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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1928-05-03, Page 3Lonely Isle on Rocky Coast Is Site of Fliers' First Landing Sea Birds and the Lighthouse Keeper's Family Are Almost the Only Occupants of the Tiny, Rock -Bound Island Till ice Goes in May A LUCKY LANDING New York,—Greenly Island, where the Gorman and Irish aviators landed. the Bremen on its pioneer east -to -west flight neross bhe Atlantic ocean, is one of the most isolated of all the in Imbibed spots along the ,southern La-, brador coast, according to descriptions by those familiar with the Arctic -waters. as the fliers were some 400 miles off Greenly Island lies approximately their course, due Partly to the failure 1,100 miles northwest of Miteh<81 of the Plane's lighting system, For Field, New York, the dieetination which the transAtlanticfliers hoped to reach, and P00 utiles from Quebec, 'f earn which point the first Canadian welcoming plane left to greet the von- •a�t�ures'onee air navigators. The island 15 so small and so unimportant that ,f't-is.not listed in the gazeteers. Few mariners' tables give its longitude and latitude, And yet, when the intrepid airmen came down there with their gasoline supply virtually exhausted, they selected one of the few places in • The Story of the Flight Ddteils from the frozen north re- vealed a dramatic story of the trans- atlantic •plane Bremen successfully groping through fog and blizzard for the oonttnent of its destination. An auspicious start developed at the end into a battle with the elements hours the flight Stas in darkness, Once the plane was 60 feet from the water. A strange river was seen, then a moun- tain. At last was sighted what ap- peared to be a sealing ,steamer, It proved to be the lighthouse on Green- ly Island, 'Shortly after midnight, eastern standard time, on Thursday, the Bre- men stood fully fuelbd for her flight ou the runway at Baldennnel Airdrome, Captain Hermann Koehl and Maj. the 'entire region where a safe land- James Fitzmaurioe sat at the controls, ing might be made. In a compartment behind sat Baron The coasts of Labrador and New- von Husnefeld, ready to man the fuel foundland are rocky and .rugged, At Pump• this time of the year the water is filled After a daring take -off through a with rough and broken ice. Had the breach in a stone wall, the plane was fliers attempted to reach the interior going stroug, two hours later, well of Labrador, e landing would have over the Atlantic, having passed over been fraught with al nost•-fn`sti mmount Costello, Galway, at 2.03 a.m. Fdggy able difficulties. Instead they brought weather Prevailed along the coast, their airplane to rest at a spot where Flying In Darkness food and shelter were available, Soon however the Plane ran int o Lonely' Lighthouse clear weather aver the Atlantic, All There Is a Ilghtbouse on Greenly Thursday during the daylight hours Chaos Reported t A Solitary Sea Facer CROSSING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN IN A CANOE Capt. Franz Ramer, intrepid German adventurer, clearing from Lisbon in e daring attempt to arose the Atlantic ocean to New York, be a sealing steamer rozeu in the is- land and, although the Bremen was witlbcet skids or a landing on ice, they deecended. The plane broke through the ice, the metal propeller was bent, the axle o the landing-gear""broken. This was noon on Friday, April 13. Island—Fog Horn Light -which warns the plane traveled westward rapidly. the mariners to avoid the shoals and That night, however, a blizzard L °Du ' out trs 3r rooks to the south. The lighthouse swept the ocean, Tae plane lost keeper and this family are usually the altitude in the storm conditions and it chief residents .of the island at this was ilytug very low. time of year. Thus the winter population Of the island may be somewhere the night. The filers were unable to.. between 7 and 12 persons. But they read their Instruments and Captain The Latest Construction SIDE OF THE WINGS OF MONOPLANE BREMEN Showing the extra fuel tanks inside and balloonets 'filled with gas to give sufficient buoyancy to keep the• plane afloat, are equipped wlth ample supplies to meet the immediate needs of the three airmen. Communication is a more serious problem. The island, known locally as Be Vette, is about two miles from Ole mainland, There, at theextreme southern tip of Labrador, 1s Blanc Sablon, a settlement of some 100 French-Canadian fishermen. There is a telegraph station there. Sometimes it operates and sometimes it does not And when the Bremen flashed out of the fog and came to rest, the tele- graph line was out of commission. The location of the island is refer- red to as .the southern extremity of the Straits of Belle Isle, which stretch I for about 70' miles between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean, separating Labrador and New- foundland. Some 20 miles, lip the straits on the Labrador coast is Point Amour, where the marine signal service station is located. It was from tfads station that the wireless operator flashed the first