BLAZING THE TRAIL!

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 290, 28 February 1928, Page 7

BLAZING THE TRAIL!

FROM LONDON TO CAPETOWN! An enterprising and dangerous venture—a speed dash by car from London to Capetown through the heart of Africa—is being organised by a Johannesburg newspaper, the “Rand Daily Mail.’' The whole of the route will first have to be gone over and a portion of it in Africa explored and a trail blazed. IT was one of Cecil Rhodes’s ambitions to link up Capetown with Cairo by a great trunk railway line. That was before the day of the motorcar. Transport in modern times has been revolutionised by the advance of automobile engineering - , and Sir Abe Bailey, Bart., has been planning to bring about the fulfilment of Rhodes’s ideal in a different form. Trunk Route Sir Abe Bailey visualises a trunk motor route between Capetown and Cairo instead of the railway line, and he hopes to make this possible by seeking the co-operation of the various countries and States along the route. The “Rand Daily Mail,” appreciating the value to the Union and the central States of Africa of such a trunk road, has decided to blaze the trail. A standard Chrysler “72” car, piloted by Mr. G. S. Bouwer, the well-known racing motorist, who will be accompanied by Mr. E. Millin, the motor editor of the “Rand Daily Mail,” and a cinematograph operator from the African Theatre, Ltd., is to travel from Capetown to London, via Cairo and Brindisi, and on the return journey is to undertake a speed dash. Making Motor History The expedition will make a page in the annals of motoring history in South Africa. It will illustrate the merits and faults of the car of to-day, in addition to throwing light on the possibilities of a great scheme. The party will leave Capetown at the beginning of April and expect to return in August.