The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-10-26
Wellman and Crew as Daring
as Columbus.
STORY OF The HISTORIC TRIP.
With a Kitten For q Mascot Six
Brave Men in a Big Airship Be-
tween Sky and Sea Attempted a
Dangerous Trip.

New IOrk.-Walter Wellman and
his five companions were landed
here by the steamship Trent, which
picked them up at sea after they
had abandoned their dirigible bal
loon America and failed in the first
attempt ever made to cross the At
lantic through the air. A bruised
right hand which Wellman carried
in a sling was the only physical in
jury that resulted from their long
voyage of approximately 900 miles
and a rescue the like of which is
unknown to all history.
The America was abandoned
where the rescue occurred in lati-
tude 35.43, longitude 6S.1S. This
brings to a climax one of the mos
remarkable flights by an airshir
ever undertaken. That the climax
was not accompanied by a tragedy
is considered a matter of excep-
tionally good fortune.
None of the aeronauts expressed
regret for the loss of the America
They agreed that it had served its
purpose and taught its lesson. All
stand ready to renew the attempt
as soon as Wellman and his engi-
neers find a way to conquer the diff
ficulties that brought their first trip
to it's thrilling end 400 miles south
east of Sandy Hook.
Standing on the deck of the Trent
Wellman made this statement:
I'VE thought we could not get
along without the e%quilibrator. Now
we find we could not get along with
it. Our plans for the future are in
definite until we find something
that will do what we thought the
equilibrator would do"
The "equlibrator," to which Well
man attributes the failure of his
voyage, was the series of tanks con-
tanning gasoline, which floated' in
the water, attached to the airship
by a long rope. o.
The direct cause for abandoning
the America was the exhaustion OF
the supply of gasoline, which had
to be thrown out to save the ship.
When the crew abandoned the ship,
only enough was left to last about
"a hours.
The other members of the Amer
ica's crew said they felt as we'll as
ever, and they looked it. They are:
Melvin Vaniman, the engineer; ].
Murray Simons, the navigator; j. X.
Irwin, the wireless operator, and
Albert T. Loud and John Auburt,
the air sailors.
There was also the gray kitten,
which was taken in charge after the
flight by Mr.. Vaniman and christen-
ed Trent.
The Trent was forced to anchor
off Sandy Hook and there she re-
NAMED until the fog lifted to make
it safe for her to come up the
harbor.
Meanwhile a party of those near
est and dearest to the shipwrecked
aeronauts had taken a tug and gone
as far as the quarantine station
to meet them. In this party were
Mrs. Wellman, Mrs. Vaniman, Mrs.
Leroy Chamberlain, Wellman's mar
ried daughter, and his two unmar-
ried daughters, and Mrs. Sarah
Loud, mother of Mrs. Vaniman and
of Albert L. Loud.
With tears in her eyes Mrs. Well
man embraced her husband and
kissed him on both cheeks. The
aged Mrs. Loud stood weeping, with
one arm around the neck of her son
and the other about her son-in-law,
while Mrs. Vaniman, also in tears of
joy hung on her husbands arm.
1t was the Morse lamp winking it's
message through the darkness that
just preceded the dawn of Tuesday
morning and not the wireless that
first attracted the attention of those
on board the Royal Mail steamer
Trent to the distressed airship. STAN
r-1I CL--.r Do%crooa