The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-04-22
LIFE LOST BY
SCIENTIST IN
JUNGLE TREK
ECuador'S Green He'll FeIIS
Young American; Com
rade Reaches Safety.
WEEKS OF SUFFERING
Wreck of Boat Far Back
in Interior Left Pair Lost
and Helpless.
BnTnli1d Prcss

By Unitcd Press
CHICAGO. April %. - The tragic
fate of a young American sci
enlist seeking data for his Phi.
d. thesis in the Green He'll OF
steaming Ecuadorian jungles, never
before penetrated by white men,
was revealed today in letter from
his comrade on the expedition.
The letter, written from Monzou
Peru, by Harold Foard of West Vir-
ginia, brought news of the death OF
Thomas Walsh Jr, 26, to Walshs
parents here. 1t was dated March
Is, when Foard reached civilization.
The story Foard told was night
mare of struggle against tropical
fever, impenetrable jungle forests
scanty food supply and terrific
heat.
Dies in Friends Arms
Walsh died in the arms Of his
friend after fighting vainly to con-
tinue, despite fever and starvation
A brief note scrawled before his
death, Jan. 20, pictured graphically
the half-delirious last moments OF
the young explorer. He wrote:
"Mother-I am making Foard GO
on for aid :. can't move God
save us d. please help Foard marry
ClariSsa "a girl in Lima, Peru
he is your son, now dad, 1 am
dead . &. save mother"
Walsh, a graduate Of the Uni
versity of Illinois with a mas
ter of science degree, had been sta
toned at Oroya, Peru, for two years
as a chemist for the Cerro De Pasco
Copper Corporation.
To obtain data for use in secur-
ing Phi. D. degree he and F'oard
set out last November from Hua-
nuco, Peru.
Lost In Dense Jungle
Their destination was the wild
and almost inaccessible headWaterS
OF the Paute river in southern Fcua-
dor, where in a territory inhabited
only by few fierce Indian tribes
they hoped to find new deposits of
valuable ores.
After sending a cable to his
mother Nov. 26 that he was leaving
civilization, Walsh started with
Foard up the Maranon river. For
six days they travelled with crew
Of Indian porters to carry their
equipment.
After a weeks push up the river,
the porterS were dismissed, and the
pair continued on alone in a spe-
cially built boat which had been
shipped from New York. Two weeks
later the boat hurtled out of con-
troll in the swift current and
smashed against jagged rocks. ~All
supplies were lost.
With countless miles of dense
forest surrounding them, ,he youths
had only one rifle and few cart
ridges.
Hoping Against Hope
For five weeks they fought on
hoping against hope. One by one
they used their precious cartridges
to shoot game.
Then. the supply exhausted. they
lived only on fruits and the strange
herbs and roots of the country
where heat Slapped strength with
every move.
Their clothing was torn to rags
by bramble thickets, their bodies a
welter or insect bites.
Finally, Walsh collapsed. Each
felt the end was near Sitting in a
little clearing in the endless for
est, each wrote note to his mother
and solemnly promised the other to
believer it if but one succeeded in
reaching safety.
Walsh was too weak to walk far
Their and begged his friend to go on
alone for aid. Foard refused to
leave his comrades side. The next
day the 26-year- old scientist died.
Foard dug a crude grave in the
stesming jungle and buried his
friend.
Five days later Foard was found
DV A frlendlV alive