Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-09-07

GIlCIIl OVOI 1Ctt11bI1 sui III Qdy1lSIlO.
Mayor Walker of New York, it is
understood intends to come here from
Venice day ahead of his schedule
to join the welcoming crowds.
The papers today devoted much
space to the overseas attempt, which
is attracting enormous interest.
OLD ORCHARD, Me-, Sept. 6 (R-
The great monoplane Old Glory rose
swiftly and gracefully from the hard
packed sand of Old orchard beach to-
day and winged her way toward Rome.
The long deferred flight began at 1928
p. m. eastern standard time
The toss of coin had given James
Dewitt Hill the coveted pilots posi-
ton at the start Beside him in the
cockpit was Lloyd Wilson Bertaud, who
will attend to the navigation and radio
operation in addition to relieving Hill
at the controls at intervals Hill is
not an operator. In the passengers
seat was Philip "A. Payne, managing
editor of the New York Mirror and
flight director, who represented Will
liam Randolph Hearst, backer of the
flight.
Payne and Bertaud had hidden their
wives a cheerful farewell No woman
relative was present to speed Hill on
his way but Mrs. Payne had given him
hearty kiss. A Catholic priest had
sprinkled holy water on the plane and
impaired his blessing on plane and
crew.
National guardSmen held back the
crowd which had gathered to watch
the start. Slowly at first, but with
qnickly gathering speed the plane roll
ed down the beach mile and a half
before taking the air, On the runway
of seventh-e -eighths of mile at Roosevelt
field New York, whence it had been
planned oriI,Nally to make the start,
inability to get off the ground sooner
would have meant disaster.
Here there was large margin of
safety and Old Glory swung out past
the end of the long pleasure pier and
seaward.
The flyers hoped to reach Rome
without a. stop. From the vicinity of
Newfoundland Bertaud planned to
navigate the plane straight to Bor-
deauX, France.
1t was happy and confident trio
that arose today after nights sleep at
the Brunswick hotel where they had
stayed since they arrived here in the
Old Glory from Roosevelt field last
Saturday night. First of all Bertaud
and Payne went to st. Margaret's
Catholic church to attend a special
mass arranged by the pastor, Rev.
James F. Mullen Hill, who is not a
Catholic, Gid not accompany them.
At 10 o'clock the plane was moved
from it's overnight position just above
the high water mark to the firm sand
left by the receding tide. Captain
Eric BenSham, representative in this
country of the Bristol Jupiter COM
pany which built Old Glorys motor,
gave it final inspection and tryout.
He was entirely satisfied.
Payne and Bertaud were surrounded
by groups of relatives, including Mrs.
Payne and Mrs. Bertaud. They were
laughing and joking, obviously in high
spirits. Once in while one or the
other of the women withdrew from the
group to wipe few involuntary tears
from her eyes. But for the most part
they were as cheerful as their hus-
bands. They betrayed no sign of
worry over the outcome of the flight.
! Beforehand Mrs. Payne and Mrs.
Bertaud had written long letters for
! their husbands to read while in the
air. AS they chatted with the filters
they and Mrs. Florence Callaghan,
mother of Bertaud, noticed that there
was no feminine touch to the departure
for Hill. They put their heads to-
! gether.
Hastily Mrs. Payne scribbled note
| while the two other women looked