Evening Star Newspaper, June 18, 1925, Page 4

oE THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON Do PILOTS FAGE DEATH CROSSING ROCKIES Skimming Over Mountains, Cutting Through Valleys, Trip Has Many Thrills. a seric 1 route the mail aviator YERICK K. NEELY. . ich hac n ind, Ne 7 pilot nergency he would bLe minutes, had sta un S0 onc ma rur Rock i-1 £ map which Spriv when fatal experic ' an't with grand we backed extra 3 . Then Land. some Cross Waste across waste while, unt ve the er el. We fly nd pick , ¢ above sea north of Lara mie, Wyo 10.0 1y see. snow-ca cle: more is as and in in_thls unusual t for a moment heyenne—of 0 degrees be snow on thi e the place ugh country ed landings 1t w be experienced the day ped hum on wi the he low zero ground of wheels pilot to get luck! In « 1ake off knocked dc bevond dge “des- He to keep and not it. It re- grease. can land ad land. his propel- begin look reasewood ur leaks ot a lot recall how the mail to Rock out th we've we abov nne that, 2 few cor cattle grazing Little lakes and broad stretch, giving it there is ‘n we stop must be in cross ove town cal houses—we as though the railroad 1zs. We were ad it we had.to set course running inds” we would be nowhere and in coun d, where a snake the population up out the railroads. surounded on every side pped mountains running 0i 1s sharp as the nist them. ar tten m Ch often we'v pilots f nk we It now look on vised becaus on the air 1 the down over draws Continue on _Course. using railroad maps, to watch the turn of the ind see it de- we same size They s Bosier. mail parallel the n the mnorth side. s_of rock breaks f the “‘deser Medicine between two peaks; one covered with snow and just dreary-looking and > valley at the foot yugh which we passed h terraces, and ms. At 9:53, we diver again; this »am, and we watch it flow to the right and see if widen gradually. We p over Rawlins, where the eastbound planes land, but we go on be we do not need fuel. It is a pr little city in this cheerl v, with eight main street ing east and west and 14 running north and south. Oil tanks border the town. We are in the land of Teapot Dome The grazing ground has disappeared, everything is sandy-look- ing, with = splotel sagebrush here and Desert, acc 1y named, for its col- or is vermillion, and it stands out against the other hues. We keep our eyes on the railroad, frequently ing off 15 or iles, while it a turn northward, and pick up Rock Springs at 11:20. Five minutes later we land at the mail field, about 3 miles north of the city—land with the wind, but the field slopes upward. The altitude here is 6,400 feet, the highest fleld on the airway. We made the trip in just about the same time the mall does, covering the 215 miles in 3 hours and 14 minutes, while the 2il schedule calls for 3 hours and 30 minutes. This also is the land of }he wind, On more than oneimca?lon. to the le the ot olor the r: is full cross time it is jus tty LOOKING DOWN the mail planes have landed in 60-mile winds and have had to keep their propellers turning at 1,300 revolu tions a minutes—a good flving speed in the air—while taking on fuel in order to st the ground force in holding down the plane. Meet With Trouble. Knowing full well we’ll have to use up every inch of the to get off, we taxi to the farthest end with the view of going down the grade, which also, fortunately, will be into the wind and according to the rules. Anx- jous to get to the very end af the field. we turn, and our right wing nar- rowly misses of the field border lights. The skipper stops the ship just in time to prevent the lower panel of the wing from knocking the light to pieces and perhaps doing the wing a little damage. We get out and find the tail skid buried deep in the sand. We v to lift it out, but cannot. So the passenger starts walking what seems . mile to the hangar, but is met mid 1y by the ground force in a truck. We line up. three holding down the left wing and the other three lifting up the right so that it will just clear the right Capt. Street turns over the propel ler with the starter and when every- body is ready gives the motor a bl — zuns to be strictly aeronautics plane shoots forward with such it knocks three men down that are holding the left wing, but the right wing clears the lamp. Now we rt down the grade, rising and set- tling, three times in all, but thankful we have a dosn-hill run and a good wind to nose into. Just as we pass the hangar off the old boy goes and we settle back in the seat, lock the safety belt