Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-10-21
DEscENDs IN OCEAN,.
Daring Balloon Party Picked Up OFF
Cape Hatteras


New York, October 1S.-Mans first
attempt to cross any ocean i'm an air
ship has failed, but Walter Wellman.
five companions, and kitten, who es-
sayed the voyage, are safe. The air
ship-the giant America-is a battered
aerial derelict, abandoned at sea, per-
haps still in the air. perhaps sunk be-
meath the waves with her costly equip
ment. When deserted she had been in
the air probably 70 hours, a new
, worlds record for dirigibles, and driv-
en- by the wind had travelled doubtless
500 miles. Whether the distance rec
ord for dirigibles-S70 miles-also will
be broken. remains to be computed
Picked up by the steamship Trent
early this morning off the North Caro-
lima coast, Welman. and his fellow air
navigators are due in New York at
noon tomorrow. They left their craft
because she was In distress and blown
so far from the lane OF the Atlantic
the voyage with the British isles as the
objective point was hopeless. So, sum-
moning aid by wireless, the difficult
and dramatic transfers to the Trent
was accomplished and the America
was left to the fate of the winds.
For an incident without parallel in
history-the transfer Of passengers
from an airship to steamship
meagre were the details obtainable by
wireless during the day. Wireless, at
all times more or less uncertain, was
rendered more so by the tropical storm
which swept northward but tonight
wireless stations in the vicinity Of New
York picked up from the Trent a word
here and a word there amplifying on
the earlier dispatches.
1t was learned that Wellman had
found 1t necessary to rid the airship of
the burden of most Of it's gasoline, re-
tanning only enough to reach land in
the event the Trent had not come to
the rescue. When the steamship heed
ed the calls Of distress and drew near
it's aerial sister, Wellman shouted his
predicament through megaphone and
decided that he would lower his life
boat. which swung from the dirigible's
belly. AS a precaution the Trent low
cred her life boats which stood by un-
til the transfer was effected and Well
men and his companions, even down to
the frightened, squirning kitten, were
safe on board the liner surrounded by
the excited passengers.
The rescue was accomplished at a
time when two continents awaited
breathlessly the fate of the dirigible
and her crew.
Having been spoken by wireless pre-
sumably in the vicinity Of Nantucket
at 12.45 p. m, on Sunday, it was sur
prise then when the news came that
the American had encountered the
Trent, homeward bound from Bermu-
da, in a longitude and latitude nearly
400 miles southwark and only $50 miles
northwest Of Bermuda. Thrilling must
have been the experiences Of the
Americas commander and crew as
they were thus swept from their
course
Captain Down of the Trent, flashed
first news of the rescue in a message
to the New York Times, which with
the Chicago Record Herald, and the
London Daily Telegraph contributed
$4,000 for the purpose of the expedi-
ton.
Captain Down also advised Sander
son & Son, New York agents for the
Royal Mail Steamship Packet line.
Subsequently more details came in a
dispatch to the Associated Press.
Further wireless messages reaching
New York tonight say one of the
Americas motors had broken which
made more serious the predicament,
when all the gasoline that could be
spared was cast into the sea.
The America is. or was 22S feet long
and SO feet in diameter, with lifting
capacity Of 23,650 pounds. The envel-
ope alone weighed two tons. There
were three gasoline engines aboard,
two of from so to 80 horsepower for the
propellers and the smaller for the
operations Of donkey engine. Taken
as a whole, the craft was practically
the same in which Wellman made his
two starts for the north pole in 1907
and 1909 respectively. Neither Of these
attempts was successful; both were
made from SpitZbergen, one of group
Of islands in the Arctic ocean between
Franz Josef Land and Greenland.
On board Steamer Trent, Oct. 1S.-
By United Wireless to New York.
The crew of the airship America, in
abandoning their craft, lowered them
selves into the life boat, which swung
beneath it. They then cast the life boat
off and were afloat on the sea. The
airship, relieved of the weight Of the
lifeboat, shot upward high into the air,
and was rapidly blown away. The
transfer of the Wellman party from
the lifeboat to the Trent was effected
with much difficulty.
At 4.30 a. m, today, the steamer
Trent sighted the airship America and
wireless communication was immedi-
ately established, Irwin, the operator
on the airship, informed Ginsburg, the
operator on the Trent, that the airship
Americas crew wished to abandon the
balloon. Wireless communication was
kept up from this time on between the
airship and the steamer.
Daylight was rapidly approaching
and the Trent was requested to follow
the America, which was then drifting
at the rate of twelve miles an hour.
After a council held on the airship,
it was decided that the only means of
rescue was the lifeboat. But this was
such a hazardous undertaking that
much time elapsed before the ma
noeuvrng was executed, as the tail of
the airship, consisting Of tanks of
gasoline and wooden blocks, threatened
to capsiZe the lifeboat as it was drop
ped from the balloon into the water.
This danger was at last overcome and
the operation was carried out with
success. In the operation the trailer
struck Wireless Operator Jack Irwin
and Louis Loud, the engineer and al