Evening star., 1936-10-09
BY KURT BJORKVALL.

BRIN. October 9.-Only now, after
brief hour or two Of sleep, do I feel
able to tell of the hours OF agony
through which I passed, hours that
seemed never-ending. hours that
brought with each minute some new
danger. some new terror.
I had so confidently hoped to make
the crossing to Stockholm in 35 hours.
I had confidence in my airplane and IN
myself Failure was word with when
I refused to be associated. but. once
out on those lonely waters, / began Tor
the first time to feel afraid. Then
told myself that others had crossed
those miles and so could l.
For the first hour or so the weather
= was not too bad, although the winds
were against me. climbed to 1000
feet in the hope that 1 might meet a
favorable windstream. but could tell
:. by my instruments that I was still
getting no help. Then, when darkness
came my task became more difficult.
1t was dreadfully cold, and suddenly
realized that ice was forming on the
wings and on the controls. Twice in
as many minutes I had almost to
wrestle with the controls to get the
machine to answer. Frantically !
dived, and, to my relief, saw that the
ice deposits were less.
Now I could see nothing. And, to
add to my troubles, it began to snow
hard. 1t was like flying in the longest
OF tunnels and the feeling grew all the
time that should presently crash into
the impenetrable wall of darkness
ahead of me.
HaiIstones Beat Against Cabin.
climbed again, this time to we'll
over 10000 feet, but the snowstorms
were even worse Giant hailStones
beat against the glass of my cabin and
I feared it would be smashed. Not
once was I able to relax even for an
instant to snatch mouthful of coffee.
I dared not take my hands of the con-
trolls. even to slip food capsule into
my mouth. That may sound like an
exaggeration, but it s the truth.
Once felt so exhausted that for an
instant I eSsayed to get at my pocket.
My Bellanca plane reared like fiery
horse, then tried to throw up her tall
The motion flung me against the side
OF the cabin with such force that I
have a large bruise on my hip. After
that I told myself, mo more of that.
you must wait for your meal until you
reach land" and in my heart l heard
q whisper, IF you reach land"
Mile followed mile in this torment
Of uncertainty and doubt. I did not
know whether the storm, which had
increased in violence. was carrying me
miles out of my course. had nothing
at all to guide memo means whatever
for calculating my drift. The heavens
were hidden from me and knew that
the ocean boiled below. That was all
I did know with certainty.
was being tossed about like q cork
and was using everything Of flying
that knew to keep the machine on
the compass course. but the course.
knew, might be we'll out Of reckoning.
Then, for a few blessed moments, the
. snow ceased. Thankfully, breathed
new hope Alas, it was too optimistic
OF me. The SnowStorm began again
and once more my almost numbed
fingers had to return to their task of
forcing the machine to do my will.
Engine Red Hot.
After I had been flying 90 hours.
further trouble arose. began to feel
!, uncomfortably warm. glanced at my
oil register. Heavens! 1t was SO low
/ nearly collapsed. Something was
terribly wrong. Where it was I could
not tell, only that, with every revo-
luton, the engine was growing hotter
and hotter. In despair. dived again
and again to try to cool her. For a
few minutes the rush Of air helped.
then, all too soon. she would start to
grow almost red hot again.
Now knew it would be only q mat
ter of minutes before I should be
forced to come down on the sea or risk
disaster with never even a chance for
me to get down without crashing to
my death. Desperately I looked for
some ship. had seen nothing Of any
vessels since I had left the coast. I
told myself, How can you hope for
such q miracle?" And then. to my
intense Joy, saw buffeted by the seas
the outline of tiny steamer.
At first she appeared so small that
I rubbed my eyes to make sure that
was not deceiving myself. No, it was
Q ship, all right I shouted with Joy
and relief Then I began to descend
in wide circles. As I dropped lower
and lower, once again my heart was
IN my mouth. saw that the waves
we're breaking almost over the vessel,
near which must alight if was to
have q chance 1t was obvious that
mo machine could live for long in
such a sea.
Now could tell that the crew
had realized what was about to do.
I shall never find the words to tell
of the mastery manner in which the
captain maneuvered the ship when I
struck the water. In q few seconds
the waves were battering and breaking
over me. I adjusted my life belt, which
had been around my waist throughout
the flight, and kicked OF my flying
boots. then discarded my flying coat
and, as the Imbrin came tossing along
side, I stood up in my seat.
Pulled Up by Rope.
It was impossible for the captain to
lower q boat. To have done 50 would
have imperiled the lives Of his crew.
-Four times in succession was banged
against the side Of the ship. -Four
times grabbed at the rope which was
1iung at me. At the fifth attempt, I
caught it and held on, although the
. wrench as the vessels bow lifted out
Of the water almost tore my arms
from their sockets. Then felt myself
being drawn up and up in what seemed
like dream. felt myself being lifted
over the rail, while q voice cried,
Courage, mon brave"
I believe that, for the first time in
my life. must have tainted. for the
next thing can recall is being prop
ped up on bunk In the captains tiny
cabin with his arm around my shoul-