The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, August 17, 1935, Page 1

SCNGRESSIONAL LIBR! WASHINGTON, D. © VOL. XLVL, NO. 7042. “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE 1935. jUNEAU ALASKA SATURDAY, AUGUST I7 MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS CROSSON FLYING ROGERS, POST BODIES BPERATOR TIELI.Si GRAPHIC. STORY OF AIR TRAGEDY Sergeant Rfiiflmh from Wreckage TOWED TO BARROW IN NATIVE SKIN BOAT Eskimo Boys s Cheit Fun- eral Dire as Cor- tege M""om owly ‘This mplnle gtory of the ‘teagedy that olaimed the lives ~””~ Wiley Post #old by Sergeant Stanley E. ihe deniiAfter finishing his task he qfiw—. Henry Griect in caring & By SERGT. STANLEY R. MORGAN POINT BARROW, Aug. 17— (Copyright by the Associated Press, 1935)—An Eskimo, breathless from running across the tundra, brought. the lirst word to us here of the Wiley Post-Will Rogers disaster. plane blow up, two men *" he told me when he came ruhnfiz in, M set -out in. the’ darkne for Walakpi settiement at mmge Inlet ‘where the BEskimio said: the wreck had occurred. Ice floes slow-! ed my progress but I finally arrived and found the Eskimos already had | ~removed Rogers' body from Lhe“ wreckage. I then used some Topes | and we pulled the shattered plane apart before Post's body could be lifted from beneath the motor in’ two feet of icy water, Placed in Native Boat The bodies and Pérsonal effects were taken from placed in a nati boat an towed behind the boat into Barrow: ‘When I got back to town I flashed the. word 'which shocked the whole world. ‘When I arrived at the scene of the erash 1 was attracted by a group of excited natives on the beach. I walked down and discovered one of them all out of breath gasping in m English a strange tale of a| oise. I learned by about the crash Congress Aets on Purchase of Post’s Plane, Winnie Mae WASHINGTON, Aug. 17.—By a quirk of fate, Congress de- cided to buy Wiley Post’s world girdling plane, the Winnie Mae, on the day that hyomght news of the pilot’s death. The measure cangp up yester- dey momming during the regular call of the Senate calendar and not because of any special ar- rangement. Later, the Honse also passed the bill but because of a minor change, requiring Senate ap- proval, final aetion is now awaited. The measure authorizes pay- fl'm up to $25000 for the Winnie Mae which will be plac- @ in the Smithsonian Institute. The plane is now in a hangar in Los Angeles, plane andjhappen to any flier on the peaceful | WILEY POST TO danger to any pilot than conditions De;lth Separates Themm Wiley Post and his wifc are shown in the above picture upon arrival in San Francisco, enroute to Seattle, prior to the flight that endcd in his death. MAJOR TRAI}EDYI SAYS BIMGND OF 'Ceuld Have Happeried to| Any Flier Anywhere But Memory Will Linger WASHINGTON, Aug. 17—To the | afr-minded the Alaska death of Will | Rogers and. Wiley Post is a major tragedy, SNWI Delegate An-| thony J. Di id here today. | “An accident like that which| overtook Post and Rogers might| tomac but the memory of it will| remain with Alaska for decades to come.” Familiar with the far north Ter- ritory where Post and Rogers meti death, Dimond said it was ‘‘a fine,| safe country” for flying with noth- ing in the terrain or climate to| cause undue peril to pontoon-equip- | ped planes. | “Time after time I've known fli-| rict on pontoons,” he said. @imond said Post was a hero in ful forced landing at Flat on his| last world tour. He said the Flat| landing “involved much greater gr which Post and Rogers mck-l JGERS GOT HIS | ,TART T0 FAME Sad, But Smile | At Sayings of Dead Humeorist WASHING’I‘ON Aug. 17.— The National Capital, saddened, could not help smiling: W as Jokes and M“‘!’fl ware re- called with which the cowboy- philosoplier wen = high official- dom. Whercver Legislatcrs gather- ed thore were expressions of bereavement. Such remarks as “two gal- lant gentiemen have gone,” and “Will Rogers was the world's greatzst bumorist,” were fre- quenily heard in the halls of Congress, on the streets and clsewhere. ISEINS 0 R bl HAVE FUNERA AT OLD HO {Grief-Stricken Parents Plan Services in Grove on Oklahoma Farm MAYSVILLE, Okla., Aug. 17— Wiley Post’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Post, held themselves calm in grief over their son’s death. “This is one of the things we have been dreading for years and years,” they said. Home folks will gather in a small grove before the farm home of Post’s parents here to pay final tribute to the noted flier. “I think the best place is right here at home,” said the gray-haired elder Post, referring to the funeral. “We can have the services out in ASFANCY ROPER First Played with Wlldi West Show in South Am- } erica as ‘Cherokee Kid' | LOS ANGELES, Aug. 17— Will Rogers made his debut as an actor in South Amezjca as “The Cherokee| Kid” with a wild west show. was a rider and roper and soon be- ] came a star of the show. His rise to| fame on the stage and screen con- | tinued almost uninterrupted. i He married Betty Blake at Rog-/| ers, Arkansas, in 1908 and there; never has been a cloud to their ro-| mance. | His estate is unofficially estimat- | ed at from two and a half to as| high as six million dollars with life | insurance of a million. l Rogers had an annual income| from pictures of $500,000 and with | radio, syndicate writings, his income | was estimated at $600,000 yearly. | .