L’Écho d’Alger
- Aviator Tarascon to attempt the Atlantic crossing
- Council of Ministers
- Before the Congress of the Radical and Radical Socialist Party
L'Écho d'Alger's front page of 9 October 1926 led with an interview, reprinted from a Paris paper, in which the aviator Paul Tarascon flatly denied a New York report that he had taken a $25,000 American offer to fly New York–Paris. He said the money was simply Orteig's prize, that he was still preparing a Paris–New York flight with no fixed date, and he described his wooden parasol monoplane, his plan to ride high-altitude counter-trades against the west wind, and a 33-hour crossing from Étampes. The same column carried colonial-policy opinion pieces. Beside it, the Council of Ministers report covered an administrative decentralisation decree, preparations for one-year military service, merchant-marine economies and an automatic Paris telephone network. Le Journal was quoted asking whether Maurice Sarraut would agree to succeed Herriot as Radical Party president at the Bordeaux congress.
Translation
Aviator Tarascon to attempt the Atlantic crossing
46, Rue d'Isly, 46 Telephone: 21 73 Telegraphic address: ÉCHO
THE GREAT LONG-DISTANCE FLIGHTS
Aviator Tarascon will attempt the crossing of the Atlantic
Tarascon between his wife and his sister-in-law.
An interview with Paul Tarascon
HE SPEAKS OF HIS HOPE OF REACHING THE GOAL
Paris, October 8. – A dispatch from New York announced yesterday that the American Aeronautical Association of Washington had admitted Paul Tarascon to its ranks and had offered this aviator the sum of 25,000 dollars to undertake the New York–Paris flight. The note added that the aviator had accepted and that he would take off on the 31st of this month aboard a Bernard monoplane.
One of our Parisian colleagues then called on Paul Tarascon and obtained the following interview from him:
“We caught M. Tarascon just out of bed, his hair bound in a silk stocking and draped in an exotic kimono.
– We are glad to reach you just before you embark for America, we told him as we came in.
– My embarkation?... That's news to me...
– But what about the 25,000 dollars you are being offered to cross the Atlantic from New York to Paris...
– Absolutely false. I am still actively pursuing my plan for a Paris–New York flight, but there has never been any question of my going to take off from America. As for the 25,000 dollars, they are nothing other than the reward put up by M. Orteig for the aviator who succeeds in the crossing. So far, it is [?] who has made the [?] by paying 100 dollars for my entry.
Another thing... People must know that no precise date has been set for our departure. You are well aware that setting up a flight of this importance takes several months of study and fine-tuning. One runs up against a host of unforeseen details, and it would be very risky to say: we leave on such-and-such a day... Nevertheless, if, as we hope, our preparations follow their regular course, our machine will be able to fly in a few days. We will then have to wait, before leaving, for the full moon, which will appear on the 11th of this month. In any case, we fully hope to leave before the end of the year.
– Are you not afraid that the weather will then be unfavourable?
– No, it is obviously the last limit, but October is still very propitious for us. As for the west wind, which has led some to say that the crossing as we propose it was almost impossible, experience teaches us that we will avoid it quite well by climbing to a certain altitude: at 2 or 3,000 metres we will find the counter-trades, which on the contrary will help us in our task.
THE MODEL TRANSATLANTIC AIRPLANE
While talking, Tarascon shows us the plan of the airplane that is to carry him to the shores of the new continent.
– As you know, he explains, the machine was specially designed for our flight. For three years I have been studying the possibilities of accomplishing it. You know how last year an accident interrupted our trials in the seventh hour of flight, when we were attempting a thirty-hour test flight over an aerodrome. Today, strengthened by my experience, I am certain that I possess the model transatlantic airplane. It is a parasol monoplane built entirely of wood (450 hp engine, air-cooled). Here are the wings, trapezoidal and rounded at the tips. Their span is 18 metres. They are sixty centimetres thick. In all, a weight of 4,500 kilos, load included. The cabin, placed in the fuselage, which is 11 metres 50 long, has been particularly carefully studied. In front it has two pilot seats. The navigator will sit at the rear. He will have a table in front of him to spread out his charts, take his position, etc... Nothing is lacking. I am counting on an hourly average of 185 kilometres. Leaving from Étampes, we could at that speed reach New York 33 hours later.
– And in case of a breakdown?
– Very simple. As we have no means of laying out a chain of ships along our route, we will empty our tanks, which will form a caisson and allow us to float until help arrives.
