Arizona republican., 1919-05-19

l WASHINGTO N,May 1S.-Apprehen sion as to the safety of Commander John H. Towers and his crew of four men, who in the seaplane NC-3 have been lost at sea for more than 40 hours, had begun tonight to displace the feeling of confidence among naval officials, that the Atlantic fliers
 soon would be found by searching vessels.
 No word had been received from the NC-3 since 5:15 o'clock yesterday morning, when Commander Towers re ported that his plane, the flagship of the squadron, was off her course some
 300 miles from the island of Fayal. Azores Dispatches from Rear Admiral Jackson, aboard the U. s. S. Melville. at Ponta del Gada, Azores, tonight said
 gale was sweeping the seas northwest
 of the Azores and that high waves
 were running.
 With the NC-4 at Horta. ready for
 the next leg of the trans -Atlant,c
 flight, and the crew of the NC-1 safely
 aboard the cruiser Columbia of Horta,
 the navy, with it's vast force of vessels
 concentrated to aid in the trans-At-
 lantic attempt, was bending it's ener-
 gies to the finding of the lost avia- .
 tors.
 Battleships Seour Sea Two battleships, the Florida and
 Texas, and nearly a score of destroyers were securing the sea over a wide
 area all day today and tonight. , The fog, which it is supposed forced the NC-1 to the open sea, when within a few miles of Corvo headland. the , objective, had been dissipated by } strong westerly winds this morning , (which increased to a gale by a. m and whipped up a choppy sea, the most l menacing condition possible for sea plane riding the oceans surface. Messages received from Rear Ad. [ miral Jackson late tonight, telling c tthe damage to the NC-1, caused by the [ iheavy seas running at the time the
 plane was found, served to increas, apprehension felt for the safety of tn, ] Icrew of the NC-3. The lower planes O. ? the NC-1 were badly damaged; on' | pontOon was entirely carried away the right wing was badly broken: tn left wing ribs were damaged, and tn, l elevators were smashed.
 Naval vessels stationed close. in al effort to salvage the big boat, reported
 to the department that the seas wer'
 running so high that it was impossible
 Ito save it at this time. It was pointe, out that only good fortune could pos c sibly save the NC-3 from even nor ]. serious damage, since it is handicappe, q by the extra weight of it's crew. [, Storm Impedes Search r Using Corvo island as an operating = base, the screen of battleships and de = stroyers were sweeping westward i
 a great semi circle, in an effort [ 7, catch sight of the NC-3 or pick u n radio distress signals. The high wind U and heavy seas prevailing made tn Il work of the rescue party most difficul The main element of hope in the sit
 uation was the fact that the weathe
 forecasts predict diminishing wind
 and abated seas late in the night an
 Monday morning. It was thought tha '- if Commander Towers frail craft coul 's successfully ride out the gale thi '1 morning, the probability or rescu n would be greatly increased. Each c 'V the seaplanes carried sufficient foo
 and water for six days.
 1t The members of the crew of tn T, NC-3, in addition to Commander Tow i'd CTS, are: Commander H. c. Richardson of Lieutenant D. N Mccullough, Lieuten l. ant Commander R. A. Lavender an of Machinist L. R. Moore.