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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1907)
VV mmmmmmk - lllipftp "( vpw,--j IT la within the range of possibility that the people of the Pacific slope will see the end of the great Inter national balloon race that starts from Bt. Louis, October 21. If they do, a new world's record for aerial flight will be set The interest in this con test does not center around whether the international cup shall remain in America or go to France. Germany or England so much as around the possi bility of breaking the record of Count de la Vaux, who sailed 1250 miles from Paris to the province of Kleff, In Little Russia, In 1900. A glance at the maps of America and Europe shows how much greater is the opportunity of sustained flight from St. Louis, and those interested In the navigation of the air have not been slow to grasp what it meant to their science when Lieutenant Frank P. Lahm. of ihe United States Army, won the coveted trophy last year and earned the right to have the next competition In this country. With a 1250-mile radius stretching from Paris, there are only 110 degrees of the circle on land from where1 it dips into the At lantic on the coast of Sweden to where It loses itself in the Mediterranean at Turkey, and only between those two points can a new record be set in Europe. That means that the wind must be blowing approximately from the west for any now mark to be made across the Atlantic. In the United States the chances are lust doubled. A 1250-mile radius from Fit. Louis cuts the coast of Maine and of Old Mexico. It swings through 220 degrees on land, through which Count ie . la Vaux' record may be excelled nd It Is hundreds of miles in any di rection before there Is danger of the aeronaut being carried out to sea. Lieutenant Lahm sailed only 403 miles to win the cup last year, when he flew from Paris to Robin Hood's Bay, on the English coast. His winning was as great a surprise as his distance was disappointing. He was the dark horse of the race and went in only for ex perience. With him was Major Henry E. Hersey, who had never been in a - balloon before. Lieutenant Lahm had been experimenting with war balloons for the Government, and Major Her sey, a friend, was connected with the meteorological bureau of the Govern ment. His knowledge of air currents and Lieutenant Lahm's knowledge of balloons won for them the victory. Kleven Balloons Will Compete. When the unexpected had happened and America had won the cup, the Aero Club of America set about in a characteristic way to make the race of 107 the greatest in the history of ballooning. Cortland Field Bishop, president of the American club, took the matter in hand and has devoted himself to It for nearly a year. The firsf thing was to select a starting point, and Bt. Louis was decided upon after a thorough study of its ad vantages and the quality of gas It affords. The first thing was to interest St. Louis in the project, and the sports men of that city responded nobly. A St. Louis Aero Club was formed, with L. D. Dozter as president. It has a membership of 400, Including 100 mil lionaires and an Archbishop. The city has granted the use of Forest Park, one of the largest parka in the world, and will guard the balloons and the ascent. Pipes are being laid to supply the gas, nd a clubhouse has been built for the visitors. In all, eleven balloons will start In the race. The foreign contestants will be Charles S. Rolls. Griffith Brewer and another pilot, representing Eng land; Herr von Abercron Heldemann, Herr Meckel and Herr Oscar Krbsloh. from Germany, and Rene Gasuter, ac companied by Charles Levee, Alfred le Blanc and M. Mix, representing France Lieutenant Lahm, who brought the trophy to America, will be assisted in defending it by J C McCoy and Alan R Hawley. each of whom will make an ascent. Lieutenant Lahm has been very ill in France, and if he is not able to enter. Major Hersey will take his place. A B Lambert will be Mr. Hawley's companion. The balloons will be set free late In the afternoon and by nightfall ther will be far away from earth, above clouds and mists and with a full moon to light them on their way. Each pilot will have food for three days ami will ndeavor to remain aluft until he has to land to escape being swept out to sea. Probable Course. It Is not regarded as probable that the aeronauts will be carried over the Rock- lea from St. Louis, because of the at. ier.ee of eastern winds in that vicinity. J I I I' ' U J I'l L but still thereHs the possibility, and the adventurers would welcome such a breeze. Their hope, however, lies in the hundreds of miles which Canada stretches to the North. In spite of the chances of being lost In that wilder ness, every one of the contestants hopes it will be his luok to be carried thither ward, for It is his best chance of win ning and setting a newrecord. The probable course, however, is north east. The winds of that section are in fluenced by the Great Lakes and the contestants expect to be taken across Illinois, Indiana and Ohio and on into the St, Lawrence Valley, where they will rapidly approach the Count de La Vaux's record. In fact, before the noted Frenchman made his flight