Evening star., 1938-08-01
PRESS VIEWS ON
.CORRICAN DISCIPLINE
Disobedience Lightly Treated,
Although Fear of Imitators'
Peril Is Expressed.

Suggestion that Douglas p. Corrigan
might be subject to discipline for disobey-
Ing the aviation rules Is overshadoWed in
press comments by admiration for his
flight from this country to Ireland. His
alibi that he started for California with
defective compass also adds to his
fame.
THE Government may disapprove.
but it can't wipe out an accomplished
fact" says the Boston Transcript, while
the Philadelphia Inquirer suggests that
If the history Of flight were not filled to
the brim with daredevils, we would still
be earthbound." The Pittsburgh Post
Gazette advises that "something official
will have to be said to the young man
about ignoring regulations, though we
feel that this may safely be left to
Denny Mulligan, chief of the Air Com
merco Bureau; 1t was too great day for
the Irish to be spoiled by undue Sc
verify
1T will be embarrassing" thinks the
Los Angeles Times, 'for officialdom
properly to scold youngster who has
suddenly become new national hero"
The Atlanta Constitution is impressed
by the fact that "his stunt is the most
romantic of ALL" The st. Louis Globe
Democrat sees one result in "aggrandize-
ment of the spirit of daredevilishness
The Ann Arbor News suggests: Perhaps
the Air Commerce Bureau could adopt
the strategy of the father who used to
take his son into the library and pound
vigorously on a pillow while the boy CO.
operated with yells that satisfied the
rest of the family"
discipline Corrigan for starting for
California and landing in Ireland in
stead, did somebody say? We should
say not!" comments the Winston Salem
journal, and that paper adds: "You
can't punish man for giving the world
million-dollar laugh. The psychologi-
cal value of the laugh that America en-
Joyed July 18 cannot be estimated in
dollars and cents. 1t is the first time
that the Nation has ever laughed in
unison, and it did just that At the
dinner table, in shops, offices, on buses
and on the streets, wherever two or more
were found together. they were chuck
ling over the impudent engaging young
rascal who paid an informal pop call III
Ireland. Not even the rise in the stock
market was so beneficial as that ma
tional laugh. 1t let off steam. It re-
lleved high blood pressure. It made
everybody forget for the nonce economic
strlngencies and the horrors of war. 1t
was like breath of fresh air blowing in
fetid places. or as if for a moment all
were lifted on carefree wings with Cor
rigan."
"There Is no reason to believe that he
will be put in any concentration camp"
concludes the Tampa Daily Times, and
the Chicago Tribune offers the estimate:
apparently Corrigan, like Lindbergh
before him, had everything essential to
his understanding. AS a skilled tech
nician he knew his plane having re-
built its engine and being thoroughly
familiar with its performance. He was
skilled and experienced flyer and he
was good enough navigator with what
ever instruments he had to take off
from Floyd Bennett Field in New York
and put his so-called crate down on
Baldonnel Airport outside of Dublin,
without getting lost He went from one
airport to the other and although his
fuel was nearly exhausted he had
enough for the fight he intended to
make"
HE had" recalls the Cincinnati
Times-Star, ito wire the broken door
OF his cabin. In the air set of Curl
ously contrived extra gasoline tanks
compelled him to bank his ship in order
to see the horizon. He had As less
horsepower than Lindbergh, no modern
instruments of navigation, no official
weather reports, not even a map of the
Atlantic or Western Europe, and no
landing papers. Yet he made it. 1t
took him % hours. but he got there. To
the initiated, the whole adventure may
seem cockeyed. To us it seems a he
roic-and magnifcently Irish-feat And
it is refreshing, in these days of en-
croaching governmental rules and regu-
lations. to see an individual assert him.
self with such brilliant success"
How wonderful it is" suggests the
Chattanooga Times when common
sense loses to courage and daring, and
flimsy crates freighted with brave
mems dreams come down through the
clouds to happy landing"
"One Of the most daring jokes in his
tory in the judgment of the Omaha
World-Herald.