The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-10-19
FLYING ACROSS ATLANTIC.
WELLMAN STARTS FROM At
lANTIC CITY IN BALLOON
"AMERICA,"
'fcw OF Four Accompanies Daring
Aeronaut On Epoch Making Wow.
age In Cigar-Shaped Craft.-Ftrst
Wireless Message From Air Shin
at Sea.

O''S' A. De- Oct. lo.-Sall-
ing into thick fog that hung low
over the Atlantic Ocean early TODAY
Walter Wellman, with a crew of five
men, Is tonight believed to be on an
epoch-making voyage to Europe in
the huge cigar-shaped airship
America"
Starting from the beach near the
inlet few minutes after o'clock
this morning, the big air craft was
soon out Of sight of the cheering
crowd. Since then no one, with the
exception of ships at sea, has seen
the strange craft, and the only word
from her came by means Of the wire
less telegraph.
Numerous messages were received
during the day, and the latest indi-
Gated that Wellman is tonight easily
sailing northeastward off the Long
lsand shore. The ship, according to
this last word from her adventurous
crew, has set northeasterly course.
with the intention Of getting into the
northern lane Of Transatlantic liners
The men who are making aero
nautic history in the first over-ocean
flight Of an airship are: Walter
Wellman, commander: Melvin Vani-
man, chief engineer. and next in
command; ]. X. Irwin, wireless oper-
ator; John Aubert and Albert Louis
Loud, assistant engineers.
Siasconset, Mass, Oct. 16.-Some-
where east Of Nantucket Island Off
the coast of Massachusetts, and
approximately 800 miles from At
lantic City. the starting point, Walter
Wellman's airship. America, signaled
wireless "alls well' and a goodbye
at 12:46 o'clock this afternoon and
swung on up the coast through the
fog. This message. the last Of the
days wireless conversations, was re-
ceived here by A. H. Ginman, the
Marconi operator, who had been on
the alert since dawn. At 8 o'clock
this morning siasconset first came in
to TOUCH with the giant dirigible.
Then. salthough the wireless range of
the craft is comparatively short,
owingfto the necessarily limited pow
er, thk station was surprised to hear
its call-"MSC"-clear and strong,
followed by wv" the code signal Of
the airship.
Judging from the strength Of the
signals it was assumed that the Amer
lean was close to Nantucket and i'm
mediately all the life-saving stations
and light houses on the island were
notified by telephone to keep a sharp
lookout. But the fog which had en-
shrouded the America since her de-
parture yesterday morning still hung
over the ocean. shutting off the view.
The Marconi station, however, began
rapid fire of interrogations and
learned from Jack" Irwin, the
Americas operator, that the ships
motors had been stopped and that
the diribile was heading east north
east and making 25 miles an hour
with the wind.
Nantuckets excitement was acute
but with motors idle the ship sailed
as silently as a phantom in the sky
where ordinarily the engines exhaust
| could have reverberated along the
coast.
However, the electricity of the
Marconi ste ton filled in times while
the eye and the ear were denied and
intermittently the operators here ex-
changed greetings with their late
associates who, it will be recalled, re-
ceived at this station the dramatic
&c. q. D." Of the ill-fated steamship
Republic. At 1920 signals from the
dirigible became suddenly stronger
and it was momentarily expected
! that the America would come in sight
Of the station.
Irwin. in fact, flashed that he
| thoughs he could hear the sound Of
the breakers but the fog effectually
shut the craft from view, although
| she was probably passing over the
shoals surrounding the island. From
that time on the signals from the air
ship grew steadily weaker until fin
ally at 12:45 a message was flashed
to her asking if everything aboard
was o. k Family came the reply.
yes"
On account OF the fog the Amer
ica's exact position remained un-
| known throughout the day. Her
!