The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-07-03
Calls or Distress
 Come m Frequently
Continued from Page D

AN0kAbA4A0SA --ient by the British navy to the Dominion-fiashed from far across the sea, near the Solomon Islands, that it had picked up two sos calls. The second of these calls was inter- cepted by the Achilles an hour earlier, at 7:58.
 Flash From Honolulu
 Then came flash from 8 Homo lulu wireless station that British freighter had rescued the flyers. Hours passed, and this report, un- confirmed, was assumed to have been misinterpretation of the Achilles's report that it received the sos calls. Then came word to the island that others were picking up the calls. A Los Angeles amateur station, of great power, began re- ceiving the signals. These signals continued until 9:30 p. m. Friday (5:30 a. m. EDT Saturday., when they became so weak as to be in audible. They were merely the dis tress call and Miss Earhart's call %CotCko SCpCdVCu u6dAA anu 15oAA'
 Calls of Distress
 "EOS KHAQQ" sos KHAQQ."
 At least they told those at the search headquarters here that the plane was floating, and given good weather might wait long for res cue. There was food enough on the plane for many days, and apparatus for manufacturing drinking water.
 Walter McMenamy and Karl Pier son, who operate the Los Angeles station jointly, said that the signals sounded as if the planes radio trarSmitter had water in 1t.
 Pick Up Signals Again
 Half an hour after these calls died down, McMenamy and Pierson at lO:30 p. m. (6:30 a. m. EDT) began picking up the signals again:
 sos sos sos KHAQQ."
 This time, the operators reported, the appeals came at Is second in- tervals, first three sos signals, then the call letters.
 The calls were weak but clear, it was added, and Miss Earhart and Noonan seemed trying to conserve their batteries.
 There was some wonder why there were no position signals. It was night by now and Navigator Noonan might have been expected to cal- culate his position by the stars.
 The New Zealand cruiser Achilles, the cutter Itasca and the Honolulu coast guard station all broadcast signals to the plane continuously. The Achilles, when it picked up the first Earhart sos, reported that the plan asked:
 Give Us a Few Dashes
 "Give' us a few dashes if you here this-KHAQQ."
 The Itasca and Honolulu sent the letter N, hoping the plane could pick up the signal, and by means of it, find its relative position by use of a direction finder.
 Admiral William D. Leahy, chief of naval operations in Washington, ordered the commandant of the Hcnolulu district to make all facili- tieH available to the search. The ad- Tnical acted after George Palmer Putnam, Miss Earhart's husband, appealed to the navy department for aid. Putnam, a motion picture ex- ecutive, was in his office at the Oak land, Calif., airport, standing vigil beside the radio.
 The Itasca broadcast message saying that success of the search would depend mainly on continued good weather Tropical storms abound in the area but today it was clear and calm.
 Available Naval Craft
 d survey of available naval craft at Honolulu showed the Cruiser Co., lorado and Destroyer Division 19 in port. Aboard the Colorado were naval reservists from the Univer- sity of Washington and the Uni versity of California on summer cruise.
 The Destroyer Division was or dered to stand by.
 The freighter Golden Bear was about 600 miles from Honolulu on tAAC 6Ohtll 0Ceto AOQGC1 WlllCll 10 WCoU of the course Miss Earhart took. The only other ship in the area would be some tramp freighter. Those familiar with the area said it was not likely there would be any fishing boats or sampans in the vicinity of Rowland. They rarely visit the place.
 Aviators Tn Doubt
 Some aviators at Honolulu doubt ed that Miss Earhart could have pancaked the plane on the water and kept it afloat because of the vast wingspread, which measures 55 feet, and of the high landing speed. They said, however, that with the gas tanks empty, the plane might have sufficient buoyancy to keep afloat indefinitely.
 The crew of the Itasca estimated the planes position as probably 100 miles northwest of the island be- cause of the strength of the last signals 1t received. These signals indicated only direction on the Itas- ca's chart, and provided no refer ence point. Miss Earhart was headed for this tiny island, which is scarcely larger than the airplane runway it pro- vides and barely a dot on the larg- est Pacific map. She had left Lac,