Evening star., 1924-08-02
CRUISERS SMOKE
TO AID i. S. FLYERS
Milwaukee Will Rival ve-
suvius in Signalling Planes
Off Labrador.
BY LEMUEL F.. PARTON.


American Newspaper Alliance.
ON BOARD THE U S. S. MILwAU-
KEE, CANSO STRAITS, Nova Scotia,
August 2.-On the after-deck of the
cruiser Milwaukee, as she nosed her
way through the fog to Pictou, there
was a litter OF strange gear which
had nothing to do with a battleship.
half-doZen sailors were working at
the tumble of ropes and chains. They
were preparing the moorings for the
landing Of the American world flyers
at Indian Harbor, Labrador.
Lieut.. Clayton Bissell of the United
States Army Air Service, in charge OF
Atlantic Coast preparations, waited
for each seconds lapse in the below
sharp command. The forms OF the
men scarcely were visible In the
smother of fog; the roar of the whistle
was deafening. But with all this
auditory and visual confusion there
was certitude-and infallibility. Lieut.:
BisSell makes it clear that there Will
be no gamble in this last encounter
with the elements
Program In Outlined.
Here is what will happen. along
about August 10, when the American
flyers jump from Ivigut, Greenland,
$50 miles to Indian Harbor, Labrador:
The Milwaukee will stand out from
the harbor. The chief engineer Will
scientifically foul the draft-using
specially devised oil inlet-to send up
the biggest and blackest belch OF
smoke over contrived by anything
short of Vesuvius. When 1t IS noted
that this ships turbines are 100000
horsepower, the commensurate smok-
ing possibilities of the four stacks
may be realized. This Will be the
wayfarers' cloud by day and plliar
of fire by night
1t will be visible for many miies
Closer to shore will be the moor
ings one for each Of the airships.
Three yellow pennants, on long staIs,
will ride three buoys. which VIII De
the "hitching, posts" for the planes s.s as a.
they sWoop downward from the iast
long hazard of the sea.
The above figure of speech is sug-
gested by the not generally known
fact that world -girdling airplanes
wear brides. The bride of the plane
will be snaff1ed to loose hand line.
carried on light floats and attached 70
the buoy. This line Will lead the
plane to it's secure anchorage on the
buoy.
4OO-Pound Anchor to be Placed.
pound anchor, attached to a length OF
chain also lying on the bottom. On
the free end of the chain viii be
backing" or huge cleXis, to whieh
This latter device will make impos-
sible the loosening or wearing of the
rope by a lateral pull. The entire ar
rangement will be placed to last at
It is probable that the ships will
leave Ivigut between s and $40
o'clock in the morning and arrive az
Indian Harbor between 4 and 5
daylight saving time. The boats OF
the Milwaukee will be lowered in
readiness to dash out to the air
planes. The pilots will come abroad.
planes to complete the work of over
hauling and refueling in the few pre-
cious remaining hours Of daylight
They. must be ready to Jump to cart
wright, Labrador, early the next DAY.
Kept Always in View.
On the flight from Ivigut the flyers
will at no time be out of sight Of the
watching destroyers. On this lap will
be stationed the Lawrence, the Barry.
the Charles Ausburn, the Preston and
leggers." but the others boasting
sailing range which will enable them
to sweep the seas in case or emer-
The high-powered wireless Of the Mil
yaukee will be tuned to each of the
varying wave lengths of the destroyers.
So far as mechanical skill can achleve
II. there will not be an instant's break
in the flow of ether waves wnlcn Will
convoy the flyers on their last leap to
the misunderstanding the last OF the
continents and actually completing cir
cumnavigation of the globe by aero
plane. For it is this bleak, cold escarp-
ment on the Labrador coast wnlcn IS
int nf
To the flyers it is the land OF heart
desire.
ship "FeeIing Way" at Pictou.
For days the Milwaukee. had been
telling her way through the narrow Gut
of Canso, on her way to Pictou, to plant
moorings for the fourth Atlantic coast
landing of the flyers. 1t is the nrst
sage, and she moved cautiously in the
fog, guided by her new sonic, depth
finder, which, by throwing sound to
the ocean bed and timing the rebound
of the echo keeps the bridge continu-
ousiy informed Of the depth.
TIL ships wireless was kept banging
away at the Gertrude Rask. the Danish
ship which had left Copenhagen to plant
supplies at Angmagsalik, on the East
coast of Greenland. No answer came
but no one was disturbed; Inc 1er
trude Rask is known to be stanch
little ship and superior ice bucker.
she was chosen for the latter reason, as
she must shove through from Z TO ~
miles of slush ice on the East coast
to reach the landing place. The Dan
nery. another Danish steamer, will
plant supplies at 1vigut on or De1ore
August 6.
Visits of courtesy will be exchanged
nv the wardroom officers and rep
resentatives of the Canadian govern
ment in Pictou, a quaint old town
of about 5000 population, after which
the Milwaukee will steam to Hawkes.
Harbor and thence to Cartwright and
Indian Harbor.
Tense Feeling Manifested.
There is a bit of tensity in the
usually easy-going shipboard de-
meanor as the work narrows down
to the last critical details of an en-
terprise which will write a new
chapter in American history. Lieut..
Bissell works day and night, check
ing against any and every possible
sIfp-up in his plans. w. H Kennedy,
.sandy-haired youth from Ohio,
civilian attache of the Air Service
in charge Of supplies, was busy to-
day over big photostatic chart
zone of the entries on the chart
was needles and thread and bees
wax" 1t was disclosed that at each
landing place is a big repository of
tools, with the location of each tool
in the chest marked ON a chart car
ried by the flyers. A flyer landing
with ripped wing could dive
straight into the needles and thread
and beeswax." From these minutfae
itself-so the notation literally COW
ers the whole range from a needle
to q battleship. In this undertaking,
at least, no kingdom will be lost for
want of horseshoe.
Copyright, 1e24.)