The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1927-05-20
NEWS REVIEW OF
CURRENT EVENTS
Nungesser Lost in Parasitic
New York Flight-Mid-
west Storm Swept.
BY EDWARD J. PIcKARD

FIRST to attempt the nonstop flight
from Paris to New York for the
Orteig prize, and first to fail, Capt.
Charles Nungesser, famous French ace,
and Maj. Francois Coli are believed
at this writing to have been lost some
where in the North Atlantic. Their
plane, white Bird" was last seen
off the southern coast of Ireland It
vanished in the ocean mists and in
tensive search by French, American
and English vessels failed to reveal
its fate. Near the weeks end there
were still those who believed the I'M
fortunate aviators might be found in
some cove Of the Newfoundland or
Nova Scotia coast or on some small
vessel that had no wireless. But the
hope was exceedingly slender.
At first the blame for the failure
of Nungessers flight was placed by
the Paris press on the United States
weather bureau, the assertion being
made that the flyers were duped by in
correct weather reports from America,
and the French people were so aroused
by this that Ambassador Herrick
cabled advising American entrants in
the contest to delay their start The
story was found to be utterly false,
and General Delicambre, head of the
French weather bureau, assumed full
responsibility for the advices on
weather conditions given to Nungesser
and Coli before they hoped off. Clar-
ence Chamberlin and Lloyd Bertaud,
seeing no further reason for delay,
made all preparations to start their
flight from New York in the big
Wright Bellanca plane; and Capt.
Louis Lindbergh, veteran air-mail pilot,
few his entry, the Ryan plane, from
San Diego to New York with the in
tention Of hopping off for Paris in
few days. Lindbergh flies alone.
TOR three days eight states of the
Middle West were subjected to the
fury of the weather. Tornadoes, tor
rental rains and, in the higher alti-
tudes, severe billiards. prevailed, and
reports from the widely scattered re-
gions that suffered showed that nearly
$50 persons had lost their lives and
about one thousand had been injured.
The property losses were very heavy.
First destruction was wrought in Kan
sas, where twister roared in from
the southwest. There followed torna-
does that dashed Texas, Missouri, Ar
kansas, Louisiana and Illinois, fiatten-
ing farmhouses and buildings in rural
sections and laying towns and villages
in waste. fu-
Twice the storms struck at Missouri,
in a dozen communities in the central
part of the state and at Poplar Bluff,
in the southeastern section. The
known dead at Poplar Bluff stood at
101, with scores injured and the heart
of the city devastated. Ten persons
were killed in central Missouri, three
by high wind at st. Louis and two by
twisters near Springfield.
Arkansas was swept from the south
ern section to the northeastern coun-
ties by a series of twisters. Latest
reports placed the dead at 20 and the
injured at more than three hundred.
The death list in Texas, where lorna
does struck at two points, reached 35.
MORE money is needed for the re-
AVA lief Of the Mississippi valley flood
victims. The $1O.OOOOOO fund was
oversubscribed, but the Red Cross
officials announced that the amount
raised was insufficient to care for the
work in hand. All Red Cross chapters
were urged to exceed their original
quotas. The latest serious develop
ment is the breaking out of smallpox
among the refugees of the Boeuf river
section of Louisiana, where an cpl
demie was feared. Large supplies of
vaccine and of typhoid prophylaxis
were hurried to that region. Desper-
ate efforts were made to build up the
ievees along south central Louisiana,
at which the flood waters were ham,
mering. The state levee board Off
Gals believed the embankment would
hold, but naval aviators who flew over