Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-15
LOSE'.fLYERS' LOG !.
TELLS OF TORTURE
Crew of Southern Cross Re-
veaIs Suffering Due to
Lack of Food.
Continued From First pase.l

Much as they were interested in this
announcement, 1t was nothing COM
pared to their dismay few moments
later when they found their apparatus
was unable to transmit reply. They
spent the entire first night listening to
the repeated calls, for the flies and
mosquitoes were frightful and made
sleep impossible.
Suffer Pangs of Hunger.
The food problem became acute at
daylight. The firs. "A hours on the
mud fat weakened all four men great
~, and this weakness added to the
pangs of their hunger All they had
after the putrefying sandwiches was a
tin of Cruel which they were taking to
sick baby in Wyndhan. On the Sec
ond day they used up one-third of this
tin and then discussed their prospects
of securing game. This proved a vain
hope. They had only small automatic
and game was scarce. They began
searching for oysters along the beach,
with no success.
:. The four men then trudged through
a mangrove swamp to the nearest hill
in the hope of learning where they
were and seeking a way out, but could
see nothing.
The one thought that kept revolving
In their brains and which they repeat
eddy discussed was that the plane was
unchanged and that they had petrol
enough to fly IS minutes. If the mud
would dry enough to enable them to
rise, they could stay up long enough to
tap out message giving their location,
for they continued to hear the radio
telling Of the planes or launches which
were looking for them.
On the third day Pilot Ulm recorded
Mac is a scream, making Jokes most
Of the time. Sometimes he plays his
mouth organ. Food Is all we need, and
we can stick it out indefinitely, but
We are all very weak for lack Of food
and sleep. Have tried to shoot birds
with automatic, but had no success"
"AM Weaker Now"
The next days entry read:
"wednesday, April So All weaker
now. I feel gone in my legs and arms.
but all four of us are mentally alert"
Later on Wednesday, Ulm and Litch-
field, the navigator. tried to stalk doves,
but on their return from this trip Ulm
inscribed In the log:
mo damned good. Can't shoot worth
q rap, anyhow. Small dove is hard to hit
with automatic"
When Thursday dawned they realized
they were in danger of starvation, for
they were keeping just alive on one
and half cups of Cruel each day. To-
ward evening Ulm recorded:
Mac nearly out today, but still work.
ing. All are feeling the gnawing pangs
Of hunger. Smithys super-energy is
wonderful, but even his unusual strength
is failing. The flies take at least half
Of our energy and then at shutdown
We commence to fight mosquitoes all
night"
Light Fire as Beacon.
On Friday, after a long discussion,
they decided to cross the mud fiat and
light fire In clay pan, as none of
them was now strong enough to climb
the small hill where they had been
lighting fires daily: On the same day.
Ulm records: -.
.-"Cloudless sky, Heat terrible. Found
some mud Snails in mangrove swamp,
whichs we ate. Ughl they were awful,
but we all feel stronger, Tried to cut
tree down with two small screwdrivers,
using rockS sfae shammers. Had to give
TINS up. It was Tsii too Q strenuous IN our
( Saturday April 6, Ulm describes as
the worst day $50 far" A plane passed
within four miles Of them and all work.
ed furfously at shaking up. the big
smoke, but the smoke was unseen by
the airman.s
On this same day Capt. Smith and
Ulm tackled the tree again. They
wanted the trunk to Jack up the wheel
Of the plane. 'Ulm says:
This time we won after working
without rest for two hours"
Hear Radio Calling.
On Sunday, April 7, they tried to rig
up a generator with the friction wheel
which Capt Smith made with a pen
knife. Continuing his Sunday log, Ulm
records:
Smith knocked out today. But most
OF our very heavy work is finished and
We are all resting. Radio heard again
tonight, telling of the efforts to locate
US. We are turning the generator In
an effort to try to send a message. We
each turn 10, is seconds and then
quarter hours at spell. 1t sounds easy,
but after each go We each fall over,
gasping for breath. It needs four Of us
to do the Job. Mac at key, one turning,
one holding light, other holding friction
drive. Tobacco ran out this morning.
Have tried to smoke leaves, but they are
awful"
On Tuesday April 9, the pilot had this
10 say: a
I'VE experienced today the greatest
hardship yet. A plane passed us twice
this morning Can any one realize just
what that means to US? We had lit a
large FIRE near the mangroves to the
south Of US, and at $50 am. the plane
passed within miles without seeing us.
I'VE are discussing the possibility of
building a raft and carrying 1t to what
We believe is the Glenelg River, 8 miles
south, and drifting down to the coast
with the tide. The lack of drinking
water Is dangerous. We ate more mud