Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-06-12
ITALIA CREW
FACE CRISIS;
RUSHING AID
Three of Group Miss
ing; Others Afloat
On Ice; Norwegian
Filters Preparing
copyrighted, 1928, by The Associat-
ed Press)

copyrighted, 1928, by The Associat-
ed Press)
KINGS BAY, Spitzbergen, June -.
-LPg-At least some Of the crew Of
the dirigible Italia stranded on the
ice pack north Of Spitzbergen faced
. crisis today as Captain Riser
Larsen and Lieutenant Lutzow Holm,
Norwegian aviators, rushed prePara-
tions to bring them aid.
With three of the crew definitely
missing, and possibly lost, and the
rest Of the explorers divided into two
parties drifting on an ice floe west
ward toward land, the utmost speed
was used today to reach the stranded
groups.
Two men arrived AZ Mossell Bay
early this morning with gasoline for
Lieutenant Holm who was stranded
Mt that place after a five-day recon
naissance during most of which ne
had been forced to wait idly because
of fog and u~nfavorable ice condi-
tions.
As soon as the Norwegian air man
received the gasoline he flew to the
sealer Hobby and yer into confer
ence with Captain Riiser-Larsen pre-
paratory to making a new series OF
flights in an effort to find the miss
. ing men. He reported that ne hau
sighted none Of the ltalia's ere"
nj uring his search.
~. Fine flying weather prevalieo an
We two pilots, who have had muen
xperience in northern waters plan
ab ed to fly eastward as soon as pos
an BILE searching the pack ice LOT me
..alia's parties. If the men sn9uiu
HE found, the aviators Will drop
= messages and provisions.
Starvation Looms
Two Italian planes with tnlrt!
hour cruising ability are expected
I.t. ais week to assist the Nor
wegians in dashes over the ice
fields. The Italian plane, starting
from Kings Bay, will fly up the
west coast and will then 20 directly
east to the spot where the ltalia
was wrecked.
II is feared that at least some OF
the Italia's crew may soon lace
starvation If the rescuers DO not
reach them quickly. IL IS now the
third week for the stranded expior-
ING marty on the ~treacherous pack
ice and their provisions are re-
duced despite careful rationing.
In addition to the problem OF con-
serving their food supply, the ltalias
men must take care Of their two
r~ompanions whose legs were broken
when the gondola of the airship was
broken off on May % when the
Italia tried to land. The injured
men were with the party OF SIX
which is being personally lea py
General Umberto Mobile.
~ Tfnn
rms rroup Of three men who be-
came separated from the Italia try
ing TO reach land, undoubtedly Is
facing tremendous difficulties. Cross
ing the pack ice, they must go over a
zigzar route ut a very slow pace and
the distance gained by hard work
on one day may be lost on the next
dav by movement Of the ice. they
also may encounter stretches OF
omen water and nave TO seek a cir
cuitous route toward land.
III these men should be close to
land in the vicinity of Rips Bay or
Dover Bay, they may be able to get
ashore, for the terrain is flat at
these points.
Radio messages received by the
base shin Citta al Milano from Luigi
Ciogi. General Mobiles operator, in
dictate that one Of the three parties
has a canvas boat but which one was
MOI made clear. The Italia has not
stated as yet whether all of the
parties have sufficient food, but u
is known that some supplies were in
the gondola and others were in the
body of the airship.
The Russian ice breaker Maligin
Is expected here some time during
the middle Of the week. IL has two
big planes aboard and ten dogs which
can be used for searching the ice
pack II necessary. The huge ice
breaker will bunker at Kings Bay
and leave for the north as quickly
ms possible. Speed is necessary for
when the pack ice is drifting rapid
~ il can 10Y as much as SIX
nautical miles n day.