Evening star., 1931-12-30

Twenty miles beyond Keyser he
turned back and retraced the course,
but no trace of anything like wrecked
nlanp appeared. We were looking for
a splash of chrome yellow. The wings
of Army planes are painted this color
for this precise purpose. 1t Is the most
readily visible of all colorS from the air
unGer varying weather conditions. Less
noticeable colorS or the bare framework
of a burned plane probably w2uld nave
been utterly invisible against the drao
mOuntainSlde.
Lands to Make Inquiries.
The most careful scrutiny failed to
reveal any traces, and when q little
town appeared in a cleared mountain
valley Lieut.. Merrick decided to attempt
a Landing to inquire whether the ma
tives had heard anything OF the re-
ported wreckage.
Down into the valley he spiraled,
while the mist-hung peaks Of the
mountains climbed up on either side.
There was but one strip OF ground that
appeared to offer any sort OF Iandlng
surface. 1t was strip OF meadow no
more than 100 feet wide and three or
four times that length. 1t lay IN the
direction of the wind, however, and
dragged" the strip to look it over care
fully for bitches. stumps or stones.
Finding it reasonably smooth, he cir
cled around once more and dropped in
over the Federal highway for a beauti-
full landing in the tiny area.
Across a winding mountain stream
there was little town, from which
score of men hurried to the plane afoot
and by automobile. The town, they
said. was Burlington, w. Va.
Asked about the wrecked plane with
the red TAIL they assured Lieut.. Merrick
he had come to the right place Across
the road, scarcely 100 yards away, were
the remains Of the ship. 1t was a
wrecked plane beyond any doubt, but
the only trouble was it had been there
for three years. 1t was an old COM
mercial plane, which had been flown
there, cracked up and partially dis
mantled The n otor had been sold, the
plane dragged to place beside a gaso-
line filling station, and painted to serve
as an attraction and perhaps an ad-
yertisement of the deSirability of traV-
cling that kind Of country by automo-
bile.
Heads Back to Boiling.
With that particular report amply
ClSpOSeu Vi, 1leug. McIIlCh plepdAC Gu W
leave He was warned to watch for a
Sunken place at the far END of the
cleared space, SO short a distance away
and promised his anxious informant
that he most certainly would watch
carefully. Wheeling the plane around,
motor wide open. he roared away to-
ward the ditch, picking up speed rap
idly, and lifted of over the treacherous
spot.
Circling bacs he found that the
wrecked plane was Just discernible from
the air, once its location was known
He climbed to an altitude of about one
mile into the cold and mist-filled air
and headed back to Boiling, where he
found that Lieut.. Cousland and the
tri-motor had been forced down by
closing clouds at Waynesboro, Va, and
would probably be storm bound there
all night. The other six planes were
at Hot Springs. unable to make any
search because of fog and clouds which
blanketed every trace of the ground
north of there
1t was the close of a disappointing
day and typical of the days which must
follow for the Army searchers until the
missing man is found or the area has
been combed SO thoroughly that further
aerial search is useless.