Seward daily gateway., 1929-05-18
CRAMER FOUND ALASKA FERTILE
 AVIATION FIELD
TELLS CHICAGOANS POSSIBLE TY OF AIR ROUTE TO CHINA
 VIA ALASKA

The following, from the Chicago Tribune, relates interestingly what Parker D. Cramer, Chicago Alaska Siberia aviator, thinks about the country.
 Parker D. Cramer flew into Chi cago on his return from his flight from Alaska across the Bering sea to Siberia with half grown beard and high enthusiasm for the future of aviation in Alaska and the pes sibilities it offers for commercial air route from Chicago to China.
 Shorty, as he is known among the flying fraternity, was late in his arrival, but he had not been lost, as first reports had it. In stead, he said, he was catching up on lost sleep" at La Crosse, Wis, where he had landed because of bad weather in the Chicago region. With him was w. Gamble of New York, who accompanied him on the Siberian flight
 NO FANFARE FOR FLIGHT
 Little save curiosity prompted him to make the 10000 air trip from Chicago to the tip of North America and back, Cramer asserted. Without the usual fanfare of pub Ilicity attendant on experimental flights, the pilot and navigator who last year accompanied Bert HasSell in the attempted flight from Rock ford to Stockholm, took-off three weeks ago and proceeded by easy jumps to Alaska, but it was not until the plane had reached Nome that the purpose of the venture was learned.
 "The trip was made to see if it wasn't possible to fly over the re- zion in stock plane with a stock motor and without previous ar for fuel, repair bases, landing fields, etc." Cramer said. TT have concluded from our expert ence that the logical route to Asia is by way of Alaska as the logical way to Europe is by way of Labra- dor, Greenland and Iceland. There seems to be little sense in flying over great eXpanSeS of water when the destination can be reached with comparatively safe flying over land
 VERY LITTLE WATER FLYING
 Contrary to popular opinion, Alaska offers few obstacles to the flyer. While it is mountainous, there are 8 great number of small lakes and rivers with sandbars and flat land surrounding them. An amphibian with more than one motor, equipped to alight on land or water, would have no trouble in flying over this country. The long, est water hop over the Bering strait is 30 miles. The rest of the jour- ney is made over small islands"
 The Cessna monOplane, four passenger cabin ship powered with Warner motor, in which Cramer made the flight, was fitted with skis over most of the Alaskan jour- ney. On it's wings and fuselage when it arrived in Chicago there were hundreds of penciled names scrawled there by the natives when the plane had landed.
 Alaska is a fertile field for avia- tion," Cramer observed. "On our trip we ran across some 20 planes and all the operators reported a thriving business. Journeys that require three weeks by dog team are being made by airplanes in three days. Operators are getting $1.50 per pound for carrying fur and gold and 75 cents per pound for mail. The passenger fare from Nome to Fairbanks, distance of 500 miles is $500.
 Cramer expects to- proceed to New York. If this weather keeps up," he said, "I'm going back to Alaska to get warm"