Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 126, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 May 1919 — HAWKER TAKES FLING AT U. S. AIRMEN [ARTICLE]

HAWKER TAKES FLING AT U. S. AIRMEN

Speaking at a luncheon given by the London Daily Mail Wednesday in his honor, Harry S. Hawker deprecated the organization which had won for the United States, the honor of first crossing the Atlantic by a heavier than air machine. He declared that it was not a serious attempt with a ship stationed at “every twenty yards.” iHawker continued: “If you put a ship closer than every fifty miles, it shows you have no fight in your motor.” This was greeted with absolute silence pn the part of the men gathered at the luncheon, numbering between 250 and 300, nearly all of whom were British. A few minutes before they had cheered heartily the statement that the American navy aviators had been successful in reaching Europe. ■He declared that, although the weather was unfavorable, the success of the Americans in reaching the Azores forced him to start.