RACE ACROSS FRANCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20520, 22 March 1930, Page 3 (Supplement)

RACE ACROSS FRANCE.

MOTOR-CAR BEATS [TRAIN.

FAMOUS NfGHT EXPRESS. TVO JUBILANT .ENGLISHMEN, When the Blue Train from the Riviera, one of the most famous of Conti- / mental expresses, drew up dead on time the other afternoon at Calais, a British motor-car all plastered in mud> was parked alongside -the platform. Two young Englishmen, unshaven, with red-rimmed eyes and almost as dirty as the car itself, stood by and greeted the train with cheers. .They had raced this world-famous' express right from St. Raphael, on the Mediterranean, and they had won by 20 minutes. The principals in this episode were Mr. D. Noble and Mr./'F. Bennett, who had been paying a visit to the Riviera. For 20 hours o ; n end, through all the night and half the day, these two adventurers raced the Blue Train in their gallant little car, from sea to-sea, across 750 miles of France. They were at times slightly ahead of the express on schedule, and well behind it at others. While the lordly Blue Train roared ajong on its metals, secure from trouble, . the two travellers in their motor-car were handicapped by fog," level-crossings, and d^ep. watercourses, in addition to the normal obstacles on the great highway. The Bine Train left St. Raphael at 6.30 p.m. The was set in motion at the same time. Between St. Raphael and Brignoles, where road and rail run parallel, there was ab actual neck-and-neck race between the car and the train. The road ahead was straight and clear, and the travellers had the satisfaction of seeing their modest vehicle take the lead —but their luck /was out. A level crossing was ahead, and the gates were closed to let the Blue Train pass. It faded into the land scape, and was seen ho more until it arrived 20 minutes after the car at ■ Calais. /'

Between Macon and Avallon, just before dawn, the task seemed hopeless, of: mist kept floating across the read, obstructing 'the driver's vision, and the speed dropped to 23 miles an hour—the lowest recorded. The average speed during the run was 48 miles an hour. When dawn broke a puff of wind suddenly dispersed the fog, and the way lay clear ahead. A dead straight tree-lined road stretched as far as the eye could see.