Evening star., 1932-06-26

ulIu p1dCe Was WOIl OJ AA II
William ]. Flood, native of tn
escaped injury In one of the most
The distance covered by Lieut.. Paul's
balloon has been exceeded only four
times in the % years of national bal
loon race competition. He started from
Omaha, Nebr., and landed 26 hours
and 46 minutes later at q point 13
miles north Of Hatton. Saskatchewan,
Canada, 90l4 miles from his starting
point, as measured by the Unitel states
Geological Survey on the great circle
course.
The balloons got of in very stormy
weather and all ran into difficulty i'm
mediately Lieut. Paul. in his report
to the War Department. says that his
balloon encountered heavy thunder
storms soon after leaving the ground.
At midnight the lightning was flashing,
not only from clouds to ground, but
from cloud to cloud, while the balloon
crew struggled to find air currents
which would keep them out Of the
storm center.
With morning rain was encoun cred
and several hundred pounds Of ballast
were dropped to counteract the mois-
ture absorbed by the envelope of the
balloon. The balloon travelled all day
between layers of clouds and it was
afternoon before glimpSeS Of the
ground were seen.
The sensation, Lieut.. Paul reported,
was that of drifting over the barren
SHOWS of the Arctic region. They were
now nearly "a hours out.
Bishop and I attempted to eat a
little food at this time" the pilot re-
ported, "but the night before had
rather unnerved us and our appetises
had failed"
They finally rose to maximum alti-
tude of about 10000 feet and. after
staying at that height for several
hours. began to suffer from lack OF
oxygen and resorted to their oxygen
TASKS to revive themselves. They
were drawn into large thunder cloud,
in which snow began to fall. The
weight of the snow forced the balloon
down and at 1000 feet the snow
changed to rain. AS they dropped
still farther they broke out Of the
cloud into clear weather.
About midnight of the second night
they again ran into rain, which fell in
torrents The wind at this time shifted.
and they began to lose ground they had
gained. After trying vainly to find q
favorable wind they determined to land
to save the mileage they then held,
though they still had ballast left for
some hours Of flying.
In the pitch blackneSs and pouring
rain they attempted to land and found
that the falling barometer had affected
their altimeter. When the altimeter
read zero they still we're in the air and
continued in flight when the altimeter
read $50 feet below zero. They hit the
ground and ripped the bag at l o'clock
in the morning. They could see no
signs of life in the vicinity and, having
been without sleep for AZ hours, rugged
a temporary shelter on the muddy
ground in the pouring rain and slept
until sunup, when they awoke, dazed
and chilled.
After searching, they found a farm
house and were able to arrange for
transportation Of the balloon and equip
ment IA miles by prairie wagon to Hat
ton, Saskatchewan. They found no ac-
commodations there, however, and were
forced to continue on 80 miles farther
to Maple Greek before they really could
begin their return by modern transport
tation.
Airship Hopes Revived.
Favorable action by the Senate Com
merce Committee on the CroSser mer-
chant airship bill, previously passed by
the House. has revived hopes for the
early beginning of actual work on the
establishment Of transatlantic airship
service. German-American airship in
terests, headed by DR.. Hugo Eckener in
Germany and the Goodyear Zeppelin
interests in the United States, are pre-
pared. in case the merchant airship bill
becomes law, to go ahead with conStruc-
ton OF necessary airships to establish
regular ocean service.
The enactment of the bill is regarded
as Of the utmost Importance to the air.
ship industry in America. The Navy
airship program. represented by the
construction of the U. S. S. Akron and
the building, now in progress, of its sis
ter ship, the U. S. S. Macon, has re-
suited in the building up of large,
thoroughly trained and highly technical
airship manufacturing organization.
Continued construction is necessary
If this organization is to be held to-
gether Continued construction is de-
pendent upon passage OF the Crosser
bill. Should the measure fail Of en-
actment, the airship industry in Amer
lea probably will come 10 an abrupt
halt. The Goodyear organization prob
ably will have to be broken I'D to an
extent which will stifie future airship
development. Tnere Is no other alrShip
organization in the United States or
ganized on o scale which will assure
real airship development in the future.
especially if the merchant airship legis-
lation fails.
The establishment OF the proposed in
ternational airship service Is of eSpe-
cial interest to Washington, in view of
the fact that the search for the Amer
ican terminal for such a line has mar
rowed down to three sites, one OF which
is in Hybla Valley, near Alexandria,
Va. within 10 miles Of the Capitol
dome.
Thorough meteorological, engineering
and political studies have been made Of
the three remaining sites. and it Is un-
derstood that the local site is very ia
vorably considered as a result of these
studies. The development Of the pro-
posed terminal will entail a large con-
struction program, which should be of
great Importance to the locality chosen.
Airport Day Planned.
Celebration of Greater National Cap
ital day at Washington Hoover Air
port, twice postponed because of bad
weather, probably will take place July
4. The celebration is planned by the
Greater National Capital Committee
of the Washington Board of Trade,
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