New-York tribune., 1910-12-24
When Last Seen. Thursday
Afternoon. English Aviator
Was Over Goodwin Sands.
SHIPS SEARCH NORTH SEA
Believed That He Lost His Bear.
ings in Recrossing the Chan
mel from Calais to
Dover,

| from ,ec1l D tITdce. the young aviator
who disappeared on Thursday afternoon
while essaying return cross Cha mel
fight from Calais to Dover in an aero
plane, the belief generally prevalent in
London was that the North Sea held
somewhere on it's turbulent breast the
story of a tragedy.
Every nook and cranny-shore and in
land-where it was thought, perchance
young Grace might have landed was
searched to-day, but unavailingly, and
the boats that churned the Channel and
portions of the North Sea on the look
out for the youth or wreckage of his
machine likewise reported that their
search had been in vain.
Grace carried with him petrol suffi-
cient for flight of about five hours. His
biplane was not fitted with pontoons.
Grace wore a cork jacket, but in case
Of fall into the water he would have
been numbered by his heav! furlined top
boots
The general belief is that it would be
impossible for his machine to float for
any great length of time, and that un-
| less the aviator was rescued by ship
bound for some distant port there is
slender hope that he escaped death in
| the sea-
| great fleet of motorboats have
! searched every nook of the east coast OF
England, while warships scattered along
| the shores and dotting the North Sea
swept the waters with wireless inquiries
concerning the aviator
| Grace decided to make the try for the
Baron de Forest prize yesterday IN the
! face of adverse weather conditions. A
heavy fog hung over the channel and
obscured the aviator soon after he as
cended at Dover. He crossed the chan
mel safely, and two hours and a nall
from the start passed over Calais. He
reached the Belgian frontier, when he
encountered adverse winds that COM
| PEELED him to turn back He ahgnted
west of Calais. and at 2:1O o'clock again
ascended, pointing his aeroplane toward
| Dover.
| Grace was soon once more enVeloped
| in the fog that had become more dense.
| Those who saw the start say he took
| mort heasterly course. It Is evident that
| he lost his bearings. for had he had his
| proper direction he would have reached
Dover without trouble, for he had the
power and his aeroplane must have be-
| hayed we'll Instead of approaching
Dover. however he was sighted later far
! to the northeast, over the Goodwin
Sands. the exceedingly dangerous shoals
| that extend off the southeast coast of
England. some seven miles east of Deal.
| At this point Grace made a grave
mistake in his reckoning, for with land
| hut few miles on his west he veered to
the east, and when last seen was heading
| over the North Sea. At this point he
was swallowed up by the fog, and since
then. except for the negative inferences
to be deducted from the absence OF
news nothing whatever has transplred
to throw light on his whereabouts.
A false report that he had landed at
Deal for a time cheered anxious friends,
but when this was Slisproved every pos
| sibIe resources was appealed to in order
to find him. The warships and mer-
chant vessels along the east coast We're
instructed to keep sharp lookout but
their wireless exchanges were all of the
same tenor-nothing seen of the aviator.
Meantime automobile parties secured the
coast in the hope that Grace had de-
scended at some out of the way spot
from which the lack Of easy communica-
ton accounted for his failure to notify
his friends of his safety
This afternoon his friends chung TO
the hope that the aviator through a dis
coyerv of his error in reckoning, or by
some lucky chance, had reached the
coast of Suffolk or Norfolk, while the
more optimistic talked of a record flight
terminating in the North of England.
Here. again, the wish was father to the
thought, and grave doubt of Graces
safety was felt generally. Many vessels
arrived from the North Sea during the
day. but none brought word of Grace.
Calais. France, Dec. 23.-Nothing con-
cerning the whereabouts of Cecil
Grace was received here to-day. Fish
ing craft coming in confirm earlier re-
rorts of the airman's false direction.
French Coast yesterday his aeroplane
was bearing to the northeast.
w r. Grace & Co, Of this city. received
q cable message early yesterday afternoon
that up to that time nothing had been
heard from the young aviator. Cecil Grace,
who started back across the English Chan
mel on the preceding afternoon In an at
temnt TO win the Baron De Forest aviation
prize
Cecil Grace was born about thirty years
ago i'm Chilli where his father represented
Jobu Grace, was the brother OF William II. [;
Grace. twice Mayor OF this city and found
er of the firm
cecil came to this country at the age OF |
ION and received his higher education at |
Columbia University. About 1900 he went |
70 England. studied for four or five years
ot oxford. and settled in London as a large |
.,ockboIder in Grace Brothers & Co. as the |
firm is known there
Ie has been actively interested in avia- |
,;o, for more than year and a half and |
toeame something of popular hero for his |
s;rhte at Bournemouth, BlackpooI and Lam |
IL Although his interest in flying |
80 reen wholly from the sportsman's point |
% ,,i.w. ne nevertheless provided the ad- |
a..tes of the aeroplane q war machine |
.,,,,b a powerful argument by Unexpectedly
sanearing over the British warships anch-
ia in a fog off Sheerness last April
lie is a member of the Royal Aero Club.