LOW TIDE—SUNDAY

Evening Star, Issue 20996, 9 January 1932, Page 16

LOW TIDE—SUNDAY

LAND SPEED CHALLENGE SMITH AND MACHINE READY [Per United Press Association.] NINETY-MILE BEACH, Jan. 8. Five days have elapsed since the Enterprise was placed in tho garage at Hukatere. Day and night since tho mechanics have been engaged fitting the car for the stupendous test which lies ahead tho work has been done under absolute secrecy. No camera men have been allowed within the enclosure. The engin; was all ready for timing up this afternoon, but last night “Wizard” Smith decided otherwise, and wont on a shooting expedition up tho beach. Ho is an excellent marksman, and yesterday killed with right and left barrels three times from a moving ear. To-morrow the racing machine will be taken on the beach for tho first time. Although an attempt on any record is unlikely, Smith may attain something up to 180 miles to get the feel of the controls. It is almost certain that the existing ten-mile record will be challenged at low tide on Sunday. The officials say that the beach is much improved, and besides the wind has dropped in velocity, and the visibility is good.. It is the intention of tho promoters to retain the Enterprise if the record is broken, and to use it for exhibition and as a racing car for two or three years. DESIGNER-BUILDER SAILS STORY OF SPLIT STILL WITHHELD [Special to the ‘Stab.’] AUCKLAND, January 8. Mr Don. Harkness, tho designerbuilder of “ Wizard ” Smith’s car, returned to Sydney to-day. Ho would not discuss the reported split between himself and Smith. Ho .indicated that there were different sets of facts-that had led up to the friction, hut said that there were bo many interests to be studied that he would not make a statement at present. He had to consider the fact that Smith’s attempt was a national affair. However, after he had seen his solicitor in Sydney, he would tell his side of the story on return to Auckland. “ I’ve a lot to do, but I think I’ll he back with the Ulimaroa in a fortnight,” he said. HOW NEWS WILL COME GENERAL BROADCAST When “ Wizard ” Smith made his first record on Ninety-mile Beach the news had to be sent by car, telephone, and telegraph. This time, those with receiving sets will be able to hear the voices of tho broadcaster on the actual beach announcing the result as soon as the speed has been calculated. Although the power in the sending set that will he used by the Government broadcasters from the beach is so feeble, the voice of the announcer (who will bo Mr Gordon Hutter, of IYA) will bo heard in Auckland as distinctly as though he were at the other end of a local telephone wire. There is no need to explain that this marvel (now almost a commonplace) is achieved by the.uso of the amplification that comes from transmitting the sound through valves. It is an ingenious application of tho principles of wireless to land telephones. When the announcer describes the events on the great day of the trial his voice will bo picked up by a small receiving set at Kaitaia, connected with the land line running to Auckland. By passing the message through the valves at Whangarei, the voice will get a necessary “boost” en route. It will then arrive at IYA, where there will be another amplification, and the news will reach the -waiting ears of everyone with a listening-in set. From Auckland the message will be transmitted to other New Zealand radio stations, and the news will he broadcast from all New Zealand radio stations. It would have been dramatic if the voice describing what the owner saw on distant Ninety-mile Beach could have been wafted round the world (as was originally intended), hut the Government’s first duty was obviously to its own people, and. although the rest of the world would have to receive the news through the medium of the oldfashioned Morse, snccial arrangements will be made to flasli it round the world in record time. TRIAL RUN THIS AFTERNOON [Per United Press Association.] NINETY-MILE BEACH, January 9. Smith and party were by far the earliest they have been at the centre of activities at Hukatere this morning, and at, 7 o’clock the experts and mechanics were working _at top speed on the Enterprise. Smith said the car was being prepared for a trial run this afternoon, tho beach permitting. He would not attempt a record, but would make a run to get the feel of the car and to test its racing conditions. Smith is quite cheerful about the delay, stating; “ I will not have to wait five months like Campbell. However, I am prepared to wait until I can make the attempt.” An authority on tho conditions of the beach said that, if Smith did not make his run before Tuesday, when there is a spring tide, he might just as well pack Up and return to Auckland till February, when the sands would be at their best. The final touches were being made to the Auckland-made radiator this morning.