Evening star., 1954-11-26

SA~N - - ~ Ae~AA %N"NS WS&AN@ = ~
dio my position at least once a
day-at IL am. or 6 pm
using the emergency marine
wave lengths of 500 and 1864
kilocycles. The navy promised
to keep a man on duty "a hours
a day throughout the trip to
receive these and any other mes
sages. News would be forwarded
to Washington, and sent on to
my wife.
Writes photographic Office.
Days went by and my radio
failed to carry out its end of
the bargain. My wife set out
on course of supplementary
action. She wrote the United
States Navy photographic Office
in Washington, so that a notice
that I was adrift would be
printed in the daily bulletin
that goes to shipmasters of the
South Pacific. She wrote the
National Maritime Union, of
which ! am a member, and Its
af1iliates, asking that radio OPP
orators Ia the region I was
sailing be requested to keep
alert for messages identified by
the call letters 7HTAS--taken
from Siete Hermanitas. Spanish
for the Seven Little Sisters.
b But ID weeks passed without
news of me. Teddy was not
alarmed, she insists, but rather
thought that enough was not
being done to contact me. She
wrote the Radio Relay League
of America, the ham" organi-
zation which has contacts all
over the world. She asked that
any radio operators in the area
where was sailing be notified.
The league responded to her
request, sending copies of Ted
| dy's letter to radio amateurs in
Honolulu, Tahiti, Rarotonga and
Pitcairn Island.
| While approaching the main
Samoan island of Tutuila / ra-
diced a request that q boat be
sent to show me the way through
the reef. I'd sent the request
many times before, but my mes
sages had not been received.
had no reason to expect that
| this one would find q listener.
Ham" Relays Message.
But on the British island of
Rarotonga, $50 miles to the
southeast, a "ham" named Doug
Cunnold was listening. He was
at his set because a copy of my
Wife's letter had reached still
another Rarotonga radio opera
tor named Doug Berry, who had
notified Mr.. Cunnold he should
be alert for a message from me.
It was through Mr.. Cunnold' s
efforts that the information was
passed along to Pago Pago.
Gov. Lowe sent a ship to
search for me. and bring me
safely to land: My wife's faith
had achieved long range results
When I landed at Hawaii a
woman in the crowd, another
ham," showed me a copy of
my wife's letter. There, too, ra-
dio sets had been tuned to my
wave length.
For the future I am planning
to do some more writing and
have an operation for the hernia
! suffered in Ecuador. It seems
very long ago. the day when ]
hurled myself against a boat
which seemed determined to
crush my raft. Many times since
returning I have been asked,
ANY more raft voyages?" Not
right away, certainly. But, know
ing myself, ! have a feeling that
some other project will come up,
and I'll go back to assembling
balsa logs or making some other
long distance preparations.
Problems for Meekie.
| My successful return to New
York has brought an unexpected
problem. Meekie, q cat which
could cross the Pacific without
once losing her dignity, has
turned out to be frightened to
death Of dogs and cars. But she's
boss of our household, and lii
time 7 hope she will become q
seasoned city dweller. Perhaps
she needs time to recover from
the long trip home.
Gov. Loves wife gave me d
native basket as a cat-carrying
case and everywhere we landed
Meekie became the center of in
terest. The crowded return jour-
ney must have been quite a
strain for a l0-month-old cat
which had spent four months OF
her life alone on q raft with q
man and parrot.
Why did I go to sea on the
Seven Little Sisters?
/ Now that 1t is all over. and