Daily Kennebec journal., 1910-10-24
Nav Have Landed in un-
explored Canadian wi|ds,
Gernania Pilots Reach Railroad
After Hard Struggle.
America Last Seen Flying u'gh IN
Direction Of Ungava.

Montreal. Oct. 23--It is the opinion
of August Blackerts. aide of the pal
loon Germania, that Allan r. HaWiey
and Augustus Post of New York, pilot
and aide, respectively, of the America
II. which left st. Louis last Monoay
and from whom no word has since
been received, are fighting for tnelr
lives through the wilderness of north
ern Quebec.
Mr.. BIanckerts arrived here yester-
dav from La Tuque, Que, some dls-
tance from the spot where the Ger
mania landed on Wednesday. He ana
Cant. Hugo Won Abercron had des-
perate time after coming to earth'
Thev were 32 hours forcing their way
through an unbroken forest TO the
railway line with only few crusts
of bread for sustenance. Their cloth
ing was torn to shreds and they were
almost in a state of collapse when
they struck the railroad. There they
met a construction gang and from
them learned that "a large yellow pal
loon preceded the Germania over prac-
tically the same route by half an hour
The railroad men told Blanckerts that
the other balloon was very high up
and made the same altitude until she
passed out of sight toward the Ungava
wilderness.
Mr. Blanckerts expressed the opin-
ion that the balloon was the America
II. Col. Theodore Schaeick, pilot OF
the Helvetia, met Mr.. Blanckerts here
Saturday night and after comparing
notes found that the Germania had
gone 100 miles farther than the Hell
vetia. The Dusseldorf III. according to
unofficial estimates, exceeded the dis
tance record of the Germania by about
70 miles.
The Germania came to earth at Ills
A. M. Wednesday. At that time there
was still considerable ballast on board
and the big balloon could have kept in
the air for several hours longer. but
Capt. Won Abercron feared that they
were passing entirely beyond the lines
of civilization and it was that reason
that prompted him to land. Col.
Schaeick of the Helvetia came down
for the same reason. He had enough
ballast to last 48 hours. he said.
1t had been generally believed that
the balloons could not have been kept
afioat later than Wednesday night,
but the evidence of Won Atercron
and Schaeick has exploded this the
ory and if the America II kept them
company" into the far north her crew
may still be struggling through the
almost impossible forests Of the I'm
gava wilderness, many thousand
miles from succor.
St. Louis. Mo. Oct. 23.-With the
America II, Allan r. HaWley, pilot,
and August Post. aid, still unaccount-
ed for the relative positions of the
nine other balloons in the interna-
tional race which started from here
last Monday. were figured out tonight
by Lieut.. Drew of the Missouri Sig
nal Corps and lis photographic expert
for the Aero Club of st. Louis.
Lieut.. Drew gives the distances
travelled by three leading aeronauts
unot!icially as fellows
Dusseldorf IL Germany Hans
Gericke. pilot. S. F. Perkins, aid,l and
ed at Kiskisin Que, Wednesday morn
ing about AZ hours in air, distance
about 100 miles.
Germania (Germany) Hugo Won
Ahercron. pilot August Blanckerts
aide. landed at Coocoocache, Que,
Wednesday morning: about 43 hours
in air; distance about 1040 miles.
Helvetia (Suitzerland) Theodore
Schaeck. pilot: A. A. Armbruster
aid, landed near Vile Marie. Que,
Wednesdays about 46 hours in air.
distance aho,,Y SSn ,,,;Io,
Lewis Spindler, representative of the
Aero Club of st. Louis, left tonight
fer Toronto. where he will organize
a relief expedition to search for Allan
X Hawley. pilot, and Augustus Post.
aid, and the missing balloon America
III. He is due in Toronto tomorrow
afternoon and will at once confer with
Lieut.. Governor Gibson and other
Canadian officers.
The plan is to send one relief ex-
pedition to northern Ontario and
Quebec. while the other will scour the
Georgian Bay region. Aero Club off,
GERS believe that Hawley and Post
are far beyond Georgian bay.
kiskisink. Que, 23-The balloon
Dusseldorf III which landed on
Wednesday 100 miles northeast of
Quebec. had perilous journey of 1910
miles, attaining speed at one time
of IS miles an hour. Messrs. Gericke
and Perkins. the aeronauts. say they
could have foated longer. having Is
bags of ballast still in store, but
feared going farther into the wilder
ness. Their route was from st. Louis
to Milwaukee, thence almost northest.
After crossing Lake Michigan with
good wind they were becalmed for
five hours. Then they struck a storm
oeit and flew across the continent at
great speed, making a landing very
dangerous.