k."

Shoulder to shoulder, the two brothers leaned over the bench and read
as follows:

"AROUND-THE-WORLD" RECORDS

The world has just witnessed the finish of another effort on the part
of mankind to circle the globe in record-breaking time. And once more
the newspapers of the universe, and the sporting chroniclers, are
registering a new record in this class of 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 beats the former record of 36 days and some odd hours, made in
1913 by John Henry Mears, by the substantial margin of approximately 12
days. It is a big gain--a startlingly short time for encompassing the
world as compared with the efforts of the past.

All of the three contesting crews to finish have broken Mears's record,
and deserve great credit for their praise-worthy performance. The
sponsors for this first great Air Derby around the world, the prominent
aero clubs of this country and the Eastern Hemisphere, also deserve
much praise for conceiving and promoting such a successful contest, and
in posting such magnificent prizes.

But, in the interests of other similar tours likely to follow, this
newspaper thinks it high time to declare itself opposed most vigorously
to two fundamental features governing the competition just closed.

First, why was this contest called by its promoters an "Air Derby"? In
our opinion, with rules allowing the use of other modes of travel as
well as aircraft, the title 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; every winner
took a steamship across the Pacific. Here's hoping that when another
'round-the-world contest is pulled off it will be tagged with a title
which fits.

Second, when a specific record trip around the world is promulgated, is
it scientifically correct to take a route which is approximately 30 per
cent shorter than 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 "cut across lots" whenever they
choose. Nor is it allowed in horse races, auto races, or any form of
sport where time records are registered on curving courses.

The _Daily In