Evening star., 1927-11-18

uniform was ruined. FelloW OiIlCcto
reported that Lieut.. Ervine's trousers
virtually were stripped from him.
Lieut.. Ervine few moments earlier
had telephoned the land plane hangar
at the north end of the field to close
the doors and to put the ships away
because he thought a storm was com
ing. Aviation Machinist's Mate, first
class, Francis J. Roberts. and Aviation
Chief Machinist's Mate Ironfield com
piled with the requests and Just as
they locked the big sliding door the
wind caught them and carried them in
the direction of the river. Roberts
was thrown to the ground and he slid
along on his nose for several feet,
tearing off all the skin on his fore.
head and nose and imbedding large
number of cinders in the flesh. Both
Roberts and Ironfield were unable to
buck the wind and were carried
straight for the river for about 200
yards.
Stopped on Sea Wall.
Just as the storm spent its force,
both were on the sea wall with Iron
field hanging on to small tree, in an
effort to keep on dry land. A third
member of the land plane hangar
crew. j. P Speaker. likewise was car
red by the wind, but he was thrown
against a low iron fence at the en-
trance of the field and knocked out
temporarily. A sentry gathered him
up and the two hid behind one of the
big concrete pillars which mark the
entrance to the field. When Speaker
came to, bis first question was: What
happcned?"
a few feet south Of the land plane
hangar stood a small building used by
the time clerk who checks the flying
time of land planes from that office.
No one was in the building at the time
1t was lifted clear of it's concrete foun.
dation and blown over the top Of the
land plane hangar. Roberts said to-
day while being carried by the wind
that the hangar roof which was partly
removed was just few feet behind
him, and any minute he thought the
huge mass of metal would win the
race.
The only object left standing on the
foundation of the time clerks office
was Lizzie" three.legged egg stove.
The stove pipe was missing, however,
and had not been located today.
DOdged Falling Sheets.
When Lieut.. Buse escaped from the
flight test Office he sought refuge in
the big steel seaplane hangar and was
comparatively safe as far as being
touched by the wind. 1Io.,"v big
sheets of asbestos, which formed a
ceiling for the hangar, began dropping
and the young officer found himself
dashing all over the hangar in an eff
fort to escape being struck by these
heavy objects.
Lieut.. Rounds, who escaped at the
same time, made dash for the chief
petty officers quarters, which, at that
moment, became unroofed. AS he
rushed into the door he found all the
occupants rushing out, yelling to
him, That's no place to CO." He was
blown down small street between
the buildings until a powerfully built
chief petty officer grabbed him by the
arm and dragged him bodily into one
of the undamaged barracks.
Francis reported that the barometer
in the aerology building dropped in a
fash from 29.57 to 29.11. and immedi.
ately returned to it's original reading
This sudden change was attributed
as the cause of some OF the buildings
bursting outward, as the pressure
within did not have time to equalze
that without. The thermometer was
unable to record the full velocity of
the wind, but a pressure instrument
recorded as high as 80 miles an hour
Thrown for Perfect Loop.
Francis, who was a member Of the
Macmillan Arctic expedition in 1925,
recalled winds that blew 100 miles an
hour in Greenland. but despite their
force he was able to crawl across the
deck of the ship on all fours. Yester.
day afternoon. however. he sought to
do this and instead he was thrown
for perfect loop, he said, 1t was i'm.
possible to stand up against the force
OF the wind
Lieut.. Comdr. Homer Wick, com.
manding the air station, and Lieut..
+. w. CorWin. were in the canteen
when their attention was attracted to
sudden hasty movements of those on
the outside. Lieut.. Comdr. Wick
looked out the window and at that
moment saw part OF the roof of the
land plane hangar blow off. The next
moment he found himself with Lieut..
Corwin holding up the side of the
building which was shaking severely.
When the blow ceased he opened the
door and went out to find the air
filled with flying debris.