Evening star., 1937-02-28
BY c. B. ALLEN.

BY C. B. ALLEN.
Howland Island, the mid-Pacif1c
speck of land 1900 miles southwest
of Honolulu, which Amelia Earhart
and her navigator, Capt. Harry Man.
ming, must reach at the end Of their
27,000-mile round-the- world flights
| second leg, is one of three such islands
secretly colonized by the United States
Government two years ago as means
of banishing all doubts concerning its
claim to what little soil they boast.
The others are Baker and Jarvis. the
former only 35 miles from Rowland,
the latter 1000 miles due east from
them on the Equator and at the geo.
graphical center of the Pacific.
/ The sudden Importance attached to
these islands, after they had been al
most completely ignored and neglect
ed for more than half a century, is
the result of new air-conSciousneSs
that dawned in the Pacific with Pan
American Airways' establishment OF
a regular commercial route across the
worlds largest ocean from California
to the Orient. Like Midway and Wake,
Rowland, Baker and Jarvis are stra-
logically located to serve as invalu-
able links in Americas growing dream
of aerial empire and the Governments
previous disregard for them has trans
formed itself into a vigilant solici-
| tude.
Convenient Stepping Stones.
Rowland and Baker lie at conven-
lent aeronautical stepping-stone dis
tances on a direct route between the
United States, the Hawaiian Islands
and Australia, while Jarvis enjoys a
similar position on line linking
Honolulu with New Zealand. Serious
consideration is now being given to
the establishment of both such routes,
hence the new-found value of these
tiny islands to the United States.
Unlike Midway and Wake Islands,
Rowland and Baker are little more
than sandbars in the ocean on Miss
Earhart's course from Honolulu to
New Guinea and Northern Australia.
They have no central lagoon Of shell
tered water where giant flying boats
such as Pan-American uses in its
Pacific service can land and take off ;
the only possible haven they offer is
to land planes. However, many avi-
alton experts hold that most trans
oceanic flying will be done in the
future by fast dry-land aircraft rather
than by slower and more cumbersome
flying boats. complete trust being put
on motor dependability and reserve
power to keep them in the air until
they reach their scheduled landing
places.
Serve Army and Private Lines.
For this reason the Department Of
Commerce, which moved originally
to colonize Jarvis. Baker and Howland
Islands, and the Department of the
Interior, which has now taken over
maintenance of the project, decided
to develop them as midocean airports
for possible future use by trans
Pacific airline operators. They al
ready are rendering important service
to Pan-American Airways, the Army
and Navy flying services and other
"clients" OF the United States
Weather Bureau in the Pacific area as
outlying aerological stations which
supply daily radio reports on storms
and other conditions that may vitality
affect the activities of these agencies
More work has been done toward
making the surface OF Howland into
a serviceable landing field than at
either Of the other two islands-pos-
sibly because there Is gallantry even
in government and Miss Earhart was
the first flyer to suggest putting the
country's new conquest" of these
islands to practical use. Unless there
is some slip-up in her plans she will
be the first pilot ever to land an air
plane there-and probably the first
woman ever to visit Rowland Island.
The present Rowland personnel, in
cluding four Hawaiian high school
boys who are the regular "colonists,
and construction crew of eight men
sent there last month with q tractor,
scraper, grader and other equipment
needed to condition the runways, will
have several landing and take-off
areas ready for Miss Earhart's use
when she starts her world flight next
month from Oakland, Calf.
Mile-Long Runway.
One of these runways, according to
William T. Miller, Bureau of Air
Commerce representative in charge OF
the 1885 colonization of the Line or
Equatorial Islands, as Rowland. Baker
and Jarvis are called, will be at least
a mile long. This should be ample
for Miss Earhart's requirements. al
though the 2,550-mile flight from
Rowland Island to Lac. New Guinea,
Is the longest jump on her entire
globe-girdling adventure and her "4y-