- MRS. TERHUNE HERE | Mrs. H. W. Terhune arrived here on the steamer Northwestern, | the yard where it's shady,” The decision was pfter the widow af the desd arrived here to learn his parents’ wishes on the funeral. She assured them their wishes would go unquestioned. Burial will be in Oklahoma City, the father said. “We may not be here always and we'd like to know his grave wil never go untended,” he =aid after ccnferring with his sobblng wife. GRUGEHS LEAVES VALUED ESTATE HOLLYWOOD, Cal, Aug. 17— ‘Will Rogers’ estate is estimated at from $2,600,000 up. He carried a million dollar life insurance. BRGRS tn NURSE mvn.s Miss Ida Hendrickson, connected with the technical staff at 8t. Ann's Hospital, left the city on the Princess Louise for Vanoouver, B. C. She will enjoy a six-week vacation before returning here, SAYS ALASKA j | assert, § | Alaska. STUNNED AND MOURNS DEAD Rex Beach Pays Tribute to Deceased Friends— Territory’s Visitors * FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Aug. 17.— (Copyright by Associated Press, 1935)—Rex Beach, in an exclusive itory to the Associated Press, said: ‘Alaska is stunned by the Barrow :atastrophe. more keenly because it was a host to them and had just become per- sonally acquainted with both. “Yesterday everybody in this country was smiling at Will's jokes. On every pair of lips were the names of these two famous visitors, ‘he two newest and truest friends Alaska had made in many years. “Today there are no smiles up nere. This is the blackest day Al- aska has known. “‘The weather did it old timers say. They shake their heads and ‘These Arctic Barrens aren't Will and Wiley should've been careful.’” Beach said he and Will gabbed until midnight until Wiley went to sleep with his head on his arms. “He never has a word to say,” Will told me. “I do the talking for the team. It works out fine.” Beach continued: last night I heard the same words: | ‘It just can't be. Why, it was only | yesterday we were all laughing and Joking together. It seems a long time ago. Alaska is waiting for| Crosson’s ship and the whole coun- try l& in tenrs l NEWSPAPERS GAVE ROGERS HIS MATERIAL Philosopher Drew His Op- inions from American Daily Press HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 17. 5 Rogers, who once said he studied the fourth reader for ten years, slaimed he didn’t know much about books. “All T kpow is what I read in| the papers,” he often remarked. It feels the disaster “On every side | — will| AIMS OF POST ON FLIGHT ARE UNDETERMINED Rogers' Believed to Have Been Financing Trip to Moscow LOS ANGELES, Cal, Aug. 17— ims of Wiley Post's flight | Rogers’ actual part in it, are not definitely known The venture was highly secret ‘The DI iling belief here is that 5t was enroute to Siberia and Moscow to blaze & neéw air trail to the Soviet Capital for aviation Sn— terests in this country. Friends here believe Rogers may have been helping Post to arrange and finance the flight. It is the belief that Post’s resourc- mited. This is bolstered by new one. There was a new the plane but the body mbled from - other used the Lockheed Aircraft Burbank. Was planes at plant ANOTHER INFERENCE { It has been revealed that Wiley sidered flying over Bering Strait and across at least a part of Si- beria before their return to the | States. A map of the Soviet Union with | particular reference to ‘the rouze | between Ulen and Irkutsk, and a descriptive handbook were sent from New York and reached Juneau on {the Aleutian on August 12, three dnys after Post and Rogers left| t¢- The map and-hand bookywere| grnrw-rded to Wiley Post at Fair- ;banks by plane. WORLD FLIGHT WAS PLAN FOR - POST, ROGERS [Close Fnend of Pilot Dis- closes New Informa- tion on Trp | { | OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla., Aug. 17—-Harry Frederickson, il man, who was a close &riend of Post, |revealed that eon sheir leisurely that the plane he flew was | Post and Will Rogers seriously con- | Here ic cne cf the Iatect him a= he rurhed from Los Angel Post. Rogers the airiiner on which he travcled. Parted [ | | One of the latest pictures of Will Rogers and his wife, now parted by the tragedy in the Arctic. WIDOW IS PROSTRATED picturcs taken of Will Regaio. is pictured with Helen Hawking, pretly stewardess ul The S mdo to Be R('momborod It by air to join es to Seatlc Meurns Father HOP MADE FROM POINT BARROW T0 FAIRBANKS Veteran A@ Flier Off Tomorrow Morning for States with Victims |ENTIRE JOURNEY TO BE MADE BY PLANE Remarka’blefine Made on First Leg of Flight from Arctic Outpost BULLETIN—EXTRA-—Joe | Cresson is scheduled to leave Fairbanks at 6 o’clock tomor- row morning (interior time) for the south. He will not call at Juneau, but will lk the ’ ‘nside passage mtll ‘le