– And now, allow a perhaps indiscreet question: who will be the second pilot of the expedition?
Tarascon hesitates a little, then: I prefer not to name him yet, but you may be sure of it, he will be a great ‘ace,’ a former war pilot.”
For the development of our Colonies
INITIATIVES MUST NOT BE DISCOURAGED
Paris, October 8. – It must be known, writes M. Proust, deputy, in the Dépêche Coloniale, that our veterinarians, our agronomists, our foresters serving in the colonies are thinking of leaving the administration for private employment. Young men in the schools are losing interest in the technical career [...] surprises. But in the meantime, let us be content to exploit the riches it offers us in broad daylight, and for that let us not discourage those who drive its agricultural exploitation.
IT IS USEFUL TO CARRY OUT A BETTER DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATIONS
In the same newspaper, M. André Hesse writes: Our colonial empire is not at all homogeneous, and nothing can better bring out this character than the study of the human geography of our greater France. Does it not show, for example, the deltas of Indo-
Council of Ministers
...: ÉCHO ALGER
Council of Ministers
Paris, October 8. – The ministers met in Council this morning at the Élysée, under the chairmanship of M. Doumergue. M. Briand gave the Council an account of the foreign situation. M. Barthou is designated to represent the government and to speak in its name on October 24 at the ceremony inaugurating the monument erected at Nogent-le-Rotrou to the memory of Paul Deschanel. M. Sarraut set out before the Council, which approved them, the general provisions of the decree that will shortly be published and that provides for the whole set of measures of administrative decentralization and deconcentration. M. Painlevé outlined the main lines of the bills on cadres and strengths and on recruitment, which are to be submitted for prior opinion to the Superior War Council and are intended to prepare one-year military service. M. Tardieu made known the reforms and economies he has decided to carry out in the merchant marine services: the services of the commercial fleet will be merged with those of naval construction; the bureaux will be reduced from 18 to 13; in several military posts, positions will be abolished in the central administration of the directorate, and several districts of the Maritime Inspection will disappear. The limits of the Inscription maritime, which are at present fixed at the points on rivers where the tide is felt, that is to say, in the case of the Seine and the Garonne, more than 100 kilometres from the mouth, will be revised; the burdens of the Caisse des invalides and of the Caisse de prévoyance will be appreciably lightened by this reform, long demanded by seafarers. The minister also proposes a number of new revenues and announces the reorganization of the entire corps of the Inscription maritime. The Council, on the report of M. Bokanowski, decides to undertake immediately the conversion of the Paris telephone network to “automatic.” Because of the holding of the Radical Congress in Bordeaux, next Friday's Council of Ministers is postponed to Sunday, October 17.
M. Steeg's policy in Morocco
Paris, October 8. – In the course of an interview between a correspondent of Le Matin and M. Steeg, the resident general made the following statements:
Before the Congress of the Radical and Radical Socialist Party
25 CENTIMES
Before the Congress of the Radical and Radical Socialist Party
WILL M. MAURICE SARRAUT ACCEPT M. HERRIOT'S SUCCESSION?
Paris, October 8. – We read in Le Journal: The Radical congress will open with the speech of the president, M. Herriot, who, by the welcome given him, will certainly provide valuable indications about the orientation of the assembly. Speeches are also announced by MM. Joseph Caillaux, Franklin-Bouillon, Camille Chautemps, Daladier, Malvy. At the close of the congress, there will be [?], as is customary, the election of the party president. Numerous ambitions have come to light on this subject among the young. But, on the one hand, M. Herriot's friends are begging the Minister of Public Instruction to let them put forward his candidacy, assuring him of his re-election; and, on the other hand, Radicals anxious to avoid a vote that might be stormy are trying to get M. Maurice Sarraut to accept a candidacy against which no one would rise, all the politicians likely to dispute M. Herriot's chair with him having declared that they would stand aside for him. But M. Maurice Sarraut has not yet accepted.
AT THE RADICAL-SOCIALIST FEDERATION OF THE SEINE
Paris, October 8. – The Radical and Radical-Socialist Federation of the Seine met yesterday evening. It unanimously voted a resolution affirming its unshakeable attachment to the policy of the union of the left, “condemning any concession to the policy of the Bloc National, responsible for the financial and other difficulties in which the country is struggling.”
