New-York tribune., 1920-12-23
Navy Enlists
Aid of Canada
InBaIlOOnHunt
Royal Air Board and Mount
ed Police Asked by Lieu
tenant Evans to Assist in
Search for Three Pilots
Little Hope for Rescue
Disaster Believed to Have
Been Met i'm Adirondacks
or in Northern Quebec

Lieutenant Albert ". Evans. one OF
che leading naval balloonists OF Amer
ca, arrived in Ottawa, Canada. yester-
day. to aid in directing the search tor
he missing naval balloon A-559S, which
eft the Rockaway Naval Air Station
Monday, December Is, with Lieutenan.s
4. L. Kloor. Walter Hinton and Stephen
4. Farrell in the basket. Lieutenant
Evans Immediately got in touch with
representatives Of the Royal Air Board
OF Canada, and the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police.
Officers at The Rockaway naval air
station yesterday admitted for the first
time that the three aeronauts possibly
had perished from exposure in the
Adirondacks. They expressed the opin-
ION that the balloon had met disaster
somewhere in the Adirondacks within
a radius of ninety miles from Wells.
where the balloon was last sighted.
They could give no concrete reason for
this assumption.
Lieutenant Evans at Ottawa disa-
SIeeS Wild IHlS IueOTy. i nc DallOOO
undoubtedly continued its flight into
Canada and should have arrived in
sector twenty-five miles north Of OF
lawa River before daylight on Tuesday
morning and probably continued its
course and landed Tuesday morning,
December H." he said last night.
Il am going to visit the Weather
Bureau here to check over our records
of speed and direction OF wind in
Canada since December IA. Then l
will determine the limits of the trip
on the assumption that the balloon
had to land on that day before sun
down.
To Search Saranac Region
Lieutenant Lucas Y. Beau. the army
pilot who searched that territory Mon
day in DH4 biplane, was unable to
leave his base at Glens Falls yesterday
because of poor visibility and bad
weather conditions. He will make an
other flight to-day, taking with him as
observer Lieutenant +. B. Johnson.
hose alrplane was destroyed by fire
It Albany. Lieutenant Beau plans to
search the Saranac region, as we'll as
o-day.
Major A. r. Christie, commandant Of
Mitchell Field, l.. l., said yesterday that
II to-day's flight is unsuccessful Lieu
tenant Beau may be ordered to return
20 Mneola.
While the naval authorities at Rock
way now admit the possibility Of the
.hree aeronauts having met death.
other experts do not agree that the
o. mo Il -
ihey declare that the wind conditions
which prevailed the night of Monday,
December IS. lrecluded this. with NE
one possible exception that the balloon
may have collided with one Of the
.aller mountains. In the latter case
shey feel sure that forest rangers, who
have been making a careful survey
Turing the last week, would have OBJ
Seryed signs OF the wreckage.
hile there is every possibility the
three officers may have pershed, the::-
TOOK place IN northern Quebec. There
is, however. a long chance that the
iaree men are still alive in the wilda
Of that lnnospitable region, and the
experts INSIST that careful. search be
made. They point GU. TIE classic ex-
smple OF Harry Hawker in his attempt
Cd flight over the Atlantic Ocean las,
year
\ Chance OF Safety
They are convinced shat the wind
salch carried the three lieutenants al
average speed Of thirty-tve milo.
hour TO Wells. \. T., on Monday
sore the balloon we'll over the Can
adam border during the inhy darkness
- the night. There arc no instru
III ats upon balloon that can tell Al
- eeronaut what distance he has coz.
cred
Consequently thy believe the bal.
.oon passed beyond ~the limits of TIL,
Canadian Northern Railroad befor
Dawn, which breaks late IN the morn
ing in Canada at this time of th
ear. Not knowing where they wer
thc three officers would continue 0,
in the hope Of striking some habita
tion so that they could learn thei
location. In the wilderness of North
crn Quebec they would not be able t
find any dwelling. and sooner or late
he gradual loss Of the hydrogen ga
within the spherical balloon woul
force them down.
y As they are undoubtedly unaware G
their exact location. it will be dir
cult task FOR them TO return 10 civil
alton through the v'ilds. If they hav
firearms they may be able 20 procur
food by hunting. They might also Sc
cure ilsh by breaking through the cl
covered rivers. They could also us
ne balloon fabric as a tent TO shiel
them from the elements and obtain
re from the wood around them. "A
narertly II IS their only chance.