has been told by- cable. Suffice it to say that both men descended about 8 pjn., when it was too dark to see their route, Paulhan 117 miles on his journey, White 60 miles. White rose at ? a.m. and flew witMn ten miles of where his rival slept, and then had to descend, baffled by the wind. Paulhan started again at 4 a.m., and flew straight to Manchester, arriving at 5.32 a.m. White descended for the third time when he heard this news, but had to come down again ten miles further on.

In the grey dawn vast crowds gathered outside Manchester on the watch for the coming of Paulhan. Suddenly a keensighted Lancastrian, looking through Ms glasses, shouted, "Here he- comes," and the- whole crowd! thrilled as. with an electric shock.

For a minute there was silence,, as everybody strained his eyes? in the direction, where the-first observer had located

Then frantic excitement ibroke- loose, and the crowd shouted, yelled, and cheered. •

Against the grey background of the sky to the south an object flying high, was seen to 'be coming along rapidly •with the wind.

Every instant it grew larger, until the shape of the biplane could .be plainly seen.

Steadily as an ocean liner on a smooth sea. i# made an unerring course for fche field at Burnagei. where the- descent was to take place. '' - .

Presently the whin and throb of the engine was distinctly heard, and M. Paulhan could be seen sitting motionless as a statue on the driving seat.

There was a rush to Farmer Bracegrrdle's field, which lies to the left of the embankment of the railway, along which H. Paulhan was making his course. It was here that the raring little- Frenchman was to come down; . . .. Flying, at a height of between 400 ft and 500 ft, M; Paulhan came over some ■trees and amid wild cheering flew rapidly down over the line, and then brought his biplane round with a beautiful curve over the field. Thus facing the wind he kept fri" engine going for a second or two, and then planed down, alighting as lightly as a bird, almost exactly in the centre of the field. It was then 5.32 a-m. THOROUGHLY EXHAUSTED. The crowd charged across the clover and surrounded the machine almost-be-fore M. Paulhan had left his seat. He seemed' dazed and numbed, and he tried to smile, 'but it was an effort, and he swayed slightly as he took a step or two down the field. Apparently his last stage had thoroughly exhausted him, and the cold must have been intense, for his cheeks seemed stiff and 'blue. "lam very cold," he said; "but happy." The crowd.surged round him, trying to shake hands, and throwing their hats in the air, while women waved their handkerchiefs. Si. Paulhan, who was assisted by two policemen, could not respond to the demonstration, however. His-eyes were nearly closed, and he was altogether limp, so that the police had practically tcr carry >rbTr along- to the- railway station. The people who flocked round cheered until they were hoarse. Some of them actually stormed the station, climbing over the wooden gates and the ironspiked railings. Just as M. Paulhan reached Burnage; platform, the special train which had been, straining hard' to keep up with, him all ■the way from. Lichfield steamed.in. M. Paulhan had done his last- twentyfour miles from Crewe in. exactly. 24min, and had fairly run away from the steam horse. The first one of the occupants- of the train to greet M. Paulhan • was , U5. Fariman, who embraced him, warmly/ kissed him on 'both, cheeks, and. slapped him on the back.