Evening star., 1924-08-17
World yers as Pioneers Reveal Progress Use of Pl

ing contrast with the few hours
flight over the same sea by the Arny
flyers, representing thousand years
of progress.
By a strange coincidence, Lieut.
Eric Nelson, the engineer officer of
the world flight, is now trailing his
Viking ancestors.
x x Z: ::
THE Americans will skirt the coast
of Greenland rather than attempt
to fly across the hundreds Of miles Of
great desert ice fields. As a precau-
tion, in case they become lost in this
part of the world, the flyers have u
list of every Eskimo village or settle
ment on the east coast of Greenland
The whole interior of Greenlsn nd
is high plateau of ice formed by
compressed snow, hundreds of feet
thick, with not living thing on il,
the largest single body Of ice in the
world. Over 600 miles is being flown
between Angmagsalik. Greenland.
and 1vigtut, on the west coast. De-
stroyers of the United States Atlantic
fleet are forming radio chain over
this hazardous section and down the
coast of North America as far as
Boston.
1vigtut is at the foot of the mighty
snow capped kungnat Mountain, one
of the highest peaks in Greenland.
The landing here will be in a shell
tered harbor near the docks of the
largest kryolite mine in the world.
which operates only a few months in
the year. during the Summer. The
rest of the time it is buried in ice
and snow. By using the hoist and
docking facilities of the Danish Com
pany which works this mine, ma jor
| repairs can be made at this point and
the planes made ready for the last
long mile.
From Greenland's icy mountains
they will cross the Davis Straits to
the frigid coast Of Labrador. a flight
over open water Of 572 miles. Down
the coast of Labrador they will be
preceded by a destroyer acting as a
floating base for supplies Landings
will be made at Hawks Bay, New
foundland and Pictou Harbor, Nova
Scotia. From this point, if conditions
permit, nonstop flight will be made
to Boston. the point of entry into the
United States, where they will change
from pontoons to wheels for the fina!
dash across the continent to their
starting point.
The aviators will be relieved again
to be in their own country, wher-
they know that request for gaso-
line will net gasoline and not a pot
Of seal blubber or string of coral
beads.
Linking Occident and Orient, bur-
feted by high winds, stung by s;ee,,
| blinded by snowstorms. deIused in
torrential rains, exposed to torrid
equatorial heat, lashed by Sandstorms
of the desert and again plunged into
the frigidity of the Arctic Circle, these
| intrepid airmen have steered true
course in tractless waste-one month
following caravan routes in the old
world, the next trailing the Viking
across the Greenland Sea
They have pioneered a route that
may some day become an interna-
| tional airway and have demonstrated
| that aerial communication with all.
| countries OF the world Is possible. in
| accomplishing the flight from Seattle.
| Wash, to Toxic in 81 flying hours: TO
| Shanghai China, in 80 flying hours.
and to Calcutta, India in $50 hours:
| while London was reached in 2SU
flying hours.
1t Is only 70 years ago that Ezra
Meeker toiled lAboriously across our
Western desert in his OK cart, requfr
ing weeks to reach the Western coast:
trailing him came the pony express,
and later the steam engine, while
within the year the dawn-to-dusk
transcontinental flight has been ac-
complished. Although airplanes are
still in state of development, they
have during this stage accomplished
such marvellous featS that the future
bids fair to record other accomplish
ments now impossible to predict.
A harbinger of progress that knows
no coast lines or boundaries and can
reach unknown and inaccessible re-
gions. where all other transportation
is impracticable, the airplane must
soon be recognized as an important
factor commercially and in national
defense.