in 1900. the record had been held by John Wise over this very course for 41 years. In 1859 Professor Wise started In a balloon from St. Louis and went 860 miles In one flight to Henderson, In Northern New York. He alighted then only because of a hurricane that came near being the end of him. What Aeronauts Have Learned. Ballooning for a record is not merely rising in the air and trusting to the winds to carry one to victory. The air currents are the propelling power and a knowledge of them is essential. The navigator must grope his way among them, selecting the best level for speed and direction. Then there Is the hand ling of . ballast. Every ounce of weight must be conserved against the time when the gas begins to fail, for when the sand Is all gone It is only a matter of time until there Is a forced descent. There is luck in every sport, but It re- quires Judgment to take advantage of all of it. The American contestants all have new balloons that hav been thoroughly test ed. Mr. McCoy, who was one of the earliest balloon enthusiasts In the coun try, has one of 80.000 cubic feet capacity, the largest allowed In the race. He took a couse in aerostatics abroad a year ago and has made many ascents. Mr. Hawley spent three months in Europe tjiis year and won medals in England and France. President Bishop sailed from France October 2 and Is now on his way to St. Louis to superintend the last arrange ments for the race. He will be sussisted by L. D. Dozier. president of the St. "rVkCLOOJ RECORD WAV 8E ES VLXN -S vv -0t . -Xs ii I 7 - THE SUNDAY OKEGOXIAN. PORTLAND. OCTOBER Louis club. ex-Governor D. JR. Francis, E. C. Nugent and G. H Walker, vice presidents; F. D. Hlrschberg, treasurer, and A. B. Lambert and J. W. Kearney, secretaries. International Competition. ' The main race will be for the Interna tional cup, but there will be a kind of airship meet. Five thousand dollars are offered in prizes for dirigible balloons and aeroplanes. The first prise of $2500 goes to the one making the best sh8w- New York Press. "I don't want a detective on my staff who Jumps to conclusions conclusions are things to be cautiously crawled to," was a saying to which the late "Bob" Pinkerton, the famous head of the most noted of private sleuthing agencies, frequently gave expression. And, like most square-Jawed men of his type, he practiced what he preached. On a gala racing afternoon at Sheepshead Bay last Summer I was standing alongside Pinkerton at the main entrance to the track. It was ever a fascinating study to watch this man with the remarkable memory In the act of sifting the goats from the sheep at a racetrack gate. It Is ques tionable If any man ever lived who had such a phenomenal recollection of physiognomies as this son of old Allan Pinkerton. A well-dressed, grizzled man of SO, with rather close-cropped gray hair, strolled up to the. gate, pretending to read a dope chart, but really keeping a furtive eye on Pinkerton. Pinkerton, engaged In conversation with one of his men, didn't see the grizzled chap until the latter was right at the turnstile. Then he suddenly raised his eyes, and I could see the quick fire of memory burning in them like a sudden flame. "Hello, Joe." he said to the grizzled man. holding out his hand. "Hello, Bob." said the man with the close-cropped gray hair. "Wait a minute just a word," said Jumping at Conclusions Error in Thief -Catching Next Week's International Contest Starting .From St. Louis Presents Double the Opportunity' Offered Chief Object of Competition is to Outdo Count Wonderful Flight of 12SO Miles ing over a six-mile course, turning two goals, in 30 minutes. There are other prizes of $1250. 625, 1400 and 1225, respectively. In addition there are prizes of $1000, $750, $500 and $250 for those finishing second, third, fourth and Pinkerton then, and be stepped outside the gate, and drew the grayish man aside. They conversed in a low tone for a moment or so, and then the man who'd had the furtive eye out for Pinkerton at the gate entered the track. Now, this elderly man with the close-cropped hair was a famous coun terfeiter who had only been' released from a New York prison, after seven years' confinement, three days before. Pinkerton hadn't clapped an eye on him for nearly 1J years. The detect ive, too, had only come into contact with the counterfeiter about half a dozen times in his life. And yet he had recognized the man at a glance when he attempted to pass through the gate. A few minutes before the running of the fourth race that afternoon John Cavanaugh, the man in charge of the Jockey Club betting ring, rushed up to Pinkerton in the gambling shed I happened to be strolling with the top sleuth at the time, for I was engaged In getting the material from him for some Pinkerton stories and Cava naugh, ordinarily one of the most self contained of men, ws visibly in a state of keen excitement. "Bob," said Cavanaugh to the de tective, "there's a whole heap of phony money being scattered all over the ring this afternoon. All of the layers have been bitten. The money's a swell bogus twenty here's a copy of it," and Cavanaugh handed the detective a very 13, 1907. in I IP A T.vX f "WHITE SHOWS" UMrTEP FLIGHTS POSSIBLE FROM. Bfth