The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-04-14
Winter Aviation Proves of Great
Utility Along Newfoundland
Coast.
AID TO SEALING INDUSTRY
Airplanec Used to Locate the "Mair
Patch" as 1t Drifts Down With
Arctic Current-Keeps CON-
munication Open.

st. Johns, n. F.-Hunting seals by
airplane is the thrilling job that is
being performed in Newfoundland this
winter by Il. Sidney Cotton, Australian
airman.
The seals come down on great pans
Of ice with the Arctic current to the
Newfoundland coast regularly every
March, and nearly Il dozen specially
constructed ships fit out in st. Johns,
capital port Of the island, and proceed
to the great fields of ice where the
seals swarm by thousands and hun
dreds of thousands, and the crews OF
the ships, called ''sealerS,' engage for
two or three weeks in a slaughter Of
the "~whitecoatS." The ships are load
ed, often to the matches, or even the
gunwhales, with the pelts OF the seals.
On reaching st. Johns the several
inches OF fat are removed from the
skins and rendered out for the valua-
BILE oil. The skins are dressed for
leather, often the furs are stuffed and
made into imitation seals. The in-
dustry has u turnover OF millions Of
dollars.
But the seals do not come all to-
gether. There Is what is known as
''the main patch" which contains he
great bulk OF the seals. There are
minor pans which have broken of,
and also carry seals. If the main
patch is missed by the ships it may
mean loss for the n and the
~nor uu1nun az Slim 10, only For fhA
hunt, and are paid by a share in the
total catch Of the ship. Everything,
then, is contingent on striking the main
patch. This Is sometimes missed, and
sometimes located.
Where the Airpiane Comes In.
1t is here that the airplane comes
In. Major Cotton's plan is to set out
from a base at Botwood, on the main
land, fly over he vast ice fields, with
an experienced sealing captain as OBJ
server, and locate the main patch and
wireless to the ships.
There may be many miles Of thick
fee between the ships and the main
patch. The airplane scouts around
and locates channels in the ice. In
this way, according to the plan, the
great scaling industry OF Newfound-
land will be made certain and sclen-
tific.
Cotton had many difficulties 10 over
come. In the first place, ii meant win
ter flying. He was told by aviation
experts in England that it could not
be done. There was the matter Of
freezing OF the radiator, for instance.
How was he going to fly in very cold
atmosphere without his radiator freeZ-
ing solid?
Then, how was the plane to take
off from the snow? How was he to
onque the gales and snow billiards.
to speak OF the ice fields, where many
ships had gone down In storm and
many hundreds of ~sealers had per-
ished.
Flying In Newfoundland in the win
ter means. often, flying In a temper
AZURE 20 degrees below zero f. It
means being up In storms and bliz-
| yards and gales. 1t means taking off
from and landing on deep and uneven
snow, often snow banks ten feet deep.
First Achievement.
The first achievement was the dis
covery of a liquid that obviated freez-
, ing trouble without damaging the en-
CINE, and he can now fly In the cold
est weather without fear Of his radi-
ator freezing. Then he devised n serv-
'ccablc slid to replace wheels. which