Diplomatic changes
Paris, October 8. – Le Journal writes:
Context
The $25,000 Tarascon mentioned was the Orteig Prize
Tarascon's correction of the New York dispatch makes sense once the prize rules are known. The New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig had offered $25,000 in 1919 to the first aviator of any Allied country to cross the Atlantic in one flight, explicitly from Paris to New York or New York to Paris. So a French flyer could compete from his own side of the ocean, which is exactly what Tarascon insisted on doing. After the original offer lapsed without a winner, Orteig reissued it on 1 June 1925 by depositing $25,000 in securities at the Bryant Bank. That renewal is what made 1926 a year of serious preparation on both sides of the Atlantic. The New York dispatch about an American association paying Tarascon to start from New York therefore confused an open prize with a sponsorship deal. Tarascon himself put it right in the interview, describing the money as Orteig's reward for whoever succeeded and mentioning a 100-dollar entry payment.
Fonck's crash and the difficulty of flying westward
The interview appeared only weeks after the first serious attempt on the Orteig Prize ended in disaster. In 1926 a team led by the French ace René Fonck, backed by Igor Sikorsky, tried to fly from New York to Paris. In September the heavily overloaded aircraft crashed in flames on takeoff, and two of Fonck's companions, Clavier and Islamoff, were killed. Tarascon's remarks about the west wind answer the other main objection to his plan. A Paris–New York crossing ran against the prevailing winds and was considered the harder direction. Tarascon claimed he could escape this by climbing to 2,000 or 3,000 metres to find helpful counter-trades, but that was his own forecast in the interview. His confident talk of emptying the fuel tanks to float after a ditching also reflects how real the danger of failure in mid-ocean was in autumn 1926.
What became of Tarascon's transatlantic plan
Tarascon never made the flight he described. Later accounts record that the navigator François Coli originally planned his transatlantic crossing with his wartime comrade Paul Tarascon, a 12-victory ace, and that the pair became interested in the Orteig Prize in 1925. In late 1926 an accident destroyed their Potez 25 biplane. Tarascon was badly burned and gave up his place as pilot to Charles Nungesser. The paper describes a wooden parasol monoplane, while the later account names a Potez 25 biplane, and that account does not explain how the two relate. Nungesser and Coli took off from Paris on 8 May 1927 in L'Oiseau Blanc and were last seen over Ireland. The prize then went the other way. Charles Lindbergh reached Paris after a flight of 33 hours 30 minutes, almost exactly the 33 hours Tarascon had predicted for his own crossing.
Maurice Sarraut and the Radical Party presidency
The paper presents Maurice Sarraut as the consensus candidate whom rivals would not oppose, but who had not yet agreed to replace Herriot. The Senate's biography of Sarraut records that in 1926 he was president of the Radical and Radical-Socialist Party. That fits with his having accepted the succession discussed here, although the biography gives neither the date nor the details of the Bordeaux vote. His standing explains why others were willing to stand aside. Sarraut was senator for the Aude, and the same biography describes him as the real political master of the South-West through his role at La Dépêche de Toulouse, the great Radical daily of the region. He was also the older brother of Albert Sarraut, another leading Radical, so the family name appears more than once on this front page.