thence to Los This is according to a PAA radio late this afternoon. BULLETIN—An Associat- od Press disatch to The Em- pire from Fairbanks this afterncon stated Joe Crosson said he would take off for the south immediately the bodies of Rogers and Post are pre- pnred by the vaff;d from the plans an- nounced at New York, where the Pan - American Airways | of Will Rogers, who is following in the footsteps of her father, | on the stage. \i Migs Mary Regers, daughter night prepared to fly to Seattle ‘}W()hk\bly today in a Phillips Petrol- It was from the daily press lhal‘fl{ght_ argund the world, Rogers the philosopher and actor gathered |had arranged to pay all expenses. material upon which to base his|He planned to fly when he want- opinions. |ed and to stop where and as long He was a true American. There as he pleased. was Indian blood in his veing., He said Rogers’ arrangements to “Maybe my ancestors didn't come|pay expenses of the flight were over_ on ‘the Mayflower,” he oncr-;disclusad in a letter by Mrs. Post declared, “but they met the boat.” |to her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. D. He greeted the offer to write a| Laine. San Angelo, Texas. daily column for newspape: AH\ over the country with the remark, |them, but Rogers didn't want me “Aw, T can’t write, but I'l try."” |to go for some reason; and, after He became one of the two high- Jall. since he was paying the ex- est pald syndicate writers in the penses of the trip, what he said world. 1had to go,” she said in the letter. “I intended to go to Alaska with | jeum Company plane to meet the PONCA CITY, Okla, Aug. 17— body of her dead husband when it “I wish to God I had beeh with is brought down from Alaska where him,” was Mrs. Wiley Post’s quick he was killed in a plane crash at remark when informed yeswrd;ly Point Barrow Thursday morning of her husband’s death.| She was prostrated and immediate- MRS RUGERS | - GOING HOME WILL FLY TO SEATTLE | MAYSVILLE, Okla., Aug. 17 ! ly went to bed. Later in the day she left by plane Mrs. w:ley Post arrived here last! Maysville, the Post’s family home SKOWHEGAN, Maine, Aug. 17— Plane that Nosed-on, Killing The above is the picture of the new cabin mon>jplane which crashed near Point Barrow carrying Post, Rogers to their death, The picture was taken at Seattle after new pontoons had repiaced the 'last night whether Posth whecls, s |1t was announced last evening that | Mrs. Will Rogers is going home to | california, leaving sometime today. She will be accompanied by, her daughter, Mary, and Dorothy Stone daughter of Fred Stone, the actor, a cloge friend of Will Rogers. ON THE WAY STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 17— Mrs. Rogers and her daughter left the railroad train here and con- tinued to New York by auto. Her con is flying from California and al will return west to meet the body of the husband and father, for Oklahoma City, enroute (o Two in Aretic ARRIVE IN NEW YORK NEW YORK, Aug. 17.—Mrs. Rog- ers and her party have arrived and gone into seclusion at the hotel to await the arrival of Will Rogers, }Jr. Jimmy Rogers is also expected {to arrive dgrmg the day. Kl AR PN D 27 HOME TOWN IS MOURNFUL ONE MAYSVILLE, Okia., Aug. 17— Wiley Post’s home town remains in- eoherent with griel. People gathered in little groups, faces mournful and veices hushed. It was not known body will | | \ i be brought here for buni System officials' stated the plane would reach Seattle probably Monday with stops scheduled at Whitehorse, | Telegraph Creek, Richmond, thence to Seattle, on to Los Angeles. IN WHITE LINEN Wrapped in snow white lin- an, the bodies of Will Rogers and Wiley Post, companions in life and death, were flown across the Endicott Moun- tains early today from Point Barrow to Fairbanks, while the Northland and the whole world mourned the passing of the two men. Joe Crosson, veteran Alas- kan flier, and Robert Gleason, PAA radio operator, flew from Fairbanks yesterday to Point Barrow, through fog. Soon after arrival at Point Barrow the bodies of Rogers and Post, which had been placed behind the Mission Hospital, where Dr. Henry Griest and Charles Brower, grizzled “King of the Arctic,” had prepared them for the journey home, were placed in the plane, % Gathered around the ‘Sgene (Continued on Page Three) - With Wiley Post, Crosson Was First and Last It was Joe Crosson, now an ace silot for the Pacific Alaska Alrways, who flew to Flat in July, 1883, to york all night on Wiley Post's air- dlane, Winnie Mae, while the ‘round-the-world aviator enjoyed a ‘ew hours of needed rest.’ It was Joe Crosson who welcomed 21s new-found personal friend, Wiley Post, back to Alaska last year for everal weeks of companionship and sig game hunting in the Interior. It was Joe Crosson who again met s friend, Wiley Post, here in Ju- 1eau along with his famous travel- 'ibg companion, Will Rogers, a few iays ago. And it was Joe Crosson who, with heavy heart, piloted & PAA plane 7esterday to Point Barrow for the ad purpose of obtalning the bodies »f Rogers, and his aviation buddy, Wiley Post, | | I8