Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-06-16
Brit0sis Cross Seas
at I2O-MiLe Speed,


came out when we descended to lower
altitude an hour before landing"
Captain Alcock said the vickers
Company was sen6ing two men to sal
wage the damaged biplane, but he gave
it as his opinion that the job would
require several men and that they would
have to lay track to get the machine
out of the bog.
The aviators said they did not feel
hungry during the flight, but were ex-
tremely thirsty.
"For a time Captain Alcock said,
''we spoke to each other through the
communication telephones, but these
broke down after four hours, and we
had to discard them. Then 1 had to
shout to Lieutenant Brown. Most of
our conversation consisted of tapping
each other on the shoulder and going
through the motions of drinking"
Amid the chorus Of editorial con-
,gratulations to Captain John Alcock
and Lieutenant Arthur w. Brown, on
the successful completion of their air
plane trip across the Atlantic, the note
OF national triumph, although it is
sounded, is not struck excessively.
British Press Happy
Qualification is generally expressed
that the first non stop crossing of the
Atlantic was made by British ma
chine driven by British airmen, and
there are one or two satisfied references
made to the fact that the fight was
accomplished without adventitious
aid" but on the whole, the American
crossing is recalled with due recogni-
ton. Thus the Chronicle says:
1.-THE honor of the first crossings be-
longs to the gallant Americans, but
Alcock and Brown were the first to
cross in less time than would be taken
by a sea voyage. The Atlantic honors
are now fairly divided between the
United States and Great Britain"
The Telegraph says of the fight .It
does not eclipse the glory of the Ameri-
can achievement, but that is because
there is no question of an eclipse in
these matters, as there is no question of
jealousy"
The Mail also refers to the supreme
~ planned organization of the NC-4's
record passage" Some newspapers
deprecate the assumption of the early
establishment of transatlantic passenger
service.
They point to the long delays en-
countered in Newfoundland and the
hazards that Alcock and Brown ran,
and believe it will be long before sea
surface travel is superseded.
Torshlo Trs,, Gov, Alnu.r
Describing the experiences of himself
and Lieutenant Brown, Captain Alcock,
: in a message from Galway to the Daily
Mail says:
1--WE had a terrible journey. The
wonder is we are here at all. We
scarcely saw the sun, or moon or stars.
For hours we saw none of them. The
fog was very dense, and at times we
had to descend within 800 feet of the
sea.
''For four hours our machine was
covered with a sheet of ice caused by
frozen sleet. At another time the fog
was SO dense that my speed indicator
did not work and for a few minutes it
was very alarming. r..
I'VE iooped the loop, do believe.
and did very steep spiral. We did
some very comic stunts, for I had no
sense of horizon.
xy,-. W.. r.
"i"uS were ra'oraD'e
"The winds were favorable all the
wav. northwest. and at times southwest.
We said in Newfoundland that we
would ID the trim in sixteen honrs but
we never thought we should. An hour
and halt pelore we saw iand we had
no certain 1dea "nere we were' put we
believed we were at Halway or there
abouts.
''Our delight in seeing Eastal Island
and Tarbot Island, five miles west of
Clifden, was great. The people did
not know who we were, and thought
we were scouts looking for Alcock.
..vyo onoorntored No unforosoon o,
a;.;.ns W. AID not suffer fron, ooId
or sxhaust;on excent when looking over -
the side then the sleet cheyed hits out
Of our faces. We drank coffee and
aIe and ate sandwiches and chocolate
..O,Ar flight has shown that the A..
]antic flight is practicable, but I think
il should be done, not with an airplane