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] (627/1291)

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S-LETTER, MONDAY,
Mr. Valputim'. granted an interview to onr
representative shortly after his arrival. The
aviator, who was in qpiite 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 he
was striving. One could understand this, as the
conditions in the vicinity of the valley of the
Gap of the North were the reverse of ideal for
the flying game. A strong cross-wind was blow
ing, rising at times to half a gale and accompa
nied with drenching showers of rain. Discussing
his journey, Mr. Valentine said he left Leopards-
town a*, about half-past four, following Mr. Ast-
ley, and for the first few minutes 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 1.0C0 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 once again, and soon he was soaring
over B lac One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees knock. Soon afterwards he reached
Dundalk, passing over the town in the rear in
order to av6id 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
| np till now had been bad enough, grew
worse as lie got into the valley of the Gap of
j the North. Heavy rains—the condensation of
1 dense clouds of mist—surrounded him as he
I ! passed over the Newry mountains at an alti
tude of over 1,000ft. The wind increased to
almost a gale now. and. to make matters worse,
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 shxv <Lrop of 800ft. in the
cose srwThrp. So ; u^cxp'-'cted v ; rv&. his
descent that he thought . ae end had ooc’c His
speed was now reduced from between 50 •
60 mile* an hour le al,- ui> :Ax urtles, so strong
and baffling were the Currents. His machine
was quivering and oscillating, and twice
it completely turned round. He then
decided to abandon the journey, and tried
to land. He accordingly shut off his
engine and came to \vithin 20 feet of
the ground, when a sadden gust or squall struck
the machine and sent him un 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
feet descent in Mrs. Mai Ion’s field. He added,
that the field was the smallest in which he had
ever seen an aeroplane.
The machine was dismantled yesterday after
noon, and taken by motor car to Dublin.
SOLATIUM FOR BELFAST.
Aero Club’s Letter to the Lord Mayor.
The commifci .e of the Aero Club 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 communioating the result of a commit tea
meeting just held—“ That, owing to the great dis-
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