Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-02

better than 1t had been over much OF
CUR journey but II was nothing 10 Drag
about. We hoped OF from Edmonton
at 3:39 am. tmountain time) 1888
am. New York time). with the rain
still falling We had railroad TO fol-
low for the first couple Of hours which
gave US good check OH our course.
And We were figuring our ground speed
at about l55 miles ali hour. We made
good progress and ran into clear wealth
er about 400 miles and picked up q
strong tail wind, 50 that for several
hours we made nearly 1870 miles an
hour.
The fastest part Of that trip was over
the worst terrain. those scrub second
growth timber forests which run Tor
miles without break into Northwestern
Minnesota. We were glad that it was
clear weather when We were thefe and
hadn't minded flying through the rain
over those nice nat wheat fields Of
Saskatchewan. where you can land any
where. though you probably would never
get YOUR plane out again.
Back la United States.
We crossed into the United States
southeast VI Winncpeg, and st certainly
was good " have the soil Of the U. S.
A. under us again, even M'it was scrub
timber.
From here on We never looked at our
Instruments or charts because We both
have been over this country and know
IL perfectly. We picked up q corner of
Lake Superior and Duluth swung by on
our left We crossed Lake Michigan
and found ourselves out OF sight VI
land again, but 1t WAS only for little
while and 1t didn't count after We had
Negotiated the Atlantic Ocean and n
couple VI perfectly good seas. Lake
Michigan didn't seem very big
We flew Oh north OF Detroit and then
down " Cleveland.
Al Cleveland we sucked in our breathS
in anticipation while the mechanics
gaSSed up the ship For two-thirds of
the way from Edmonton ~ Cleveland
We had been flying low. betweenl5O feet
and 200 feet but OIL the last leg VI the
trip We got some altitude. We ran into
few thunderStormS after We left
Cleveland and had " go around them.
We crossed the Alleghanies at 1000
teet. following the airmail beacons. and
found the air pretty rough over the
ridges.
Then came the most impatient part
of our trip. That last hour before
We got to New York just dragged along.
We never knew before that the Jersey
though. the ground haze that covers
New York City came up over the nose,
and IL WAS the mCst welcome sight you
CAN imagine.
Came In Cautiously.
After coming over midtown New
York and admitting to ourselves that
the New York skyline was the most I'M
pressive sight we had found In the
al I'm h. difAct ion
Of Roosevelt Field and were making
pretty close to 200 miles nthe air
speed indicator when We reached 500
feet and the field hove into sight. We
didn't know which of the two fields we
were supposed ~ land on but judged
from the crowd grouped At the corner
Of field No 2 that that was our finish
line. We made the two circles and
found that the wind was blowing di-
rectly over the hangers toward us. We
came In little high because We were
both tired and didn't want to take any
chances. There were lot Of planes
IN the air and there was need for
caution.
AS we came over the runway, $50
feet high, we dropped the left wing
and kicked right rudder. cooking the
plane into fast deep side slip. We
Strengthened out and touched the
wheels just as our chronometer told
us we still had eight hours and nine
minutes to 60 before We had used up
nine days on our flight.
AS we turned the ship around to
face the crowd 1t seemed that pande-
monium broke loose. We could hear
the automobile horns and the police
sirens even though we were almost
deaf from the long roar Of our own
exhaust.
And that was the end Of our flight
1t was hard flying and We were weary
but the trip wasn't all work. We botl
thought that the most delightful hap
pening Of the whole trip WAS our run
ming into q little EngliSh-speaking CIR
in 1rkutsk, Siberia. Her name wa:
| Annie PolikOf and she was l6 years old
Acted ~ Interpreter.
When we landed at IrkutSk. Of course
We expected the same difficulty We
had had at other Russian places oil
| trying to make ourselves understood
when we didn't know a syllable of the
! language. But the Osoviakhim the So.
Wet organization which corresponds ts
our National Aeronautic Association ane
which was SO helpful to us at every
stop in Russia, brought Annie to u:
as an interpreter.
The girl was born in London and was
the only one in town who spoke Eng.
lish. The whole population gathered tc
hear her talk to us and she felt thai
she was being put on her mettle. The
poor girl had spoken no English fol
six years, however, and mixed up 9
strong cockney accent with Russian al
first so that We could hardly under.
stand her. From the expression OH hel
face It was evident that she thought
she was falling down In the eyes oil
her fellow toWnsmen, but gradually We
cot To t,pdHfSt a nd earh ot hpr haitian @ NJ