news to the world of the arrival of the films at Greenly Island. Closed to Navigation The island itself is less than three- quarters of a mile long and at its widest point only a half -mile in ex- tent. A deep cove on the eastern shore almost cuts in two parts a hill of some 85 feet rising on the north section Of the island and a hill some 20 feet high on the south. It is on title southern hill that the lighthouse, a :huge aotagonal tower, is located. A white light flashes from its peak, which -on clear nights is visible:ter approximately 16 miles. The landing of ,the fliers at Greenly Island preceded by about one month the time when navigation will be open. Blanc Sablon Bay and the Stralte of Belle Isle freeze over about the mid- dle of December, The ice begins to but prevents navigation for another month until the middle of June, need - galore say. Aside from, its. significance to navi- gators. who sail the Labrador coast, Greenly Island is beet known to nat- uralists. Sea birds known as puffins abound .there and numerous species of fish tttract their attention. Within another math the fishing fleets w411 begin to gather for the trip up the Straits of Belle Isle, as soon as ice' conditions will permit, and thechief industry of that region—fishing and sealittge-Will be under way for the summer's;,. ILoehl's long experience in night fly- ing in Germany stood them in good Stead. Daybreak gave them opportunity to correct their direction. The weather, however, became worse and worse, and it was only with great difficulty that the plane could be kept up. Off the east of Newfoundland they struck a heavy fog and began to wan- der. They tried to fly above it, but at 2000 feet the fog stili enveloped them. They descended to within 50 feet of the waves but bad to climb upward again because of the high seas running and threatening to engulf them. Then they saw land; it was a wood- ed country and they flew over it try- ing in vain to locate their positlou. Next they flew over a large river which they could not identify. A large mountain loomed in ,their path. Again the Bremen headed upward and over it. Finally they saw what they took to Strange Customs Holland Alters "Cart Dog Act" The I•Iague.—There 1s a marked im- provement in the treatment of ani- mals in Holland during reeentt years, according to statetments to a cones - pendent of The Christian Science Monitor by Government officials, 'A very important addition to 'exist- ing legal protection of dogs drawing Travellers Says Police Havearts has recently come into force. Started Reign of •The existing so-called "Cart Dog Act Terror of 1910 was not very efficient, and the • Anti -Cart Dog League has been trying Agrah, Austria. — Newspaper dis-Ito improve it for many years, Since patches from Rakek, Italy, on the Dec, 17, 1927, the act has undergone Italian-Jugo Slav frontier, quote tra- :a, very substantial change, mainly in yellers as saying that panic and chaos two respects. There will be annual reign throughout Italy, The police, examinations in order to ascertain if aidiil by Fascist Militia, are said to the dogs used for pulling are of the have inaugurated a reign of terror in required size and quality for this kind an effort to get even with "enemies of 01 work, and under no circumstances Fascism." 'will a man be • allowed to sit on the Hundreds of persons suspected of cart which is pulled by a dog. being ant! -Fascist, are being arrested I Great work has been achieved in daily in almo4t every town of Italy" this direction by the humane societies awl thrown into overcrowded prisous, already mentioned, and also by the One traveller brought a report that persistent work of the Netherlands the bomb outrage at Milan was the Society for the Protection of Animals wor kof extremist Fascists themselves at The Vague, the Sophia -Society at who were trying to settle their ac- Amsterdam, and others. count with the reigning dynasty. This report had it that Mussolini had with- held from Khlg Victor Emmanuel uu-' til the last minute 1118 decision not to e go to Milan. Other travellers allege that Mus- solini has completely terrorized Victor Emmanuel and is only waiting for pro- posals from his own black shirt fol- lowers to assume kingly power him- self. An Estate Agent Proposes Marriage Well, old girl, I'm gonna give you the first chance to make yourself Mrs. Henry I -L Jones, I'm the very best to be had in the matrimonial line and I won't take "No" for an answer, Plenty of women are crazy to get a chance at me; since you're a good friend of mine, though, I'm making you the first offer. And let me tell you right now you'll be making the biggest mistake of your life if you don't grab me now while you can get me. Well, whadda you say?. The modern woman has been weighed and found wanting—every- thing under tha sun, "Oh, Dick," cried the wife hysteri- cally, "I've lost my diamond ring, and I can't find it anywhere." "Never mind," said the husband, "I found it in my trousers pocket." She—"What's the matter, ,lack? Did that cake I gave you give you a pain in the stomach?" I-Ie—'No. That cake -eater who• -Just left gives me a pain in the neck." Sex Equality Washington Post.