and note the act that we shoved off at 12:13 and also note that about six times on our records our departing time has had a 13" fig- ure in the minutes. So far, so good; we are thankful for the unlucky num: ber. Head Southwest. In the air we head southwest and climb to 10,000 feet. The country looks like it will flatten out for awhile, so we drop 1,000 feet. About the only difference between this and the Chey- enne-Rock Springs jump is that this is flatter and has more sagebrush. As we fly on the mountains come closer, preceded by some baby moun- ns, babies compared with the towering ones around us, standing si- lently and still defiant against the e forts of man to conquer them. They have been conquered at last by the airplane, although at times the glants put up a pretty stiff fight and some- times score a v or 15 minutes we follow the railroad, squirming in out of the mountains and then it is getting bumpy. We are up to 10,000 feeet again and a big hill (towering mountains back East, but hills com pared with the Rockies around us) passes right under our wing. There isn’t more than 100 feet between the wing and the top of the peak, yet the altimeter read *“10.” Abcut 5 miles to the left is a peak several hundred feet higher than we are, and we can see the thick snow about it We are “hedge hopping” over the mountains. We seem to be moving very slowly up here in the summits of the Rockies, and suddenly we come close to a peak, and it goes by like a flash. We sail by two more white peaks and then pass into Utah, which, instead of offering relief, gives us 60 miles of mountains. What seems miles below, two steel bands, the railroad, twist about the bases of these goli- aths. If it wasn’t for that leaky radiator the skipper and the passenger would enjoy this much more. *“Please old ' Raleigh Haberdasher Women’s Department Sale a¥rice . Hart Schaffner & % Marx Coat Ensemble Suit . Tailored Suit Flannel Dress Balbriggan Suit Knicker Suit No Refunds No Exchanges No C.0.D. Raleigh Haberdasher | Thirteen Ten F Street ™ ON PEAKS OF THE ROCKIES boy.” we plead, “dom’t stop here.” A ad motor means the end of the trip, because the pilot. would have to squash it onto the side of a mountain and the plane would be a total “wash- out.” Even if a miracle were worked and it was undamaged, there isn't a place to take off. If we get over this run of mountains we'll make the coast, we fee Strike Difficult Passage. This train of pessimistic thought is suddenly interupted by a series of violent “jerks—bumps and a bumper crop of them. The skiper doesn't let the old bov ride them out this time He works like a trooper to keep from being tossed into the side of a moun- tain. The 3,000 or mote pound plane might as well be a piece of tissue paper on a stormy sea. And in addi- tion to this the pilot must fly a course—where there is one the pas- senger doesn't know; everything ahead is snow-cappéd pinpoint moun- tain peaks. We don’t even know what | direction we are going in. It is impos- |sible to make notes, the ship won't stand still long enough. But, after all, it isn't necessary to record this spec cle and this flight with the Rockies = Fridays only, July Lyv. Washington Baltimore Ar. New Haven . “ Buzzards Bay . Yarmouth - Hyannis . 613 Fourteenth Street N.W. RO OO IN THIS July 5 to August 30, inclusive. Barnstable ...ceesseceee For additional information or reservations, consult ticket agents or address T. L. Lipsett, Division Passenger Agent, Pennsylvania Railroad ROAD (T [t scrors v erere 5 i sownspreslay 1309:GIST. NW. THURSDAY. JUNE 18, 1925. on paper. We think we're having a pretty tough time. Yet the boys fly this course wher it is snowing and raining, and the only way they accomplish it is to run the wheels alinost on top of the railroad tracks and _squeeze through narrow canyons. The New York-to-Bellefonte flight A look down over the left side of the ship from 10,000 feet reveals a fertile valley, planted in small farms, but it is small; in fact, it just gets by in the valiey class. But therein lies the first green cultivation we've seen since Nebraska. We now fly up into the “V” of the canyon and are ap proaching the converging walls of mountains. Peaks flash by my cockpit so close we feel we could reach out and grab a handful of snow. The radiator continues to leak; we wonder If we have any water left; per- haps we'll soon find out. But the Liberty sings in uninterrupted tone. The roar is sonorous and soothing A break in that smooth drone would cause a few “cut-outs” in