Original
L'aviateur Tarascon va tenter la traversée de l'Atlantique
46, Rue d'Isly, 46 Téléphone: 21 73 Adresse télég.: ÉCHO LES GRANDS RAIDS AÉRIENS L'aviateur Tarascon va tenter la traversée de l'Atlantique Tarascon entre sa femme et sa belle-sœur. Une interview de Paul Tarascon IL DIT SON ESPOIR D'ATTEINDRE LE BUT Paris, 8 octobre. - Une dépêche de New-York annonçait, hier, que l'Association aéronautique américaine de Washington avait admis dans son sein Paul Tarascon et qu'elle avait offert à cet aviateur la somme de 25. 000 dollars, pour entreprendre le raid New-YorkParis. La note ajoutait que l'aviateur avait accepté et qu'il prendrait son vol, le 31 courant, à bord d'un monoplan Bernard. Un de nos confrères parisiens s'est alors rendu auprès de Paul Tarascon et en a obtenu l'interview suivante: «Nous avons surpris M. Tarascon au saut du lit, coiffé d'un bas de soie et drapé d'un exotique kimono. - Nous sommes heureux de vous joindre juste avant votre embarquement pour l'Amérique, lui avons-nous dit en entrant. - Mon embarquement?... première nouvelle... - Mais encore les 25. 000 dollars qu'on vous offre pour traverser l'Atlantique de New-York-à-Paris... - Absolument faux. Je poursuis toujours activement mon projet d'un raid Paris-New-York, mais il n'a jamais été question que j'aille prendre le départ en Amérique. Quant aux 25. 000 dollars, ils ne sont autres que la récompense allouée par M. Orteig à l'aviateur qui réussira la traversée. Jusqu'ici, c'est [?] qui ait fait la [?] en versant 100 dollars pour mon engagement. Autre chose... Il faut que l'on sache qu'aucune date précise n'a été fixée pour notre départ. Vous n'ignorez pas que pour mettre sur pied un raid de cette importance, il faut plusieurs mois d'étude et de mise au point. On se heurte à quantités de détails imprévus et bien risqué serait de dire: nous partons tel jour... Néanmoins, si comme nous l'espérons nos préparatifs suivent leur cours régulier, notre appareil pourra voler dans quelques jours. Il nous faudra alors attendre pour partir la pleine lune qui fera son apparition le 11 courant. De toutes façons, nous espérons bien partir avant la fin de l'année. - Ne craignez-vous pas que le temps soit alors peu favorable? - Non, c'est évidemment la dernière limite, mais octobre est encore très propice pour nous. Quant au vent d'ouest qui a fait dire à certains que la traversée comme nous nous la proposions était quasi impossible, l'expérience nous apprend que nous l'éviterons fort bien en montant à une certaine altitude: à 2 ou 3. 000 mètres nous trouverons les contre alizés qui nous aideront au contraire dans notre tâche. LE MODELE TYPE D'AVION TRANSATLANTIQUE Tout en parlant, Tarascon nous montre le plan de l'avion qui doit le transporter sur les rives du nouveau continent. - Vous le savez, explique-t-il, l'appareil a été spécialement conçu pour notre raid. Depuis trois ans, j'étudie les possibilités de l'accomplir. Vous savez comment l'année dernière un accident a interrompu nos essais à la septième heure de vol, alors que nous tentions un vol d'essai de trente heures au-dessus d'un aérodrome. Aujourd'hui, fort de mon expérience, j'ai la certitude de posséder le modèle type d'avion transatlantique. C'est un avion monoplan parasol construit entièrement en bois (moteur de 450 cv, à refroidissement par air). Voici les ailes trapézoïdales et arrondies aux extrémités. Leur envergure est de 18 mètres. Elles sont épaisses de soixante centimètres. En tout, un poids de 4. 500 kilos, charge comprise. La cabine placée dans le fuselage, long de 11 mètres 50, a été particulièrement étudiée. Elle comporte à l'avant deux places de pilotage. Le navigateur se tiendra à l'arrière. Il aura devant lui une table pour déployer ses cartes: faire son point, etc... Rien ne manque. J'escompte une moyenne horaire de 185 kilomètres. En partant d'Etampes, nous pourrons à cette allure atteindre New-York 33 heures après. - Et en cas de panne? - Très simple. Comme nous n'avons pas de moyens de nous tracer un jalonnement de navires, nous vidangerons nos réservoirs qui formeront caisson et nous permettront de flotter jusqu'à l'arrivée des secours. - Et maintenant, permettez une question peut-être indiscrète: qui sera le second pilote de l'expédition? Tarascon hésite un peu, puis: Je préfère ne pas le nommer encore, mais soyez en sûr, ce sera un grand «as», un ex-pilote de guerre. Pour la mise en valeur de nos Colonies IL NE FAUT PAS DECOURAGER LES INITIATIVES Paris, 8 octobre. - Il faut qu'on sache, écrit M. Proust, député, dans la Dépêche Coloniale, que nos vétérinaires, nos agriculteurs, nos forestiers en exercice aux colonies songent à quitter l'administration pour des emplois privés. Les jeunes gens des écoles se désintéressent de la carrière techsurprises. Mais, en attendant, contentons-nous d'exploiter les richesses qu'elle nous offre au grand jour, et pour cela ne décourageons pas les animateurs de leur exploitation agricole. IL EST UTILE DE PROCEDER A UNE MEILLEURE REPARTITION DES POPULATIONS Dans le même journal, M. André Hesse écrit: Notre empire colonial n'est point du tout homogène, et rien ne peut mieux en préciser ce caractère que l'étude de la géographie humaine de notre plus grande France. Celle-ci ne montre-t-elle point, par exemple, les deltas indo -
