ed with the drawings for the Sky-Bird II. At the end of the e

set of these drawi

ginal drawings from which we will make o

ime you depart. I think you boys have a valuable thing here, and it is to your interest to keep others from knowing your plans or seeing the airplane until we have full government protecti

ul carried two rolls of fresh blue-prints, which he and John had made while their mother was preparing the meal. One of these sets he gave

ng to take on real form, they determined to do this. On a piece of board, Paul printed in large letters, "Private Grounds; Keep Out,

"If the kids climb over, we'll fasten a red flag to the front of our big hangar

ep them away we'll turn the

ols, and knew how to handle every machine they had set up. In addition to this, Paul and Bob were first-class amateur machinists, as their courses of engineering in Clark Poly

gain, and by the latter part of the week they had begun to assemble portions of the fuselage, using a waterproof glue

of the lucky airships came to grief in Italy in making a stop for fuel, but the driver had obtained an Italian Caproni plane and was making his way eastward with all haste. The other dirigible, commanded by Americans, had reached Teheran, Persia, where gas-bag troubles had compelled her crew to continue by train. About the same time the flying-boat, piloted by a Boston man, and the biplane, in control of two Eng

ontinent in fresh airplanes. Near Cheyenne, Wyoming, the American plane was forced to the ground by engine trouble, allowing her competitor to get ahead several hours. This lead the American could not overcome, and the

ad gone into town on his motorcycle after some more screws, came back

winners, and the excitement is practically over. The others will just lob in now-and they might as well." He tossed the paper to John. "Her

er on the bench and interestedly read the article in question. As t

ood editorial on this A

5 and see how he r

wo brothers leaned over the

THE-WORL

human endeavor. When, three days ago, the English team, headed by Chester Hodge, dropped out of a Curtis plane into Mineola Field, it was just 23 days, 6 hours and 15 minutes after the same crew had left that field in their Vickers-Vimy. This bea

ance. The sponsors for this first great Air Derby around the world, the prominent aero clubs of this country and the Eastern Hem

newspaper thinks it high time to declare itself opposed most vigorou

itle is a decided misnomer. It should have been termed a "Go-As-You-Please Derby." Not a single one of these contestants accomplished the girdle by airplane alone;

an the actual circumference of the universe on which we live? In a foot race around a circular track judges do not let sprinters pick out their own course and

ood has followed northerly routes averaging the 30th parallel, thus traversing only about 16,000 miles of the world's actual circumference of 24,899 miles; and these records have gone down as true and complete accomplish

t modern globe-trotters a whole year to go around the world by a route equal to or approximating the equatorial girth, th

stablish one? Let us run a pen through all these short-cut records of the past, and tur

true sportsman, and he realized the truth in the bold stand taken by the

ically. "Mr. Giddings may get a lot of criticism for this fro

early that almost anybody ought to realize the need of a fairer route after reading his statements. Ju

lared John, his brown cheeks glowing with deeper color at the thought; "I wouldn't care so muc

t that be a great

s. "When we get the Sky-Bird II done, why couldn't the three of us pick out a new course around the globe in her? If she's as good as we think she will be, we could

ea, as he stepped back and looked at the partly-assembled fuselage with a loving eye. "But, Bob, a tr

nd world routes at home to mother and me for the last three months, and maybe he will be in

hat Bob Giddings came to work wi

d, with a mysterious smile. "Take in what Mr. Wrenn, the edito

contemporary, the Daily Independent, in regard to around-the-world routes. It declared that it was physically impossible by any mode of modern travel to follow a ro

its claim? This is all bunk! We are so sure of it, that we right now challenge our misguided friend to run us a race around the world on a course of his own selection, at any

t night. 'I'll show both the Clarion and the public whether I'm a bluffer or not,' he said to mother. 'If it takes the last cent I've got I'll organize an expedition to meet their challenge and prove my theory to be the correct one.' Then I woke up to our opport

ed John and Paul, almo

n on the davenport. 'Robert,' he said, 'I'll think this matter over.' Then he lit a cigar

body. Somehow they had a feeling that the parts they were assembling with