the regular beats of a certain heart above the State of Utah. We go over the “blind valley,” formed by the “V a mountains. Another high mount: ahead, with its summit buried in the clouds. Now and then we get a blast of chill air from the snow. A little opening or pass presents itself, and the skipper goes through it. Midway through this opening we look to the left and see about eight ridge ning to razor-edge points and with each other, while to the right there are two long ridges running side by side. See Salt Lake City. And just as we cro over we are almost stunned to see Salt Lake City laid out at very feet. It though we had come over the crest of a hill and looked down into a valley. It was a surprise and a_welcome one The bumps make a final effort to get us and we knock about on the top, fighting for freedom, and then the throttle is reduced and a long glide into the city begins. Across this val ley is another high range and to the northwest lies Salt Lake, a beautiful green body of water. The tops of the mountains opposite the city are buried in black storm clouds. e descent is slow, because we have about 6,000 feet of space between us and the ground. We come down in wide cles and land at the mail field at o'clock. Our ecstasy over bein alive soon is disturbed by the bre ing of the mountain storm. The wind blows and in pours. Lightning flashes and kipper and the passenger go into executive sesslon, emerging a second later with the decision to over, have a new radiator installed and re e the compass from the rear cockpit, which had been leaging kero sene for the last 250 miles¥Examina tion of the radlator revealed we had lost two gallons of water on the trip over. It required tw make the jump from Rock Springs to Salt Lake. About an hour a we anded our Cheyenne friend came in and the mail was rushed to new pilot and plane, who started for Reno. Mechanics at the Army Air rvice Reserve Field and the Air our is as hours of flying to IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII|I|IIIIIllllllllllllllllllllfi' | Quaint Cool Cape Cod Hyannis, Mass. 3 to August 28, inclusive, with returning through car from Hyannis, Sundays only, CAR TO i g mmm@ . Marvelous Values!! SAL E SMART SUMMERTIME DRESSES 9.95 OF Previously Higher Priced Tub Silks, Voiles, Handmade Stripes, Ensembles. Linens, Crepes, Sweater Sport Suits, Linen . Handmade Printed In the Shop ‘ 1/2 Price White Hats Are Included is a piker.| Mail plane crew pitched in and had 2 new radiator installed in a short time. But it was too late to get to San Franclsco, and we figured Salt Lake City would be a better place to spend the night than somewhere in the mountains lying between. The jump we just flew over is held in rather high regard by the postal | authorities, because they pay the pi- lots who fly over this course the high- est s ries s a mile. The other courses call for six and five cents, the last figure being the lowest There been only one serious force down in | that 60 miles of mountains, occu ng when the plane was over the worst | part. The motor stopped and the pi-| lot _did the only thing, squash it against | a mountalnside. When he regained consciousness, the motor was in one | place, the plane wreck in another, and | he in a third. The mail was unharmed | and he was fortunate in getting to th railroad after s g walk. This sam pilot, while fiying over this course, had an overheated radiator, and com- {ing out of the mass of mountains to the north of Salt Lake City, and ju in sight ground, the radiatc exploded. e wings caught fire, but he ma to land the plane’ and then fighting the fire. He re moved the mail from the compartment and set it down about 50 feet away from the burning plane. The mes 2ot the best of him, and when the gasoline tank exploded, a str of ming fuel shot right for the mail, as though careful aim had been taken That kind of luck cannot be com: ated. The fifth article in this series will appear tomorrow. the United second larg purchases totaling last year alone. being custon 7,733,300 anzi- | se with | w Los body was found in_the cistern of his | mountain the confession of her murder- the po-| lice reported he made. d | tenant pounds | office Held in Cistern Slaying EFENSE ATTACKS Attorneys for Alleged Slayer of Wife by Gas Open Fight for His Life. ment tod defen a Thelr based ur | indictment DR. THOMAS H. YOUNG, Angeles dentist, whose wife's cabin. He has repudiated | { Graduate’s Name | S Overlo Named to 0. R. 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