The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1920-03-02
z1enfis Say His Escape in
Fan Was a Mira
Gle.
d MAJOR r. w. SCHROEDER
.yho Nade ( ! New WerIds Altttud

MAJOR 4. w. SCHROEDER
|Iho Made New WerId's Attitude
& Record.
DAYTON o., March 2.-They say
C>et have : mania for roaring into
1|rless SPACE Just TO demonstrate that
cen be done.
~ & matter Of fact, my whose pun.
bose - 70 bring back scientific tnfor-
nation. and when I lost control Of my
.c1l and my machine at 5000 feet, 1
MAS stilI several thousand feet short
am going to make 10000 or $4,000
leet the record.
Ny whole trouble on this flight was
ne failure Of the oxygen tanks 70 pro-
rIde an adequate supply. When felt
Ize oxygen giving out. my strength
ms rapidly leaving me. I was not
1Isftened because only o small por.
don Of my mind wisa IN action.
had opened Vide the valve Of the
11y1en tank but rot mo benefit. Then
raised my gogg les. "A binding shock
E61ked ny head and my sight was
A second later, I lost all conscious
ness X did anything to save my.
ccIf. e WAS automatic. Left to itself,
ny machine hnrtled downward until,
within q mile ofsthe earth, I reached a
normal atmosphere and began to re-
Then my subconscious mind came
% the rescue. moved like a man in
dream, but what i did was the right
thing In the circumstances. Habit
1avod me. seized the control,
6kraightened out for glide and head
Cd for McCook Field by instinct. I
made q rough landing, but was un.
There was q quarter Of an inch Of
Eoat over my eyeballs and the fluid
81 the cyeswas CONCEALED. My heart
vas swollen until it. pushed up. my
chest and could be clearly defined.
Prior TO this Tight, I reached six
miles and had & similar experience as
NY oxygen failed me.
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Lands, Of
Chicago. IS among those who have
wired conErafnlad lions to me. He said
glad he wasn't. For one thing, could
never make seven miles with a pas
But am far from being contented
With my present record. have re-
1ea<edly said that / will not stop try
ing for altitude until / am killed or
develop the yellow streak. No nier is
Immune % that misfortune, but feel
none Of the symptoms as yet.
Schroederss Heart Should Have
Major Schroeder practically left the
world behind him and swung in the
Cold between the spheres,,' on his al
1tude record-breaking flight.
Rev. Father F.. L. Odenbach, profess
sor Of science at st. Ignatius' College,
Cleveland, makes Schroeder's flight to
height of seven miles seem little
short Of amfracle in the light OF sci
Here are the points Rev. Father
0dcnbach calls attention to.
When the plane was. SO miles high,
6cnroeder had passed through one
half Of the earth's atmospheric belt.
When heswas at his maximum height
he had passed through three-quarters
Of the air belt and had but quarter
Of the earth'statr between him and the
-nothlngnessg Of space.
Air pressure IS is pounds to the
square inch 1t sea level. At seven
niles 4 was less than half Of this
Major Schroeder should have bled
1< every pore and from his mouth, ears
and nose, says the professor. "I
cannot understand why his heart did
not explode and every cell Of his body
Dun up and burst. A London aviator
lev to $1,000 feet and his machine
was shambIes when he landed. He
was almost dead from blood loss"
.. No Dust Up There.
4 here was no dnst where Schroeder
new except the debris OF space.
HrcryWhercS on earth there is dust.
Some Of II infminute particles even a
microscope can't detect. Where
6cIlroeder's plane went there was not
m atom saVe a few, very few bits,
torn perhaps from some shooting star.
That was why Major Schroeder
Raid Il Was dark" explained Rev.
4oenb1ch. We can't see q light beam
I1Ic59 Il h infused by some object,
Dust Is The ordinary diffusing mestam.
Re probably saw things In gray
ness, Ike we do In q. total eclipse. He
could not zee the wings Of his machine
occause there was no dust to scatter
Tho light II would simply be directly
rc[Iected and be lost to his eyes. He
could have seen objects in the ma.
chine 4 the light struck them. They
would have TO be close to him."
The plane was not ice-coated while
~ was Seyeufmiles up where It was CT
-ezTeea below zero, says Father oden.
BACH There was probably but little
Ice found turing the climb.
The plane rising was warmed by the
1@1t At lower levels Above five miles
there was no water vapor and hence
could have been no Ice formed. But
mile SchroederSwas in this sub-zerc
level his machine was cooled. When
be began 70 descend with great speed
1t passed through an Ice cloud that is
@cQVn % surround the earth, but even
/1's did not overlap his machine with
Y vas when he struck some very