The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-10-18
Intrepid Air Navigator and Party Are Somewhere
 On the Atlantic
NO MESSAGE RECEIVED IN MANY LONG HOURS
Wireless Calls Have Been Sent Ont in All Directions But Nothing Has Been Heard From the
 VOyagers

New York, October 17.-Over the i waste of the Atlantic, in a position
 which can only be broadly approxi-
 mated as somewhere off the coast of New England or Nova Scotia, Walter
 Wellmans airship America is in all probability pursuing its lonely flight in the general direction of the north ern steamship lanes with it's ultimate destination as the British Islands. | In the absence of any direct word
 from the air navigators or of any pos- itive information whatever since Sun
 day noon as to their fate. the most reasonable conjecture in the minds of their friends and supporters is that they are still pointing toward the goal. It is the natural contention that lack of definite news by no means detracts from the hopeful outlook and that the
 failure to receive a message implies merely that either no steamship has come within the Americas wireless ra-
 dius or that she Is conserving her | electrical resources for supreme struggle against obstacles to come.
 As nearly as can be computed the | great balloon. if 1t has met no un- toward accident, ought to be in sns neighborhood of the Sable Island some lime tonight with Cape Race $50 miles | away as the next and last stage of voyage before the final turn across the open seas.
 Tho widespread interest in the voyage | finds its most striking expression in | the tfreless efforts of incoming steam CTS to get into wireless touch. All l day procession of liners approach | ing the western coast have sent out | the prearranged call, 'W,'' but no an swering sound reached them up to late hour tonight Comforting news was the assurance that fair weather has ruled since Sunday along the north l Atlantic steamer route and that mod 1 crate westerly windy and fair skies' was the forecast for some time to come The most definite information on which the position of the airship might be more
 accurately determined came in a late opinion from the weather bureau that
 she had been forced south of the desired | route by the northwesterly winds which
 have blown since Sunday. This theory
 would also account for the peculiar ab- | sence of word by wrelss despite the
 wide range of latitude of westbound ships.
 All wireless stations along the Atlantic | seaboard from Siasconsett north to the l remote Canadian points are awake for l any message but up to midnight no flash had come out of the east.
 No Word By Wireless | Siasconsett. Mass. October 17.-Five | westbound Atlantic liners, all in touch
 with each other and all anxious for news
 of Walter Wellman, reported to the | wireless station here at various inter- | vals today that they had seen nothing | and heard nothing, either directly or in directly of his dirigible arishp America | and her crew of six-seven, if the mas l cot kitten Is counted.
 The first ship to call the operator con- | stantly on duty here was the Finland, | then no miles east of Nantucket at 5:05 | this morning. Then came in succession the Main for Philadelphia, the Ryndam, the Niagara and finally the Kron Prinx | Wilhelm for New York.
 1 Not a word had they heard
 | All five ships had sent out the pre- arranged call ''W' at frequent intervals, | but no word out of the silence had como back to any of them.
 Just before the America drifted out of touch with the world her wireless oper- ator warned the station here that juice was precious" The gasoline mo- tors were not then running and he was depending for his sending spark on the reserve supply in the storage batteries | If the America was still running be- fore the wind with power shut of 1t was | therefore thought here today that she might be husbanding her strength for a crucial need.
 l Out of Communication | Washington. October 17.-walter We'll man and the balloon America" now are, in position, an undetermined distance off the eastern coast and south of the North | Atlantic steamer line in which com munication with steamships is unlike ly.
 This Is the opinion of officials of the United States Weather Bureau tonight who determined. after an analysis of weather conditions in the North Att lantic that the giant balloon had been forced south of the steamship route by the northwesterly winds which have pre- vailed over that territory for several days. For the next two days at least, for the region now being traversed by wellman and his crew the weather offi- cials give assurances of continued fair weather which should be Ideal to fur ther the progress of the America toward European shores. The forecast for the North Atlantic steamer route includes moderate westerly winds and fair skies to prevail for several days to come.