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Show SPEED. Whether or not absolute speed is by the human mind conceivable, it is certain cer-tain that an automobile driver has recently re-cently gone a long sep towards attaining attain-ing it. Flying along a strip of beach at Day-tona, Day-tona, Fla., Balph De Palma attained a rate of 150 miles an hour. That pace was recorded for the new kilometer mark which he set. For the mile, De Palma drove at the rate of about 149?4 miles an hour. De Palma 's 'feat is by long odds the highest rate of speed attained at-tained by a propelled vehicle on a surface. sur-face. In making his successful trials, De Palma used a thoroughly American car. His engine was tho aviation type, thus far the best motor built. A pleasing feature of De Palma 's achievement was that he shattered each and every record made by a German machine known as the Blitzcn Benz. First reports of the time made by De Palma at various distances have been slightly modified through official corrections. cor-rections. The acepted marks now stand as follows: 1 kilometer 15. So 1 mile 24.02 2 miles 49. 54 3 miles 1:15.04 4 miles 1:39.71 5 miles 2:04. 5S 10 miles . .' 4:09.31 20 miles S:54.20 The driver found conditions on the Daytona course only fairly good. The greatest drawback to still greater speed was the softness of the sand. Another difficulty experienced was the matter of keeping the car on the ground. There must be a pan or bottom under the chassis, and at high speed this becomes virtually an airplane, the compression of air underneath frequently lifting the automobile off the track. It seems incredible that one can travel at a speed of 150 miles an hour, yet De Palma thinks that three miles a minute, or ISO miles an hour, is practicable. prac-ticable. To accomplish this increase, however, there piust be greater strength of wheel and tire so that the automobile automo-bile will hold together. The principal records which De Palma excelled have long endured. The late Bob Burman covered a mile at Daytona beach in 1911 in 25.4 seconds. Slightly faster than Burman 's time was made at Ostend, Belgium, in 1913, when Arthur Duray did the kilometer at a speed of 142.9 miles an hour, but Duray 's record was not accepted as official because he had failed to observe some rule governing govern-ing tests in Europe. In the face of De Palma 's performance, perform-ance, the celebrated Mr. Mercury will have to go out and get a reputation if he hopes to compete in contests 'of swiftness. |