Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-10
FLYERS FOUGHT FOG.
Mists Almost Triumphed Over 'Urtin'
Crew In Wilds.

Mists Almost Triumphed Over 'Urtin'
Crew In Wilds.
BY ROBERT WOOD.
PORT BURWELL, Labrador, via
LouiSburg, NOVA Scotia, July 9.-Ihe
'Untin' Bowler, the Chicago Anph1Oion
rlane, which Is making q t1sthfinding
flight from Chicago to Berlin, SWoopeo
Down out of a cloudy sky and landed
in an ice Strewn tickle here at $40
am, Chicago daylight saving time, to-
day, with a worn and hungry crew.
We have spent two nights and day
on the lonely rock-bound coast OF
Ungava Bay, 40 miles south of Port
Burwell, waiting for dense fog to lit.
Since the Bowler left Remilake,
Ontario, six days ago, thick, milky
fog, sweeping down from the Arctic
barrier to progress.
The flight of the Bowler to Berlin is
being made as survey of q possible
commercial route, and not as a DEATH
defying spectacle. We have awaited
the lifting of the fog, taking advantage
OF each brief clearing to push in further
North. When the sun broke through
the mist this morning we made dash
for our objective. An hour after the
and the sun shone brightly. We expect
to be of tomorrow for Mount Evans,
Greenland, 700 miles northeast of here
on the second leg Of the flight to Berlin.
Today Eskimos terried fuel drums from
the harbor two miles around the rocky
hills to the Fiord, where the plane is
being refueled.
A Lonely Vigil.
The story of the lonely vigil of the
last two days goes back to the flight
of the Bowler up from the Hudson Bay
station on Great Whale River. We
were marooned there for two days by
the same fog that held the plane to
the ground in Ungava Bay. Although
mists still blew in from the bay the
eastern skies were fairly clear, and Rob-
ert H. Cast and Parker D. Cramer, the
pilots, decided to make run Of it.
Flying up the wide river only few
feet from the water, the Bowler left
the fog so miles inland and struck
across the UNEMPLOYED wilderness of
Canada. A little more than four hours
after leaving Hudson Bay the Bowler
sailed into Ungava Bay, crossed q field
of icebergs and headed toward Burwell
along the jagged Eastern coast.
The trouble started so miles south
of here. Gray clouds appeared ahead
drove the steam of the ice beneath.
The plane got swung around imme-
diately and started back toward Chino
a Hudson Bay post on the Kolsoak
River, which we had passed a hundred
miles south. But, reluctant to lose
ground, we came down to 800 feet,
sighted an isle of the bay, where q
narrow channel kept out the bigger ice
and left a clear landing place. There
ice. We tossed out the anchor to wait
an hour, as we thought at the time, for
the skies to clear. That was Sunday
afternoon. We drifted until this morn
ing. An hour after landing the fog
appeared to rise above the stony hills.
Cast took OF, but got only as far as
the bay. Before the fog lowered. Again
we returned to our lonely haven, drop
ped the anchor in the crevice Of a
boulder and prepared to spend the night
on the bleak shore.
Sleep Not Possible.
There was no sleep that night or
the night following. Twice a day the
tide rose and fell 40 feet. It required
constant attention to keep the Bowler
from going aground and smashing her
hull. At high tide the ship was even
with our camp and at low tide it was
out of sight, below. The place was
a picture of desolation Great moss
covered rocks rose 500 feet, burying their
submits in the low hanging fog as
on the tide, passed back and forth
across the bay, great chunks of melt
ing snow broke from the creviceS Of the
rocks and plunged into the water. At
first we thought it the distant rumble
of thunder.
Three Eskimos hunting seals on the
northern shore of the bay sighted the
Bowler riding at anchor and scrambled
through the ice IN their kayaks, defying
all the laws of equilibrium. The three
brown men with walrus mustaches
came and stood, thunderstruck, before
the big kayak with the wings There
ensued a conversation in which Shorty
Cramer employed half dozen Eskimo
words to learn the direction and dis
lance from Burwell to Cape Chidley.
Ridley, ugh." the trio replied, mo-
tioning to the northwest. So Cramer
wrote q message to the Northwest
Mounted Police at Burwell, stating that
we were down, waiting for the fog tn
clear, 40 miles south Of Burwell; that
the plane and crew were safe, but
might be marooned for several days
eff possible to reach us by motor boat"
he wrote, come at once, bringing warm
food. The Eskimos will show you the
way"
Gave Eskimos $50 Bill.
We gave the Eskimos the note and a
$40 bill, pointing in the direction Of
Burwell and made motions toward
heaven. The visitors gr1lnted acqui-
essence, but stayed to peer longer at the
Bowler. Thinking to clear the mystery,
Cramer pointed to the Bowler and flap
ped his arms. He got only giggles for
his monkeyshines
In due time our messengers padded
away through the ice. EskimoS are
known to travel 10 miles an hour In
their kayaks, but the note had not
reached here when we arrived this
morning. It was impossible to radio
the whereabouts of the ship. Our
transmission over the Bowler's radio
requires that the motor be kept run
ming to charge the batteries.
The whirling propeller would have
dashed the boat on the rocks. Ice
filled the bay during high tide, making
it impossible to taxi about, while the
signals were being sent. A drizzling
rain set In at dusk and kept up all
night. As we climbed up and down the
steep shore TO keep the anchor moving
in and out with the tide, once the
Bowler came perilouSly close to going
aground on q TkSnerged rock, but
we pulled through the ice-chilled water
TO push 1t free. Shortly after 8 o'clock
the next morning the fog lifted con-
siderably. We were of in 10 minutes,
taking advantage of the break, Tying
500 feet through the wide ice fields
along JJnrava Ray The Bowler duoked