The Holly chieftain., 1923-09-06
Port of Lost Planes
Holds Many Secrets


g. Little, Of Chicago. on duty with
the American craft In the harbor, was
assigned as watch officer aboard the
airship. and he climbed into the car
underneath the great bag. Suddenly a
sharp blast Of wind struck the blimp.
tearing 1t away from the cables that
had held 1t. Little jumped up and
pulled the rip cord, which should have
released the gas and brought the ship
down. But the cord broke. The Of
ficer, with excellent judgment. leaped
to the ground from a height Of 80 feet.
The C-5 was last seen headed for the
North Pole without a crew. She has
not yet been reported.
Then there was a navy balloon
which two years ago drifted out to
sea from Pensacola, Fla, carrying a
full complement Of officers and men.
They have not been seen.
During the London-Austraiia flight
three years ago Captain Howells and
Henry Fraser in the Martinsyde entry
for the $4,000 prize flew safely from
London to Taranto, Italy. On the
morning of December they took on
over the Mediterranean with the Afri-
can coast us their objective. For days
nothing was heard Of them. One day
the British consul at Corfu received
word that a plane had been seen drift
ing of shore.
The Fate Of Hamsl.
The next day they rowed out to The
plane, now only mass OF wreckage
almost submerged In the waves. They
found no one on board. Later the body
Of Captain Howells was washed
ashore. He was buried at the base Of
the mountain which oyerlooks st.
Georges bay.
Every aviator remembers Gustav
Hamel, considered by many to have
been the greatest Of the English pilots.
Hamel had been flying since 1911. Be
fore the war he was one Of the most
popular men in the British empire.
On the morning Of May %. 1914. Hamel
left Paris In racing plane bound for
England. He reached Le Cretoy on
the coast As minutes later and thence
he went to Hardelot and landed on
the sands. Starting again after lunch
con, he passed over Boulogne and OBJ
servers saw his machine pointed
toward Cape Girls Nez. Then he van
ished forever.
The war came soon afterward and,
owing to the spy fever which afflicted
all belligerent nations. stories foatei
about England which made of Hamel
paid agent Of the kaiser. 1t was
recalled that Hamel was born some
where In Germany" Months later u
patrol boat picked up piece Of q
wing strut which might have been on
the plane. But 1t was not proved.
Later on a pair of goggles was found.
With the growing popularity Of the
German aviator, Immelman, 1t was
conjectured here and there that I'M
melman was really Hamel, who had
changed his name along with his al
legiance. The rumors were little cred
tied In official circles. Members of
Hamels family were heartbroken and
published letters broadcast to show
that Hamel had been born In Hamburg
and at the time of his birth the city
was an independent town, that his
father had been native Englishman,
and furthermore that the aviator's
body had really been found on July /,
1914, by the skipper of the fishing
smack st. Helene. floating in the sea
some ten miles of Point Alprecht. The
family insisted that nm inflated bi
cycle tire found on the body had fur
nished conclusive proof, because Mo-
rane, for whom Hamel was flying, had
insisted on his wearing 1t. The body
had been buried at sea. The courts
accepted the evidence and granted the
family letters Of administration.
| There is another story, not of COM
mon knowledge. Recently former
officer in the Royal air force gave
what he Insisted IS the true version. II
Is set down here for what 1t Is worth.
A Spy Story.
In 1917 appeared at the British
training field Mt Croydon, now Lon.
don's principal airport, n handsome
young British officer wearing four war
medals. He presented papers author.
izing the commanding officer to accept
him us n flying cadet, stating that he
had been transferred from the land
! forces Captain B. soon became one