The Washington herald., 1914-11-08

Stanley Of the twentieth CEN
'turyf
Almost half q century ago Stanley
vent down into the heart Of Africa and
brought back to civilization and life the
Livingstone party which had been lost
for months.
Now Captain Besley Is going down into
q continent whose terrofs and wilderness
are far greater than any AFRICA ever pos
sessed to attempt to tnd party Of Amer
leans who have been lost for year and
q half
The great unmapped region in South
America between Brazil, Peru and Chile
with all its mysterious and unknown
perils will be penetrated by Captain Bes-
ley in his efforts to find out where Will
bur F. Cromer, of Troy, Ohio, and Will
liam H. Page, Of Chicago, are and IL they
are dead how 1t was they met their fate.
All efforts to get word Of this party
have failed. Consuls Of the United States
in South America have exhausted every
means to locate the lost Americans.
Colonel Roosevelt in his recent explora-
tion of that region did HIS best to find
his daring eompatriots. The remains OF
q white mans camp with several skel-
etons lying bleaching in the equatorial
sun were found by Roosevelt, but with
out sufficient means Of Identification to
permit him to say whether or not they
were all that was left Of the party for
which he was searching
When Cromer and Page were last seen
they were entering the vilds Of Peru
with a party Of natives as guides and
bearers. After they had been lost sight
Of for several months word came that
the party had been attacked by hostile
Indians and cannibals and that all the
members Of the party had perished.
Other reports said that swamp fever
had claimed their lives and again it was
said that natives had been seen with parts
of the arms and equipment carried by
them. The natives said that because Of
the dangerous condition of the swamps
and rivers the guides had refused to go
farther into the country and had deserted
but that the white men had decided to
proceed alone and had bartered all their
equipment which they were unable to
carry.
Later came word from the returning
Besley expedition which left New York
4 year and half ago for exploration, re-
search and moving picture photographs,
that Page and Cromer had been heard
Of in several places and that while these
indicated that the two Americans had
met suffering and many dangers there
was still q hope that they could be found
alive some place In that great stretch of
jungle.
Cromer would be twenty-six years old
II he should be found alive. In 1908 he
was appointed a cadet at West Point. In
training there he was badly injured when
thrown from a horse and gave up his
military career. Instead of returning to
Troy, he went to his brothers in Chicago,
entered q Chicago hospital for an opera
ton There he met William Page, a col
lege professor in poor health They be-
came interested in real estate promotion
and formed a syndicate to invest in South
American propositions. The expedition
which BECAME known as the Cromer ex-
pedition was formed, and was headed by
Cromer and Page, who sought the trip as
a vacation trip for health. They were
also in search OF adventure and had a
desire to locate the lost city of the Incas.
The Cromer party went direct to Lima,
Peru. Here they learned Of q desirable
tract Of grazing land, and making con-
nection with an American real estate firm
there who held options, they started to
investigate the matter. They, at the
same time, interested themselves in a
railroad project running through Brazil.
Hiring q party Of native guides they
pushed into the forest. They persisted
in penetrating the country in furtherance
Of their work, even after the rainy season
had set In. Their native guides were re-
luctant to go forward but finally con-
Bented when they we're offered double
pay for all the time they would be kept
on the journey.
In the last letter which came to rels
tives in Troy Cromer told Of his progress
and hopes and reported that he had az
most met death by drowning while cross
ing a swollen stream. After some time