An Account of a Journey in Kashmir by David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer and Letters from Emily Overend Lorimer to her Parents sent from Bahrain and Kerman [‎307r] (628/1291)

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S-LET'TER, MONDAY,
Mr. VakniitK*. granted an rntervie'w to oar
represeniatrve shortly afbor his arrival. The
aviator, who was in rjtiite a cheerful mood,
seemed rather pleased than otherwise that his
journey had terminated so speedily, .though he
was so many miles from the goal for which be
was striving. One could understand this, as the
j conditions in the vicinity of the valley of the
Gap of the North were the reverse of ideal for
I the flying game. A strong cross-wind was blow
ing, rising at times to had a gale and accompa
nied with drenching showers of rain. Discussing
his journey, Mr. Valentine said he left Leopards-
town at about half-past four, folkwing Mr. Ast-
ley, and for the first few minuter the conditions
were very bad, but on reaching Dublin Bay the
wind had moderated considerably. In fact, pass
ing over the bay a comparative calm prevailed.
He was flying at an altitude of 1,000 feet, and at
Skerries he passed Mr. Astley, who was fully a
thousand feet over him in the air. Everything
at this time was going smoothly, and he had
high hopes of a good finish at Balmoral. Pass
ing over Clogher Head, however, he decided to
take inland, as his motor just at that time be
gan to cause him uneasiness. Then the wind
freshened onoo again, and soon he was soaring
over Blackrock. “Soon afterwards he reached
Dundalk, passing over the town in the rear in
order to avdid the heavy banks of mist that were
coming over the Carlingford mountains. Steer
ing a straight course, he then made for the
town of Newry, but the weather, which
i
np till now had been bad enough, grew
worse as he got into the valley of the Gap of
the North. Heavy raihs—the condensation of
dense clouds of mist—-rsiirrounded him as he
passed over the Newry mountains at an alti
tude of over l.OCOft. The wind increased to
almost a gale now, and, to make matters worse, j
the whirling currents from the mountains and
the sea made the journey at this stage one of .
no inconsiderable peril. In one place, after
passing the mountains, he got into an air pocket
and was forced to a, slv y drop of 800ft. m the
one swo p. So en&Uy d unexpected hia •
descent that he thought u end had come. His
.speed was now rednred i om between 50 and
50 miles an hour to aV. > , ix mifos, so strong
and baffling were the currents. His machine
was quivering and <i dilating, and twice
it completely turned .mind. He then
decided to abandon the journey, and tried
to land. He accordingly shut off his
engine and came to within 20 feet of
the ground, when a sudden gust or sqpall struck
the machine and sent him up in the air again
over 200ft. in the one bound. He next drove
his motor down hard, and after sighting one or
two fields suitable for alighting he made a per
fiect descent in Mrs. Mallon’s field. He added*
that the field was the smallest in which he had
ever seen an aeroplane.
The machine was dismantled yesterday aflar-
i noon, and taken by motor car to Dublin.
SOLATIUM FOR BELFAST.
Aero Club’s Letter to the Lord Mayor.
The commiti_e of the Aero dub of Ireland re
cognised the great disappointment suffered by the
people who paid for admission to the Balmoral
grounds, and on Saturday night Mr. D. F. Gill-
man, secretary to the club, wrote to the Lord
Mayor comnTunioati d g the result of a committee
meeting just held—“ That, owing to the great dis
appointment to the citiioens^f Belfast oousequeot
upon the weather conditions preventing the avi
ators who left Dublin from reaching Balmoral, it
was decided to allocate a proportion of the gate-
money at Belfast in connection with the aviation
race to the charities of your city,’* and promising
at an early date to forward a cheque, which the
committee desire may be distributed in accord
ance with the Lord Mayor’s discretion.
FLYING AT HENDON.
Tlie wind having delayed competitive proceed- I
ings until late in the afternoon at the London
aerodrome, Hendon, on the 7th insi., only one
! event could be decided. That was the cross
country handicap of eighteen miles, made up by
J covering the distance from Hendon to
| Elstree and hack twice. In this Louis Noel, on a
J Henry Farm an biplane, hsd an easy win, finish-
ling before the otherr had reappeared. He had
3 mins. 22 secs, start, and his handicap time was
21 mins. 14 secs. 1 :abMli, on his Hanriot
monoplane, was secord •from scratch, and Marcel
Dose utter, Bleiiofc monpp .<ae, 1 min. 45 secs,
^atort, thud.
Among the many # hi In aon flights the most
noteworthy were D, MUr’s trial of a new
Grahanie White monoplane, and Mrs. Stock’s
flight on a Bleriot. r l be former machine is very
small, and has a silencer t tted to the 35 horse
power Anzani motor. Iksscutter had not risen
far with it when explosions occurred in the
silencer, and the pilot, not knowing what was
causing the noise, came quickly to earth. He
got into the machine later, and grass-rolled till
darkness. Mrs. vStocktf made an awkward be
ginning, her monoplane swinging almost com
pletely round ; but by a fine effort she recovered
from what looked like a certain smash, and flew
teadily for seven minutes.
Maroel Disc utter rmule a good flight at Hendon
esterday on his Bleriot monoplane, rising in a
“nd of 35 to 40 miles an hour and battling with
e breeze at a height of 800 feet for half an
ur. The conditions were so severe that it re
lived all Disoutter’s skill to keep the machine
ider control. Louis Noel, on the Henry Far-
tan biplane, and G. Sabella, on his Hanriot
lonoplane, also made flights. The latter in-
mded to return to Brooklands, but found the
ind too strong. In recognition of his flight from
Brooklands to Hendon on the 7th inst., when,
despite the rough weather, he made the twentv
/ miles' journey at a height of 2,000 feet in 25
I minutes and landed in a wind of 40 miles an
l hour, the executive of the London Aerodrome has
presen ted Sabeili with a handsome silver shield.
AIRMAN FALLS INTO A CROWD.
Two Persons Killed and Two Injured.
Gray, Haute-Saone, Sunday.
At an aviation meeting here to-day an airman
named Beard fell among the crowd’ Two men
and two women were killed, while four others
were severely injured, the lives of two of them
being despaired of. It appears that M. Beard’s
machine, refusing to rise, turned several somer
saults, and then dashed through a wire fencing
into the crowd, the whirling propeller mowing
down people on all sides. Several saved them
selves from certain death by flinging themselves
on the ground.
MISHAP TO ARMY AEROPLANE.
'Ib-3 Central News Hitch in correspondent tele
graphs—Lieutenant Fox, late on the 7th insfc.,
received instructions to fly from Hitchin to
Hardwicke, outside Cambridge, to make obser
vations of the enemy in connection with the
army manoeuvres He went up in biplane 205
in company with] Lieutenant ~