The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-05-18

The Great American Triumph.
When Commander COLUMBUS set
out from Palos the unbelieving said
that he would fall Off the water into
the air. When Commander READ
buzzed away from Trepassey toward
.she Azores the doubters suggested
that he would fall off the air into the
water. But each captain courageous
stayed in the element he trusted.
Both were triumphant through knowl-
edge, preparedness and nerve.
We shall find the exploit Of the
NC-4 minimized here and there as a
mere exhibition of the obvious pow
ers Of air engines; hear that previous
flights had shown the probability of
the successful crossing Of the navy
seaplanes from Newfoundland to the
Azores be told that 1t was no such
great adventure as the proposed
flight of the airplanes from st. Johns
: to Ireland; be assured that nothing
of commercial value has been added
TO the general wealth.
But In the face of all this there
remains the memorable fact that the
dream of the dreamers of air con-
quest was to cross the sea-and the
Yankees have crossed it first. All. yes,
the chilly will say, but the first high
seas leg ended at the Azores. True,
but nobody had ever flown to the
Azores, even from the side of the
Atlantic that Is nearer to those hon.
ored islands than Newfoundland Is.
The egg was on the table, but nobody
had made 1t stand ON end until the
Americans did the trick. The Hin
'denburg line was unbreakable until
the Americans smashed section of
It, They didn't capture 1t all, but
they put heart into all the other
men who had their doubts about its
vulnerability.
Every good sportsman hopes that
the aviators who are going to try to
cross the sea in one jump will sue
coed. Whether 1t be a Briton flying
from Newfoundland toward Ireland
or England or a French airman leap
ing into the warm celestial lane be-
tween the elbows of Africa and South
America-good luck to him. The
man who makes the nonstop flight
between the continents will insure
Immortality for his name. He will
be MAGELLAN; READ is COLUMBUS.
It Is, after all, not merely a tri-
umph for one man or one senplane, or
for Commander TowERss little fleet
Of daring sailors of the sky, or for
the Navy Department, although we
would not detract from the glorles of
any. 1t is in large way a triumph
OF Yankee mechanical genius, pa
tlence.. perseverance and pluck. There
is no section of the country that has
not contributed It's part to the great
successful whole.
A dozen kinds Of wood from dozen
States or possessions; n dozen kinds of
metal taken from the American earth
all the way from New England to New
Mexico; cloths grown In the South
and woven in the North, feathers
raised In the West and prepared in
the East-these were the materials
from which American mechanics made
the flfteen-ton giants that ride alike
the winds and the waters. American
shops turned out the engines that give
TO the NC prOpellers the swlftness of
the hummlng birds wings. American
firesides produced the men who fear
lessly took the giants out into virgin
space over the ocean.
That every precautlon was taken
to safeguard the lives Of these adj
venturers does not subtract from
their exploit. These men were not
circus performers advertised as Dare
Devil Dicks. They were out TO do
4 a job on which hundreds Of thou
sands had been spent. Nothing was
to be Willingly left to chance. To
nave spared any pains to guard the
lives of the crews would have been
criminal; there was danger enough
as 1t was.
Was there luck in the exploit? The
history of the NC-4 was succession
OF incidents Of evil luck from the
: hour she first sailed from Rockaway
until she pointed her nose seward
from Trepassey for the great trial of
1900 miles without a rest. Broken
men. broken engines. everything but
broken spirits was on her Iuckless
log Yet there she is in Azores waters
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