Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-15
Chidley "Kilinekk," which means the
end of the world.
Season Was Late.

Chidley "Kilinekk," which means the
end of the world.
Season Was Late.
Ice should have been out of the har-
borS here by the first Of July. but the
season was late this year. Circling about
through the clouds over the cape last
Tuesday morning Cast and Cramer
searched closely for a suitable landing
place. They had no choice. Ice jammed
every harbor inlet and lake on the cape.
Only one Fjord provided open water of
sufficient length for landing there. Cast
came down. The trouble started al
most at once.
The tide was turning in from the sea
when the Bowler ran ashore. Cast noted
the ice moving swiftly in from Hudson
Strait and stayed to watch the ship till
he was relieved later in the afternoon.
The plane was never unmatched after
that Tuesday night. Cast cut the ship
loose from shore and TAXED about in
the water. doging the ice.
Wednesday the Bowler was forced
against a jagged rock and hole was
torn in her hull.
Thursday a great chunk of ice crushed
against the side of the ship bending a
tail strut and crumbling a rudder. Fri
day just after these damages were re-
paired the ship was showed out on the
rocks by an ice jam, tearing away one
pontoon, bending a lower wing beam
and crumbling the end Of that wing.
Saturday the second pontoon was ripped
away.
The bowler went to its watery gray e
with both pontoons dashed to the lower
wings with rope. A wing strut had
snapped in two and the fabric ripped
from lower wing. Big rents in the
tail surfaces let water into the hull
where it had poured through the hole,
and the bracing wires and struts OF
the plane were pinched. While it would
have required several days the pilots
believed it possible to repair the ship.
All the damage was caused here by
the buffeting of the tide and the bat
tering Of the ice.
A Losing Fight.
We were confident from the first that
once we escaped the danger of the ice
and tide here the rest of the voyage
to Europe would be comparatively easy.
We bent every effort to an early de-
parture. Throughout the day we had
worked about the plane on the ice.
Work was slow because of the position
of the ship resting partly over the ice
and partly in the water. Twice Cast
and Cramer slipped and fell hip deep
into the cold water, saving themselves
by grasping wing struts.
At the time the ice broke we were
finishing the repair of fittings for the
pontoons in the hope of fastening the
floats early in the morning. With these
repaired Cast planned to attempt to
take off with the damaged ship at low
tide and fly a mile further inland TO
Mission Cove, where a small protected
body of water offered a possible landing
place. A landing at that place would
have been a gamble, but once there it
would have been possible to beach the
ship and proceed with repairs. We
would have been unable to take of
for at least 10 days until the ice broke
from the end Of the cove, but the ship
would have been safe. So forceful was
the wind that it broke the ice from
the cove.
When we returned from watching the
Bowler sinking Mission Cove was en-
tirely clear of ice and we still believe
that route from Chicago to Europe by
way of Greenland and Iceland Is feas-
ible, but we are convinced that such
a route will not become practical until
airplaneS are able to cope with the
severest weather conditions.
Extensive ground facilities along the
route will be imperative, for there must
be many places for planes to alight and
wait out storms. The severity of
weather at this point of land is almost
beyond belief. One minute the sun
shines brightly. A half hour later a
dense fog has fallen and a heavy wind
has set In. 1t has rained here every
day this month. The weather has no
moderation. Cape Chidley is peculiarly
situated with the Atlantic on the east,
Ungava Bay on the west and the Arctic
on the north 1t is thus the crux of the
storms. Storms and winds original e
suddenly and as suddenly end. The
gale that swept the Bowler to sea came
up that way. We shall return on the
first ship calling at Port Burwell. It
will likely be late in August when we
reach Chicago.
copyright, 1929