I A- A Air AR lr R Race ace A Ad Accidents C l d ent I F FUR FOUR UR tragedies marked the first three days of the transcontinental I L Rental airplane ne race Two brave birdmen were killed while white ni making g a landing in Salt Lake City another perished in Wyoming ij the fourth in New York state stake f ve all have paid unusual attention to these accidents because i Ciao race c with Lake City as a control station has become sort o of a personal affair If the race had been confined to the Eastern I sates or if some other distant course had been ch chosen sen local interest i riot have been so ro o intense nor would the the accidents so have impressed h us It it is perhaps not justified to say that such accidents were to tobe bet be expected They were possibilities even even probabilities but they were were not expected The local accident was undoubtedly due to a I momentary bit of carelessness This explanation also holds for theNn there the r Nn New York state accident The Wyoming accident was caused by bya a severe evere s and unexpected snowstorm The risk incurred by the I. I aviators however appears to to be e eV even t less Jess than faced by automobile drivers who participate in a abi iii bi f lase e. e There is scarcely ly an auto race of miles mites or more in inc rl lucli f c 1 there does not occur at least one accident Auto race coins c coupes r s have seen frequent fatalities v t It is perhaps safe to say that if sixty auto racers racers started from New Nw York and fifteen from San Francisco these Francisco these figures denoting the nu number of airplanes in the present aerial classic classic in in a race alro across across s. s the continent the first three days would have been marked I b by bpi more more than one accident It is probable auto racing is the more I Dangerous of the two The fact is aeroplanes have been so perfected perfected per per- ted that the probability of an accident has been reduced to a minimum 1 I When aircraft ceases to appeal to us as a curiosity reports of accidents dents will have only minor interest for us about the same interest terest that now attaches to the average auto uto smashup I