PRESIDENT COOLIDGE BESTOWS LINDBERGH AWARD 



137 



will unite more closely the nations than 

 they are to-day." 



DR. GROSVIiNOR PRESENTS SECRETARY 

 MAC CRACKEN 



Introducing the Hon. William P. Mac- 

 Cracken, Assistant Secretary of Com- 

 merce for Aeronautics, Dr. Grosvenor 

 said : 



"Colonel Lindbergh's travels by air 

 have done so much for 'the increase and 

 diffusion of geographic knowledge' — the 

 purposes for which the National Geo- 

 graphic Society was founded — that he 

 will, we think, be interested to know that 

 participating in the presentation of this 

 medal are members of this Society resid- 

 ing in 169 countries and mandatories. 



"Its membership reaches to the utter- 

 most corners of the globe and even to its 

 most isolated and remote islands. 



"For instance, sharing in the pleasure 

 of this award to him are 11,000 members 

 in Australia and New Zealand, 200 in the 

 Fiji Islands, 450 in Java and Sumatra, 

 10,000 in Central and South America. 

 28,000 in Europe, 50,000 in Canada, and 

 more than one million members in the 

 United States. 



"Many thousands of members are lis- 

 tening in to-night, and to them The So- 

 ciety sends greetings (see text, page 139). 



"I now have the honor to present the 

 distinguished Assistant Secretary of Com- 

 merce for Aeronautics, the Honorable 

 William P. MacCracken." 



"sinner and SAINT PRAYED FOR HIS 



success" 



Mr. MacCracken said : 



"We have just been privileged to wit- 

 ness the conferring of the highest award 

 which the National Geographic Society 

 bestows upon explorers. 



"The President had previously ex- 

 pressed the Nation's regard for its recipi- 

 ent and his great achievement, when he 

 welcomed Colonel Lindbergh upon his re- 

 turn from France. 



"An unknown civilian aviator, working 

 for an air-mail contractor, he took leave 

 to fly from New York to Paris. For 33 

 hours and 29 minutes he held the atten- 

 tion of the entire civilized world. Irre- 

 spective of nationality, creed, or occupa- 

 tion, sinner and saint prayed for his 



success. When at the end of their vigil 

 he was acclaimed the victor, nations were 

 brought to a clearer realization of the 

 brotherhood of man, and the cause of 

 civilian aviation was advanced to an ex- 

 tent which gold alone could never pur- 

 chase. 



"Great as his achievement was and deep 

 as it endeared him in the hearts of his fel- 

 low countrymen, the conduct of Colonel 

 Lindbergh since landing at Le Bourget 

 has done more to inspire admiration for 

 him and faith in the youth of to-day than 

 did his flight itself. 



"We in aviation recognize in the Presi- 

 dent one of the great men who has served 

 this Nation as its Chief Executive. His 

 keen interest in all phases of aeronautics 

 has been in a large measure responsible 

 for the progress made during the past 

 few years. His recognition of these trans- 

 oceanic flyers and their deeds is appreci- 

 ated not only by them, but by all the aero- 

 nautic fraternity. 



aviation's gift to geography 



"We have foregathered here as mem- 

 bers of one of the world's greatest socie- 

 ties. Its primary purpose, inspired by 

 altruistic motives, is to collect and diffuse 

 geographic knowledge. All forms of 

 transportation have proven valuable ad- 

 juncts toward accomplishing these aims; 

 but none has ever presented possibilities 

 as great as those offered by aeronautics. 



"Exploration and travel are indispensa- 

 ble to geographic education. Expeditions 

 which heretofore cost months in time and 

 much in human hardships and sacrifice can 

 now be accomplished in a matter of hours, 

 with less exposure of personnel, by means 

 of aircraft. Hazards there will always be 

 in pioneering, but these are but an item in 

 the sum total of the price of progress. 

 Every achievement takes its toll, and we, 

 who are the beneficiaries of what has gone 

 before, do well to pay tribute to our con- 

 temporaries who have made their contri- 

 bution to the well-being of posterity. 



"In an era teeming with invention and 

 its resulting application to commerce and 

 industry, it is difficult to ascribe to each 

 its true value. The use of aircraft con- 

 serves time — the stuff that life is made 

 of — facilitates travel, bringing together in 

 closer relationships and better understand- 



