The daily independent., 1937-07-28
) NA MAaA

Putnam Still Confident Amelia
Earhart Survives Somewhere In
Pacific; May Be On Japanese
Fishing Boat Without Radio Or
MarOoned On Island; Didn't Pre-
pare Adequately; Navy Dis
credits Amateurs Who Heard
Her; Air Bureau Not Anxious To
Allow Stunt But Couldn't Re-
fuse Under Law.
I Washington-DeSpite the Navy'S
official announcement that Amelia
Earhart is lost, it will take a long
time before her husband, George
Putnam, gives up hope.
Putnam has an unShakable con-
fidence in his wifeS skill, and he
has pointed out to intimate
friends that if she reached one OF
the thousands Of islands which
dot the South Pacific or was pick
ed up by a Japanese fishing boat,
it would be weeks before she
could communicate with the out
side world. None of the fishing
boats carry radio equipment, and
to them a good catch OF fish IS
more important than rescuing a
mysterious stranger.
Whether Putnam'S confidence IS
justified or not, those who have
flown with Miss Earhart say that
she is one of the toughest, most
wiry and tireless women who ever
lived. and if marooned would sur
vive her navigator, Fred Noonan.
Miss Earhart never smoked or
drank, and ate little. She had
nerves like iron, and an uncanny
sense of direction.
No. l AviatriX Floored
Eugene Vidal, eX-DirectOr Of
the Bureau of Air Commerce, and
Bill Briggs of Eastern AirlineS
once flew with her to the Great
Lakes Exposition, where they had
dinner in their hotel suite. Be-
tween courses. Vidal, former West
Point football star. inaugurated a
series of tricks, one Of which con-
sisted of lying down backward on
the floor while balancing tum-
bier Of water on the forehead.
The others all got a shower
bath when they tried it, but Miss
Earhart lay back on the floor
without spilling the tCmDler. In
the middle of her performance,
the waiter, entering, looked bit
shocked at the sight of America S
No. l aviatrix stretched out on
the floor with a glass Of water on
her forehead.
Another trick was turning a
somersault over the back of a
chair, which Miss Earhart again
performed with greater deXterity
than the others, though once
again the waiter entered Just as
Americas S No. aviatriX was in a
most undignified position.
Another trick was to toss pen
nieo into a row of tumblerS while
blindfolded. Miss Earhart did this
so we'll that Vidal and Briggs
noiselessly moved the table the
glasses on it, farther away. But
Miss Earhart. blindfolded, immed-
lately sensed that the table had
been moved. and successfully toS-
sed the pennies at its new loca-
ton.
Advance Preparations
Although a superb pilot, Miss
Earhart's friends say she was not
as careful in her advance pre-
parations as Colonel Lindbergh
For instance neither she nor
Noonan was competent to send
radio messages. During the Paci-
fic flight the Coast Guard vessel
Itasca several times radioed her
asking her to stop using voice and
use the ships radio code channel
instead. However, she kept on US
ing voice.
Naval radio experts credit al
most none of the reports from
amateur radio operators that they
heard the Eal1hart plane. They
say that with the planes engines
stopped, Miss Earhart could not
send farther than 300 miles. The
plane would have had to have
reached an island, and got the
engines running despite lack of
fuel, in order to have had suffi-
cient strength for any long-range
radio transmission.
These amteur reports are al
ways muddying up the searches
for lost airplanes, according to
naval radio experts, most of the
amateurs being out for publicity
Regarding recent criticism OF
the cost of the Earhart search
and the claim that she should not
have been given an official permit
to fly, it is a fact that officials
Of the Bureau of Air Commerce OF
the Commerce Department were
not anxious to give her a permit.
However, the lay giving them
fthc power to limit flights is sc
loosely drawn that almost any:
one who insists on stunt flights
such as the Earhart venture. can
not be pr2vented from making
them.
Cactus Jack Garner
When it comes to tonSorial at
tentions. Vice President Garner is