Evening star., 1923-01-28

and several dirigibles. aided by a feet
of vessels secured the nearby waters
for miles without discovering a trace.
Then trappers in the everglades re-
ported hearing voices In the swamps
at night and the searching airships
made flights for days over them. but
IL that region held the secret OF the
tragedy 1T refused to deliver 1t, de-
spite a second report OF voices heard
there. For weeks the search was
continued. but no trace was ever
found. Months afterward, what was
] believed to be the remains of a
wicker balloon basket was sighted
far at sea, and 1t was finally believed
that the fate of the fliers had been
met there.
Investigators are even yet trying to
clear the identity Of the man whose
bones were found in the Everglades
recently. with evidences indicating
he may have been an Army f1ler. No
clue has been found. however, and
Army records show no nier lost there
who was not recovered.
Week in Everglades PerfIx.
Raymond White, who as a student
fier, spent almost a week OF perils
and starvation in the everglades. will
never forget his adventure. Flying
from Carlstrom Field. Fla, on a test
fight, he landed at Okeechobee, but
on tho return was forced down by
exhaustion Of his gasoline and
crashed into the almost impentrable
cypress swamps. Seeing no possible
landing place. he aimed for a tree,
and tumbled to the ground practically
Of his experience. Mosquitoes were
so thick and voracious he had to
cover his face and arms with grease
from his ship; he had no matches to
build signal fire, and was forced
to take to trees at night to avoid
animals he heard prowling about He
finally made his way. subsisting on
herbs and grasshoppers, to a Seminole
Indian camp and was sent by them
to q distant farmhouse where. after
week, his comrades found him in an
exceedingly weakened condition. !.
Capt. C. W. Dannman and Lieut.
e. J. Verhuyden, were two other
fiiers who lost their lives in free
balloon. They started in the national
balloon race from st. Louis. in 1919,
and were never heard from until their
bodies were washed up by the waters
Of Lake Huron. Il
While many other fiiers, Of both the
Army and Navy, have been 'lost" in
various sections Of the country for
two or three day stretches, all were
found. and aviators declare the
number of men actually lost Is very
small. compared with the increasing
amount OF flying. Records of the
Army air service show more such
accidents than do those Of the Navy,
but this, It is pointed out, is the re-
suit of the fact that Army fliers have
to cover incredibly bad flying country.
mountains and desert, while Navy
flying, for the most part, Is confined
to the coasts where succor generally
Is near. Most of the Army's loses of
that sort have occurred In the desert |
sections of the southwest, where the
officers are employed in the border
patrol.
Loss In Rainstorm.
The most tragic of these occur
rences in Army record was the loss OF
Lieuts. F. B. Waterhouse and c. H.
Connolly, who lost their way In a
rainstorm while on patrol and were
forced to land far south in southern
California on the shores of the gulf.
For nineteen days they were without
food and constantly growing weaker,
then, when finally aided by two Mexi-
can fishermen, they were taken al
most within sight Of food and friends
and brutally murdered and robbed. At
one time one Of the fleet Of rescue
(Continued on Third Pase.)