Evening star., 1924-08-03

fishermen, who suggested fogs north
| of the Orkneys.' they raised their
anchors and skipped out of Houton
Bay.
The first i'll luck was the absence
Of wind in Scapa Flow, Just outside
the bay. They lost half an hour be-
fore Nelson and Wade were able to
pull their floats from the water.
Smith failed for more than an hour to
get free from the water, and finally
he he slgnaied hga nsl,ls his eompanions to come
noeuvering his machine, Wade
dropped four times in front of Smith,
attempting to make the wind from
his propeller raise the water tied
plane.
AT the fifth attempt Wade succeed
ed in making sufficient swells to
loosen Smiths plane. Then all three
airplanes made a belated start for
their jump to Iceland. They headed
for the open sea at the Bay of Skaille,
and followed the coast northwest to
Birsay, where they ran into a heavy
fog, which obscured their path from
the top Of the water up to a distance
fbs 1b ';oUU cut rect ,hts they ~ were trapped in
Nelson and Wade, following closely
after Smith, made the turn eastward
and came to an open space. They
continued northward, but shortly
again were trapped by the fog, which.
however, had a ceiling some 500 feet
above the water.
Narrowly Avert Craah.
Wade, giving the Associated Press
| a description OF this second trap said
| that as soon as the planes hit the
| thick center of the fog they got close
| about so feet separated them, he said.
They signaled each other compass
readings, drifts and other bearings
Smith heSitated to turn aside after
| once making the getaway. but it soon
became apparent that to combat the
| fog, which covered hundreds OF mile
of the ocean, would be useless. II
| also would have n ade 1t necessary
for the planes to fly too close tc-
| gether.
Smith was soon lost from the sight
| of his followers and then Wade saw
| Nelson make a quick drop through a
hole in the fog to the ceilinged space
between the water and the fog In
turning to follow Nelson's example,
| Wade found himself only 10 feet
above the other plane, which he mar
rowly avoided hitting. Stacking
| quickly he made out through the mist
Smiths plane. Smith then signaled
him that they would have to give UP
| today's flight
The two aviators again turned the
| noses of their planes eastward Not
| finding Nelson, Smith ordered Wade
| by the simple semaphore direction,
| boat" to hunt for the cruiser Rich
| mond which had been directed to
| follow in their wake. Wade circled
near the cliffs on the bay of Skaill
| where it was estimated the boat
would be, but the fog which also
| covered this area would not permit
| communication between things aerial
| and those below.
| Wade picked up Smith near Strom-
ness and they flew to kirkwal, ar
irving about 11:20 am.
| Feat Is Acclaimed.
The feat of Lieut.. Nelson in reach
| ing Iceland is hailed as great
| achievement by his fellow flyers and
| Army and Navy officers here. Sep
| arated from the others in the fog,
| he did not know their fate for hours,
| while his fate also was unknown un-
| til he reported 10 the destroyer Bill
| ingsley, on station 25 miles west of
| the Farce Islands.
When Nelson and Harding picked
UP the destroyer, they dropped a mes
sage to the ,Billingsley's deck saying:
'If planes two and three have passed,
| blow two blasts on whistle, IL not
blow one" The destroyer responded
| with a single blast and the flyers,
with half the journey completed, pro-
| ceeded.
There were anxious hours on board
| the flagship Richmond of the patrol
| squadron, when news was received
| from Maj. Davidson, who remained in