Polk County news. [volume] (Benton, Tenn.) 191?-1983, 1921-01-20
AERONAUTs HAVE FIST FIGHT
Older Man Resents sIur on Stamina
Contained In Letter Written BY
Hinton To His Wife


the story told in an Official report
filed by Lieut.. Louis KloOr. comman-
ding officer Of the balloon on his ar
rival at Mattice. II was received
by the navy department and made
public as follows;
Secretary United States Navy De
partment, Washington, ID. c.: Report
free balloon ASSES, flown under my
command, passengers Lieutenants Far
rel and Hinton from naval air sta
ton, Rockaway, December 13. En-
countered storm which forced duration
flight Aband (garbled) stormy sea,
landing impossible for safety crew,
forced land December IA in forest ap-
proximately 20 miles northeast Moose
Factory, James Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Reached Moose Factory safely De-
cember II. Subsisted and transfer
red this place Hudson Bay company.
Proceed January IL naval air station
Rockaway."
Mattice, Ontario.-The long trek to
civilization of the three American ma
val balloonists came. to a dramatic
climax here when two of them-Lieu-
tenants Farrell and Hinton-came to
blows over statements alleged to have
been made by the latter in a letter
to his wife.
When they emerged from the bush
at 2:2O o'clock after a sixteen day
Journey from the Hudson Bay COM
pany post at Moose Factory, near
which they descended, December IA,
the three areonauts, bound in tie
of friendship through their facing to-
gether of death, apparently were in
separable.
An hour later, Lieutenant Farrell
sat in the parlor of the log cabin
home of H. P. Williamson, clerk in
the Hudson Bay company store here,
relating the story of the party's ad-
ventures to newspaper men.
During the conversation Lieutenant
Farrell was shown copies of news dis
patches, among them a letter alleged
to have been sent by Hinton to his
wife, and published in New York
newspaper, which said, in part:
"Mr. Farrell fell from exhaustion
several times. Wanted us to cut his
throat and take his body for food
and asked us to go on and let him
die, but we decided to stick and die
together. was the only one that did
not express my feelings and kept them
cheered up"
Hinton then came into the room.
He told Farrell he should not con-
tinue his talk to newspaper men, as
he had dispatches from the secretary
of the navy forbidding any OF them
to talk until an official report had
been filed.
"You rat, you have been talking
yourself" Farrell snapped back, In
dignantly. He then accused Hinton
of writing false reports, referring to
the letter.
Hinton replied that the letter had
been published without his consent,
but that it's contents evidently had
been exaggerated. Farrell then went
into another room to apologize to
Mrs. Williamson for his language.
While he was gone, it is said Hin
ton declared his remark about his ex-
aggeration was made only for Far
rell's benefit.
Farrell returned. More words pass
ed between the officers. Then Far
rell took off his coat and struck Hin
ton on the jaw. Hinton was sent
sprawling over table. At this juno
ture newspaper men and others in
the room stepped between the men.
The men left the cabin separately
and went to a special train waiting
on a siding to take them to Coch-
rane.
Claiming that he had been double
cross" in regard to the writing of
letters for publication, Farrell said:
81 wrote letter to Frank Bent,
commissioner of contracts of New
York City, and he (Hinton) asked
me to write on it that it was not to
be published"
He added that Bent was an Init
mate friend, and evidently had done
as requested.