The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-05-20

of her husbands Whereabouts Mrs.
Hawker quietly went home, her anx-
iety concealed under pltiful attempt
at cheerfulness..
Mystery Being Investigated.
According to the Daily Mail Ad-
miralty quarters in Queenstown when
questioned at 11:15 o'clock tonight
denied having received a wireless des-
patch from the Castletown station
saying Hawker's machine had landed
forty miles west of the mouth of the
Shannon, or any other wireless.
Moreover, II was asserted, the espe-
cially sensitive wireless plant at Bally-
bunnion, on the northwest coast of
County Kerry, Ireland, did not receive
the message.
The Admiralty in London is invests
eating the mystery.
.Hawker's fate may have been in
slant death, as the plane struck the
water spent, or the dubious safety of
a fragile collapsible boat, or the al
most incredible good fortune of rescue
by ship without a wireless.
Sifted down. the dozens OF reports
which reached London during the day
of tense waiting reveal not one from
a ship at sea which has seen the
flyers or heard the urgent call Of their
wireless.
Honored for His Daring.
Here In Lonton tonight Hawker Is
honored not only as a daring adventurer.
stalking his life on a chance of fame and
money, but as a patriot. For 1t Is known
that he responded after weary six
weeks of waiting. not to the call of
money but to the summons of patriotism
when he set off from Newfoundland yes
terday on the great flight For he left
the shore in the face OF uncertain and,
indeed. uhfavorable weather conditions
in desperate attempt to beat the
Yanks." as he laughingly said, matching
his little one motor land machine against
the powerful fnulu-motored seaplane in
which Commander Read already had
reached the Azores, within 1000 miles
Of his goal. That he failed is matter
OF deep regret. and even sadness, not
because Britain now probably will bow
TO America as the transatlantic victor,
but because the British Empire has lost
a real man. .S
The great risk Hawker added at the
last moment to. the perilous fight he
contemplated In order to win for Britain
the glory OF the first transatlantic aerial
passage is emphasized by the weather
bulletin issued this morning by the Air
Ministry, confirming the fact that
Hawker started his dash in the face of
unfavorable conditions
weather conditions are still far from
favorable for a direct Transatlantic
flight" the first sentence Of the bulletin
stated. 'iti'
The report which gained most credence
until denied was the report that Hawker
was down or the mouth Of the Shannon.
This message, received. according to the
story told. by the Admiralty from the
Castietown station, said:
Sopwfth machine down in latitude
81 80 north. longitude west, which is
about forty miles west of the mouth
of the Shannon. 49,
Besides the collspsible boat fitting into
and really part of the fusellage of
Hawkcr's machine, both men wore So
called unsuitable suits, minated and said
to support their wearers for days and
even hours. The use Of these suits
would depend, Of course. upon the abil-
ity Of the flyers. falling to release their
boat from the fuselage. or capsizing 1t
in their haste, to get away from the ssdc-
ton OF the sinking machine.
II Hawker fell near the Irish coast
his chance were very much improved.
not only because OF the greater traffic
upon the waters but because the empty
tanks might float his plane for a time
at least. If his crash came near the
starting point, however, the great weight
Of gasolene. combined with the heavy,
twelve cylinder engine. would sink IL
almost Immediately.
Engine Failure Suspected.
Belief here inclines to a failure Of the
engine or an exhaustion of supplies
rather than to an accident to the plane
itself. such as the collapse OF the wing.
1t IL pointed out that accidents to the
plane in flying are rare, except in stunt
flying. when the sudden change of pres
sure on the wings sometimes break them
or shred the fabric from them.
It Is possible-as one rumor. indeed
said, that after covering the first thou
sand miles of his journey-the par,
which weather reports indicated would
be made in fair weather-Hawker ran
into head winds which reduced his speed
estimated at from 100 to ITO miles AT
hour, by their own velocity. In this
case his supply of gasolene. good, ac-
cording to his calculations, for 100 miles
an hour speed for twenty-five hours
might have become exhausted while he
was still over the water.
The engine of the Sopwith plane. q
S75 horsepower Rolls-Royce. is of q
most reliable type, and the particular
motor Hawker used had boon tested by
him here in England before leaving fol
the starting point at Newfoundland. Ac'
companied by eut-Commander Grieve
Hawker's navigator, he flew for nine
hundred miles without stopping in nine
hours and Ave minutes slightly les,
than a hundred miles an hour. He
could not test 1t for the entire distance
as the wear upon the motor would bt
too great
The question of navigation also may
have been responsible for the failure OF