The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-07-10

, Living an epic of adven-
ture, Mattern, with the aid of
the rifle, lived for three weeks
on wild birds, which he
roasted over log fires.
He landed his plane while the
bleak country still was frozen. Tie
Anadir river opened and the first
Russian coast guard motor launches
nosed their way up from the coast.
The coast guardsmen found Mat
tern, and took him to their post at
the hamlet of Anadirsk.
Plane Damaged in Landing
The fuselage of Mattern's plane,
the chassis, and one wing were
damaged in landing. He was not
hurt.
Coast guardsmen are organizing
an expedition to take his plane to
Anadirsk from its landing place,
fifty miles up river.
Brief reports which arrived today
from Khabarovsk, in far eastern
Siberia, told the story of Mattern's
adventure.
He took off June IA from Kha-
barovsk for Nome, Alaska. In bad
weather he lost his way and wan
dered miles northWard of his
course.
His motor failed him after he had
gone we'll over 5000 miles and was
fifty miles up the frozen Anadir
river at the northeastern corner of
Siberia, near the Boring strait that
separates the vast continent from
Alaska.
Rife His Main Reliance
Used to the populous plains and
cities Of his own country, Mattern
found himself in a barren waste,
inhabited sparsely by dying race
of people, who subsist largely on
reindeer meat and know summer as
a season in which the ice on the
rivers and the snow on the ground
recede reluctantly for the three
months of June, July and August,
while rain and fog take its place.
He landed as well as he could in
the circumstances, the Khabarov-
sky reports said Then the rifle
was his main reliance.
Desiring to make Mattern Srome
offering in token of their good will,
the Russian aviators at Khabarovsk
airport gave Mattern a rife, and it
was the rife that took him through.
Suffered From Cold
He landed mis- plane in stretch
of country broken by icy marshes
and Hillocks, in a river valley which
itself is uninhabited and along
which there are only occasional
settlements Of the nomadic, REIN
deer breeding "Shukchis."
He wandered around, shooting
birds as he found them. He suffered
from cold during the first weeks, due
to the light clothing he wore. But
in three weeks his resilient nature
Injured him to the climate, while the
temperature was rising steadily.
He was wandering still when the
coast guardsmen, going for the first
time in nearly nine months up the
breaking ice of the river, found him.
The story Of the meeting. and of
the trip down river to the little town
of Anadirsk, remained to be told.
Filler Eager to Start
Mattern, eager to start, and Rus
sian authorities, eager to be of any
aid to him, concentrated today on
getting his plane repaired, or, if
that proved possible, getting him
a new plane.
The far eastern executive COM
mittee, supreme body of eastern
Siberia, sent word to Anadirsk re-
questing information as to the aid
Mattern needed. Mark Sheveliev.
chief Of the northern aviation sery-
ice, and Dr. Otto Schmidt, scientist
in charge Of all governmental Arc
tic stations, gave orders to all pos
sible planes and merchant vessels
to go to Matterns aid.
Two big seaplanes, equipped for
Arctic work, awaited good weather
at Khabarovsk before taking of
with mechanics and spare parts.