New Britain herald., 1928-04-23

l Adptdln NlllnS. In making the
 first flight from Alaska to Europe,
 was forced down by snoNstorms and i tempcstuous weather on the unin-
 hahitcd island of Deodmansoeira l (bead Mans IslandD. He and Eiel-
 son were narooned there for five
 days as they awaited favorable weather for a take-of for inhabited land.
 On Saturday conditions became favorable and they hopped off again. ! They arrived at Green Harbor on lsfjord Gee Fioru without further difficulty at II a. m. Both Captain Wilkins and Eielson arc in good health.
 They wilt receive every attention stay at the harbor, which is not far from the Lon2year coal mines where several hundred persons live throughout the year.
 Discussing the flight, Roald Amundscn, who flew over the pole in the dirlgihle Norge in 1926. said apparently the flyers had not been bothered with ice freezing on the craft as had been the case of the Norge. He believed conditions for flying the polar regions were more favorable now than in May, when tog generally sets in. Scientific Value
 Besides being q splendid sporting enterprise.' he continued, such & flight has great scientific value. add ing much gcogra phcal knowledge for If the weather was good. Captain Wilkins might have made important observations.'
 No Sign of Land
 The New York Times today print cd dispatch from Captain Wilkins in which he said no sign of an island was seen where Peary, Stefansson and MacMillan had thought there might be land. It was too dangerous to descend and take soundings.
 The start was made from Point Barrow on April IS. The weather was good and the visibility excellent, the dispatch said This condition prevailed for 500 miles. Nine hun- dred miles out from SpitzberRen, stormy winds were encountered, These. however. were in the flyers !. favor.
 A single mountain peak was sight, 1 ed in Greenland in the far distance l and the flyers descended to a lower l altitude.
 Captain Wilkins then ran into t,,r stirred by a violent gale which rock ed the plane to a perilous degree. At this time the flyers passed an island 1 an apparently smooth 1 spot. They were running short of i gasoline so their only recourse was to turn back.
 They made a safe landing on this island, which pfovcd later to be Dead Mans Island, more than 50 miles from Green Harbor. They 1 were held there for five days during the worst Arctic weather Captain Wilkins has ever experienced. Then the gale blew itself out.
 Much difficulty was experienced, however, in hopping off again, Cap N'AiA ''A'NAiiS CtAH6 lS4L Vll lIlSz 1CC | twice when the plane rose. Finally the plane flew to Green Harbor within an hour.
 Hard HOp-off
 The take-off from Point Barrow failed three times before the heavily loaded plane could be raised in the air, despite the help of large band of volunteer Eskimo snow shovelcrs. The metal skis with which the plane was equipped broke each time.
 The Los Angeles Examiner in a copyrighted article today said that 'aptain Wilkins next great flight would be over the uncharted wastes of tho Antarctic.
 J. K. Nortbrop, engineer, who de- signed Wilkins plane, and a few as- sociates in disclosing the plans, said hey were far enough advanced to make it certain that the flyer would oc back in Los Angeles in four or i've weeks. >This indicated the possi- olllty of race between two explor-