Conseil des Ministres
g.: ÉCHO ALGER Conseil des Ministres Paris, 8 octobre. - Les ministres se sont réunis ce matin en Conseil, à l'Elysée, sous la présidence de M. Doumergue. M. Briand a fait au Conseil l'exposé de la situation extérieure. M. Barthou est désigné pour représenter le gouvernement et prendre la parole en son nom le 24 octobre, à la cérémonie de l'inauguration du monument élevé à Nogent-le-Rotrou, à la mémoire de Paul Deschanel. M. Sarraut a exposé au Conseil, qui les approuva, les dispositions générales du décret qui sera prochainement publié et qui prévoit l'ensemble des mesures de décentralisation et de déconcentration administrative. M. Painlevé exposa les grandes lignes des projets de loi sur les cadres et effectifs, sur le recrutement, qui doivent être soumis pour avis préalable au Conseil Supérieur de la Guerre et ont pour objet de préparer le service militaire d'un an. M. Tardieu a fait connaître les réformes et les économies qu'il a décidé de réaliser dans les services de la marine marchande; les services de la flotte commerciale seront fusionnés avec ceux des constructions navales; les bureaux seront réduits de 18 à 13; dans plusieurs emplois militaires, des emplois seront supprimés à l'administration centrale de la direction et plusieurs quartiers de l'Inspection maritime disparaîtront. Les limites de l'Inscription maritime, qui sont actuellement fixées aux points des rivières où la marée se fait sentir, c'està-dire, en ce qui concerne la Seine et la Garonne, à plus de 100 kilomètres de l'embouchure, seront revisées; les charges de la Caisse des invalides et de la Caisse de prévoyance seront sensiblement allégées par cette réforme depuis longtemps réclamée par les gens de mer. Le ministre propose en outre un certain nombre de recettes nouvelles et annonce la réorganisation de l'ensemble du corps de l'Inscription maritime. Le Conseil, sur rapport de M. Bokanowski, décide d'entreprendre immédiatement la transformation en «automatique» du réseau téléphonique de Paris. En raison de la tenue du Congrès radical de Bordeaux, le Conseil des ministres de vendredi prochain est renvoyé à dimanche 17 octobre. La politique de M. Steeg au Maroc Paris, 8 octobre. - Au cours d'un entretien d'un correspondant du Matin avec M. Steeg, le résident général a fait les déclarations suivantes:
Avant le Congrès du Parti Radical et Radical Socialiste
25 CENTIMES Avant le Congrès du Parti Radical et Radical Socialiste M. MAURICE SARRAUT ACCEPTERA-T-IL LA SUCCESSION DE M. HERRIOT? Paris, 8 octobre. - On lit dans le Journal: Le congrès radical s'ouvrira par le discours du président, M. Herriot, qui, certainement, par l'accueil qui lui sera réservé, donnera de précieuses indications sur l'orientation de l'assemblée. On annonce aussi des discours de M. Joseph Caillaux, Franklin-Bouillon, Camille Chautemps, Daladier, Malvy. A l'issue du congrès, il sera [?] selon l'usage, à l'élection du président du parti. De nombreuses ambitions se sont révélées à ce propos parmi les jeunes. Mais, d'une part, les amis de M. Herriot supplient le ministre de l'Instruction publique de leur laisser poser sa candidature, l'assurant de sa réélection; et, d'autre part, des radicaux désireux d'éviter un scrutin qui pourrait être mouvementé, essaient d'obtenir de M. Maurice Sarraut qu'il accepte une candidature contre laquelle nul ne s'élèverait, tous les hommes politiques susceptibles de lui disputer le fauteuil de M. Herriot ayant déclaré qu'ils s'effaceraient devant lui. Mais M. Maurice Sarraut n'a pas encore accepté. A LA FEDERATION RADICALESOCIALISTE DE LA SEINE Paris, 8 octobre. - La Fédération radicale et radicale-socialiste de la Seine s'est réunie hier soir. Elle a voté à l'unanimité un ordre du jour affirmant son inébranlable attachement à la politique d'union des gauches, «réprouvant toute concession à la politique du Bloc National, responsable des difficultés financières et autres dans lesquelles se débat le pays». Mouvement diplomatique Paris, 8 octobre. - Le Journal écrit: