AEROPLANE V. EXPRESS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 613, 22 October 1913, Page 3

AEROPLANE V. EXPRESS.

EXCITING KACB IN AMERICA. Marvin Wood, a well-known American aviator, rose early one day to attempt to beat the express train travelling from New York to Washington, a distance of about 25 miles, and would have -suceeded but for trouble which brought nim to ground 28 miles from his goal. Wbocl gave the train a handicap of 25 miles in distance and 6 minutes in time. The train started at 4.26 a.m, Wood was out to demonstrate the worth of aircraft as a military scout, and every facility was given for making the race notable. On board tha special train was the commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and officers vi aviation clubs. At Wilmington, 168 miles away, Wood, on an army typa monoplane called the Blue Bird had caught the train. At Baltimore the train wa3 35 minutes behind. Then came disaster. Smoke from the Baltimore factories obscured the flyer's aerial path. He lost his way, dropping swiftly from 7000 ft to 4000 ft above the earth. The motor went wrong. Planing to earth Wood landed safely, and telephoned to Washington for aid to fix his motor. The train with which the aviator was racing caught up tiie distance it lost, and reached the capital at 9-30 o'clock. It was half-an-hour before Wood landed. Though defeated, the aviator was very cheerful. "I have seen enough," he said to the reporters, "to know that a monoplane can beat the fastest train. It is 225 miles from New York to Washington, as the train goes, and I actually travelled without a stop for 250 miles. Generally, I was going over a mile a minute. I passed Baltimore a long way ahead of the train, and then I ran' over smoke clouds that were so heavy that I could not see anything. I was flying about 7000 ft up then, and was going fast."