ANNIHILATING TIME.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 141, 17 June 1930, Page 16

ANNIHILATING TIME.

SEGRAVE'S GREAT CAREER. HIS DASH TO DEATH ON WINDEBMERE. SACRIFICED LIFE ON ALTAR OF SPEED. Another great life has been saccrifled on the altar of, speed. Sir Henry 0. de H. Segrave, greatest of all speed kings, holder of the world record for' speed on land, was killed on Lake Windcrmere in attempting to win for England the motor boat record at present held by Commodore Gar Wood, of America. Ho drove Miss England 11. faster than any motor boat had been driven before. Ono of England's greatest sportsmen, fearless, and nerveless, Sir Henry Segrave did much for his country. Not merely for gain, or common notoriety did he take his life in his hands. He drove with a purpose, and perhaps there is some consolation in tho fact that the world of research is so much the richer for his fearless undertakings After creating a new record ffor motor boats, Sir Henry proposed to attempt to smash the existing air record. Such was his courage and his will to conquer. . One of the most interesting and most authentic stories of Sir Henry Sagrave's career in the world of speed is told in the book, "More Heroes of Modern Adventure," by T. C. Bridges and H. Hcsscll Tiltman. A whole chapter is devoted to Segrave's exploits, the first part of which follows.

A century ago, when Steplienson told" people that his railway engine could travel at 30 miles an hour, he was asked what was the good of such speed, for that even if the engine could reach it the driver would die of suffocation and the passengers of vertigo. Yet, before Stephenson's life came, to an end, he had proved that trains could be driven at 50—even CO —miles an hour with no ill-effects to anyone concerned. Two Hundred Miles an Hour. In 1928, when Sir Henry Segravc was asked what, in his opinion, was the limit of speed that human faculties could endure, he answered: "Frankly, I don't know. This can only be determined by pioneer work and researches into wind pressures." He added that the reaction between eye, mijid and muscle is so nearly instantaneous that he believed one could learn to drive habitually at 200 miles an hour if the car and the road permitted it. Sir Henry quoted the case of the 200mile- Junior Car Club race at Brooklands, in which he, Lee Guinness and George Daller topk part. All these were driving at 100 miles an hour, and all found, beforfe the race was half run, that the speed had become almost boringly slow. It was his opinion that a machine will never be designed so fast that it will be beyond the control of a human being. Yes, but that will depend on the human, being, and there is no doubt that drivers of the type' of Sir Henry Segrave are very rare. Henry O'Neal de Hane Segrave was born in the year 1596, so was 33 years old when he achieved his amazing record on the Daytona Beach of Florida in the spring of 1929. He came of an old Irish family, of whom the head was Lord Mowbray and Stourton. He was only 17 when he left Sandhurst to take his part in the Great War, and the sort of work he did- may be gathered from the fact- that only two ,, years later, at the age of 19, he was a major in the Air Force He-was wounded, but came through without serious damage, and after the war made up his mind to take to motor racing as a profession. "Only Break Their Necks." Segrave went to Mr. Lewis Coatalen, the famous designer of the Sunbeam Company, and made known his wishes, but Coatalen sljook his head; "I'm always being pestered by youngsters who' think they can break records, but only break their necks," he said. "If you are really in earnest, get a car for yourself and sea what you can do on the track." Segrave took Mm at his word. He bought a second-hand Opel, and tuned her up himself. Segrave, you see, was not only a driver, but a brilliant motor mechanic and a man who knew as much about the _ mechanism of a car and the materials of which it is composed as most designers. Buying the Opel left him nearly broke, but within a few months he had raked in so many prizes that Coatalen changed his mind and took him on as a driver for the firm. Within a. very short time Segrave became.known as one of the most brilliant of drivers, and he took part in many big contests. In 1924 Segrave drove in the French Grand Prix, which is perhaps the- most exacting of all road races.-It is run over a.-triangle of ordinary . national roads, which "includes, a straight stretch to test speed, a winding stretch to test the road-holding capacity of cars, and a hilly stretch "to test their climbing powers. The race of 1924 was held in the- Lyons district, and something over 200,000 people assembled to view it. The State provided 2000 police and 2000

soldiers to keep order, but even this force was hardly sufficient for the task. From five to eight each morning some days before the race the roads were closed to traffic in order to allow the competitors to, make their trial runs. There was always a, rush to ?et off first, and a'lot of cars usually arrived in a bunch in the first village in a cloud of dust. Astonishing Accident. This village, was , called Givois and here was a most dangerous right-angled corner with a lamp-post, and at the corner, and below it wae a deep drop into a reservoir. On the morning of the day before the race the first car to reach Givois was driven by a German. As he came to the corner at a speed approaching one hundred' miles an hour he saw a girl standing by the lamp-poet. No one had any right to be on the road, but there was the girl, and a veiy pretty girl, too. The German driver got rattled, and, instead of braking, he put his foot on the accelerator. The result was one of the most astonishing accidents in the annals of motoring. The racing car charged the lamp-post at a speed of at least one hundred miles an hour. With a crash like a cannon shot the lamp standard was torn from the ground, while the girl was flung clean over the railings behind it to drop into the water of the reservoir nearly one hundred feet below. When Segrave arrived a minute later the German, instead of being a corpse as he ought to have been, was standing by his' car, desperately trying to straighten his front'kxle with his bare hands, while the girl—more marvellous still!—was climbing out of the reservoir, quite unhurt! Next day came the race. The various drivers were all at their pits by the grandstand, feverishly busy before getting away, when cheers rang out, and the Minister of the Interior, with a company of guests, marched up with a band and a file of infantry. Segrave was

leaning over his pit with his back to the procession - when one of the infantry men, perhaps annoyed that the Englishman was not paying proper respect to the Minister, gave, him a push which upset him into the pit .among the tyres and oil. Extremely annoyed, Begrave came oiit with one bound and drove a left to the soldier's jaw which laid him kicking. Bedlam broke loose, but Dario Resta came to the rescue by starting his big machine, which broke into such a roar as drowned band and everything else. Before any further trouble could be developed the race wae started. Smash in Grand Prix. Segrave had an Italian mechanic who was not much use. Half way through the race, ae Segrave's car followed close behind that of Lee Guinness, a tyre of Guinness' car burst. Dust, stones and chunks of rtfbber flew in every direction, and a piece of tyre whizzing past Segrave's head hit hie mechanic on the forehead and dropped him ae if he had been shot. Segrave.had to leave him at the next stopping placo and get a substitute. That was not the end of the incidents for the day. A little later, as the cars were approaching a dangerous corner, Ferrari, who was just ahead' of Segrave, glanced round and, seeing the pursuing car close upon him, trod on the accelerator. His speed shot up to two miles a minute, while ninety was the utmost pace, the corner could be rounded with safety. In result, Ferrari's car drove straight through a hedge into the field and hit a boulder head on. The rnr 6hot straight up into the air, tipped the driver and, mechanic out into the gorse bueh, and struck earth ten yards beyond, a complete wreck. Yet—will it be believed; neither Ferrari nor his mechanic was hurt!

(To be Continued.)