The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-04-28
MARTIN BRAVES
BLINDNG STORM
TO REACH FLEET
CONTINUED From Page One)

the ship and wait; he had to hop. off
So, with the help of the inhabitants OF
Kanatak, all of whom turned out, even
including the few white women in the
colony, and also with the assistance OF
the whole. crew of our ship, the Algon-
quin, sled was constructed of heavy
timbers. with log under the keel OF
each of the pontoons as runner. Then
the . Standard Oil caterpillar tractor
hitched on to the sled and literally
pulled the raft down to the bed of the
shallow creek for half mile, to the
edge of the water of the bay, where the
tide was going out at places.
The banks ON the side of the creek
were so narrow that the men had to
shovel away the dirt off the high en-
bankment to allow the wings to pass
through the raxine without being rub
bed to shreds. Indeed, this passage out
of the channel presented one Of the odd
est spectacles ever witnessed. To see
the huge world air cruiser being towed
on a sled by tractor out of the dry
bed of the creek, with Major Martin
standing ON the wings and Mechanic
Harvey ON the front of the sled, would
have made an interesting movie had any
operator been present. Surely, never
before did an airplane go through such
a ravine, in such strange way, or on
such a mOmentous mission. -
Wind Comes Up
To make things worse, the wind and
the tide began to come up, accompanied
by n blinging snowstorm. As there is
no protection against high winds for a
plane in this small harbor it became a
race with the men in sliding the pom
toons and the heavy plane off the sled.
because the tractor could not drag the
sled further than the edge of the tide
and the pontoons could not be violently
pushed. off the sled without serious
damage to the bottoms of the pontoons.
As the ship weighed more than three
tons it could not be lifted off the sled. so
that means had to be devised to push
the sled out into deep water until the
airsbip floated on the bosom of the
bay. At first our crew on the Algon-
quin dropped an anchor far out in the
bay, with a block and pulley attached,
but when the tractor hitched onto one
end of the line and started to pull the
heavy sled out where, it could float,
the 5O-pound anchor refused to hold in
the sand Of the bay. .5,e, :. 4.
There was nothing for it but to get
long timbers, brace them low against
the sled and let the tractor push it out
into deep water till it fIoated. This
was done, but the aid of the racing pro.
peller was required to. get the sled to
sea. After an hours pushing and pull
ing it finally got out deep enough for
the ponto0ns to float, hut By that time
the bay was covered with white caps
that drove straight into the noSe Of the
airscruiser.
@ Into 4O.Mile Gale =
As q consequence, Major Martin had
to taxi right out into a. 40-nilei wind
and driving snow, that almost blinded
the workers, and over the terrible sur
into the ocean beyond where our ship,
the Algonquin. was anchored The
major handled his ship materially and.
after splashing and laundering, ship
ping water and rolling about, the wings
finally lifted the three-ton airship1s off
the water. Even then it was many a
hundred yards that she flew before she
gained enough speed to make sure to the
spectators that she would not. settle
back on the wafer She disappeared in
the fog of snow beyond the white figure
of the Algonquin out in the bay and
only the roar of tile motor could be
heard. - 81. s.e2 III ,,-. -,t,,-
For some time, as the ham increased,
the round the-world air cruiser, was dis
cerned, like a ghost in the sky, making
back to TIE beach. but at a consider
ably higher altitude. As the roaring
sky dragon circled over head, soaring
the wild ducks and the sea gulls with
its speed and bulk. Major Martin and
his mechanic, Harvey, leaned over the
fusillage and signalled to the crowd on
the beach. The majors teeth were
clearly visible, showing that his unfail
ing smile was still there
Once again he banked and disappear
ed in the wind. SNOW and fog, until only
the faint .drohjng of his motor was au7
dible and everybody thought the air
cruiser had started on the long trip to
Chfgnfk. In II few minutes, however,
the droning came more distinctly to fine
ears and, no bigger than a, gull. the
plane appeared close to the summit of
the deep ridged and snow covered noun
tains to the south.
With A Last Wave
soon 1t was nigh over head and with
a last wave the major and his me-
chanic banked around and disappeared
to the south in the face of a grownup
hurricane. The silent watchers on the
beach and the speechless Indians by
their side listened until not the faint
est echo was discernible and then all
turned and uttered a silent prayer that
the courageous flyers and the good air
cruiser Seattle would weather the gale
and reach Chignik safely.
Major Martin and Sergeant Harvey
had made so many friends during the
short time that they were at Kantaka
that eyeryone's heart was touched by
the desperate chance the jor had been
compelled to take in order to get out of
this land locked cove where he had
been marooned since April 10.
As soon as they had gone Captain
Gabbett ordered the anchors of the Al
gonquin hoisted and the United States
coast guard cutter Immediately set out
after the round the world flyers, to rem
der assistance in case the major and his
mechanic had to go into a forced land
ing before they reached Chignik. The
assistance was, fortunately, not re-
..,f-al a i