In the great race for the cup. But for the action of the Aero Club of France there would be entrants from Spain and Italy and considerable ad verse criticism has been made of the French for their unsportsmanlike inter tldy-looklng 20 note, a piece of cur rency so thoroughly well executed by Its manufacturers that It required a very keen eye to distinguish it from the genuine and bookmakers In a rush can't pot the acid test, so to speak, to all of the paper money that flits In their direction. Pinkerton and Cavanaugh talked over for a brief space that Inundation of bad money In the ring. "Well," I ventured to remaak to Pinkerton, when Cavanaugh had rushed back to his ring headquarters, "that fellow that you let in at the gate the counterfeiter Just through with doing his bit has got busy again pretty quickly, hasn't he?" "You don't think he's the one who's doing this bad money floating here today, do you?" said Pinkerton. I mumbled something as to that being a sufficient natural conclusion. "Oh, natural enough," said Pinker ton, "but dead wrong. Absolutely dead wrong. That fellow has nothing to do with this phony money job today." Seeking to get at the mental pro cesses underlying the typical sleuth's powers of ratiocination, I inquired, "What makes you think that fellow Isn't working now?" "Because," replied t Pinkerton, "he told me, during that little talk I had with htm outside the gate, that 'he was through with the crooked stuff." " That seemed astonishing enough. Here was perhaps the most distin guished detective in the world calmly pretation of the rules. The entries were to be made February 1 and accompanied by an entrance fee. The Italians under stood it was to be the last of February and sent theirs accordingly. The Span ish entry arrived all right, but the fee stating. In face of the fact that a big bundle of counterfeit money was circulating around the ring, his cool belief that a man whom he knew to be a counterfeiter, and then In the betting ring, had nothing whatever to do with the Job. And why? Because the man had told him a while before that he was through with crookedness! Before the afternoon's racing was over Pinkerton had four men corralled In the racetrack calaboose. They were the circulators of the boguB $20 certifi cates. The man with the close-cropped gray hair was not one of them. He had had nothing whatever to do with the job, as Pinkerton had divined di vined, too, in the teeth of what seemed to such a layman as I, at any rate the perfectly obvious conclusion. Incidents of such a sort were vir tually every-day affairs with Pinker ton at the various racetracks which he watched over with his big staff of assistants.. One Spring afternoon at the Grave send track, three years ago, a man with a record as a "swell dip" pick pocket but who had quit the criminal bunch two years - before for good and all and it is the rare thing, -by the way, for a top-notch leather-worker to get back to the straight path trudged up to the entrance gate with a woman companion. Pinkerton took the man aside for a moment. "You're dead sure of yourself. Jim?" he said to the man who had been an accomplished pickpocket. "Well, you ought to be able to read me." replied the ex-dip. and Pinkerton scrutinized him carefully, gazing keen ly into the man's eyes, and said: . "All right. In you go. I think you're going to stick." Pinkerton was never the man to put 3 afcParis de LaJVaulx J 'KORCUftSAUF, S did not get here until later. France QP posed the participation of either one. al' though America, Germany and England were willing to let them In. For that reason all the aeronauts are particularly anxious to defeat France. so much as a straw In the path of a former criminal in whose reformation he believed and his only -way of be- coming convinced of a crook's actual reformation was by looking the man over and putting him to the test of that keen gray-eyed gaze of his. Well, a couple of hours later ' one of the leading bookmakers In the ring was "frisked" for a wad of ttOOO. ' The layer had had the $8000 roll, all . In $100 bills. In one of the rear pock ets of his trousers, and, while seated on his high chair, one of the "classy dips" had swung along and relieved him of it. ' Pinkerton got word of it along toward the running of the fifth race. . He strolled through the betting ring till he came up with the reformed pick pocket with whom he'd had the few words at the gate. "Jim." he said, "an eight-thousand roll was weeded here a while ago. Who have you seen around?" By that question, "Who have you seen around," Pinkerton meant to in quire of the reformed "dip" if he had noticed any of his old associates of the "dip mob" in the ring. The man whom he addressed as "Jim" looked perturbed when that question was put to him. "Bob," he said, after a pause, "you know I never squealed nor snitched. You don't want me to begin that now, do you, just because I've become right myself?" "You'll do," was all that Pinkerton said in reply. He had been merely trying the reformed pickpocket out. He always despised stool pigeons and crooks who squealed on their pals, and pursued such relentlessly. - He had been putting the reformed pickpocket through one of the degrees, that is all.
