The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1923-05-04

rtNHANH t-NH TUT AiAt HtAlAAH VI AAN
alright houses-thcsc were some q
the experiences OF Lieut.. oakley
Kelly and John A. MacReady in
Itlfslr nonstop eoast.to-ccast flight.
|in which they spanned TIC continent
almost In a day.
Their faces splnshed with oil.
kheir limbs stiff with sitting in con-
'stralned positions for % hours, 80
minutes. during the trim from New
York to san Diego. the explorers Of
the air told OF their great adven.
TURF in the short time tlsey kept
awake after arriving here.
NOM TAKING
LONG sLuMBER
Today they were stiil asleep and
their rooms in the U. $. Grant hotel
wcre placarded:
DO not disturb"
The distance from the New York
aviation field. from which thcy
started. to Rockwell field. san
Diego. where they landed. is he
tween :.TO0 and aT5o miles. The
official time for the voyage was
1s.5osss IS.
During the trip MeReady ans
Kelly ate ready cooked food ans
drank coffee from thermos bottles
but they had TO take only two meal
in tho air-dinner "Wednesday an,
breakfast Thursday morning; the,
rot 70 san Diego in time for lunch
DISASTER LOOMS
AS PLANE STARTS
Soaring away from the Atlarti
coast shortly before noon on one day
they swooped down at their landinl
place at 1895 .. M. the next day
having traversed in that time IN
long and weary distance acros
which. as recently as the late sixties
the emiErauts toiied for months i
ox-drawn covered wagons.
Starting from the New York fielt
the airnen found that. with IN
whole trip before them. they wer
unable TO get their heavily frelghte
machine more than 400 feet off III
ground. The motor wasn't functiol
Ing properly.
In this condition they passed ove
Coney Island. skirted Manhatta
with It's bristling skyscrapcrs an
.oyaEed westward above New JcrSc,
we could not ascertain tire
reason why we were unable To
get the fun horsepower out Of
our engine at the take-off," said
Kelly. I'm New Jersey the volt
age regulator cut out ON Us. We
repaired II in flight"
IN this simple language he tol
how the trip seemed doomed at N
start. how II wns just gamb
whether they would make San deg
or be forced to land ignominlousl
somewhere in New Jersey
IF We had not been able 70 r
pair it we would have had to return
continued Kelly.
TAKE TURNS IN
SEYMOUR SHIFTS
Working in sfx.hour shifts. the
continued across Pennsylvania. III
nois and Missouri. At BeIlville. III
a searchIlght beam an air Ugh
house guided them and they wei
glad TO see II. They saw the city I
St. Louis roll By far below.
There were clouds all thru tho
states, Kelly said. eat the AIissoui
Kansas line we had faint mooniigh
but the moon was partly obscure
Then in Missouri we encountered
light rain"
DASH FORWARD
THRU DARKNESS
Beyond Jefferson City. Mo- Kel
and MacReady CROPPED their WI
thru darkness. boring steadily sout
westward thru the uncbarted q
lanes. Peering down, they saw not
ing but black void. Here and the
faint speck Of light, like dli
yellow star. CLEANED for mlnu
but soon these ceased-the farme
had all gone to bed.
There were no lights to gtfi
U.s." said Kelly. except occasional
the light Of a train
For long time. he said, they d
not know where they were. then wi
the coming OF dawn they look
earthward and eagerly for some lar
mark.
Beneath was a town and near
large circle. and graveyard
I'VE knew It was Tucumcari /
cause Of that circle near the gra.
yard" said Kelly. I'VE certain
were glad TO see that town becau
then we knew that we we're still
our course"
Forging steadily westward fro
Tucumcari, they began crossing
dead and forbidden territory. [
desert where forced descent or,
ably would have meant death
thirst and starvation, miles frc
habitation There were no roa,
and not human being as far as tn
could see In every direction.
SAW MANY ACRES
VI WASTE LAND
II WIS much impressed by I
acres and acres OF waste land" 81
Kelly.
u Ip eastern Arizona they reach
their highest attitude. 10000 feet.
cording to Kelly They had to clil
theo clear the high plateau At I
rno Time they encountered ii he
6wud.
These plateaus," according
Disfs<eady. who WAS driving VIII
were reached. ''wtrc mu
The roA than ! had any idea III
?. For hundred miles
Absence tllow d ridge between tn
croBs"