—The modern wo- man does not want preferential pro- tection to which she is not entitled. Where is the woman who would not glory in military conscription, pro- vided she be assigned to duties to which she is suited. The work of wo- men during the late war, in Britain as well as lxrthe United States, proved that the fair sex had fewer slackers than the male side. S-4 III -Fated Submarine In Dry Dock VIEW OF THE SUB. AS SHE APPEARS TO -DAV The Charlestown navy yard was flooded and the craft which sank off i}rovtnt"••;"wu w'flt all on board towed into the .harbor; where she will now undergo repairs. as Hinkler Tells Adventures of Historic Trip Further Details Bring Out Full Significance of the Flight to Australia (The toliowing coonumuication from the Christian Selence ititgnitor'e special correspondent in Briebnae, giving pietureaque details or Bert Hinkler's recent flight from London; to Australia, wits h supplement the inadequate repor'e about that great achievement hit-„rto available. It will be remembered that 111 hie great exploit of flying 13,000 Guiles in 16 days, alone, Milkier was able to ,make five new Wein records, and there le no doubt that this notable perfot+m• ante will be counted as one of the out- standing pioneering feats in the his-' tory of aviation,) Brisbane, Queenal,—"You are a wonderful young titan, Bert," said the • Mayor of Bundaberg in tate course of 1 the civic welcome accorded Bort Hin- 1 kler .in hie native town, as soon es the I airman stepped out of the cockpit ofi lime tiny Avro-Avian machine on cam-( pleting his Australian trip, "We are all proud of you, and we are here to pay you the hostage and respect you have Justly earned in accomplishing that deed," Tale "deed" in question was brleflyl this: Hinkier made the quickest flight from London to Australia, leaving flown the 13,000 miles in 15 days stn hours as against the previous record of 28 days; he made the world's long i est flight in a light airplane; the first non -Stop flight from London to Rance, the fastest journey from England to India and the longest solo- flight. The flight was made iu a little 30 -horse- power machine, running costs being' altogether £55—£45 for gasoline (re- presenting a consumption of 460 gal- lons) and £10 for oil. The whole en - Auto Finding Favor On Roads of Turkey Constantinople,—Prior to the W(ol'id War there were no.atitomo- btiee nor farm tractors in Turkey. New, the report of the Ministry of Agrlcuiture shows, there are 8,000 tractors in use, imported from America and Germany, "lie "United Stater Trade Dom- mission•er Mule 4,000 Passengers Ogre In use, 1,600 trucks and buses and 400 hnotoroy0lo3 the heat haze, are as anisty as Irarts of England, I felt as if I were flying into the door of a furnace. It almost eat lire to my Moe. It was a difficult seotiou. I had wet 'bleat in Arabia, but it was not nearly as severe. as that in the Northern Territory," Hiultler said that he deft Darwin, at 7 o'c10ek on the morning of February 26, and, after two hours, passed over (Catherine Waters. He then turned into the desert, where trite flying con- ditions were bad, The sun was in his face, and there was a strong head wind, with clouds of dust. After about five hours battling against, adverse conditions he thought it was time to look for a landing place. Seeing a windmill in the distance, he decided to land, as he ;.bought he woulyl at least be able to get water and he might be able to see somebody Who could tell him where he was, OS the onll}' nha'p he had was an imperfect one. A Lone Aborigine He landed safely and got, a drink of water, but he could see no one. A short time afterward an aborigine oame along, and though he could bare- ly spears English he shade -the aviator understand tlra't he wee between Brunette Downs and Alexandra sta- tion. He tried to fly his machine, but tela heat was so great and the air so heavy that 1t would not rind, so he de- cided to atop till morning. With the aborigine aa a oompanion he had sup- per, and made himself comfortable Welcome Home AN ACE OF THE ACES Bert Ilinkier, Australian aviator, who broke fire records when he landed at Port Darwin, Australia, after a Might of 151,6 da;'s from London. terprise was undertaken with the' for the night. Next morning he flew smallest possible margin of funds,' off and landed near Alexandra station, Hinkler having failed to secure flnan- i where is was given breakfast and en- cial backing in London, tertaiued by the station manage.,. The, London -to -Rome Record He then rose, and in another 40 miles Talking over elle adventure of this saw Rankine township, of a few remarkable flight Hinkler said;houses, on the edge of a vast plain. When longest hop was 1200 mites I he was receiving his direction from Loudon to Rome, I dodged the before leaving Darwin, Hinkler was told that mountains' and followed the rivers he could not rotas Alexandra down. I knew of two aerodromes on station: "As that station le 16,000 this part of the Mediterranean coast, square miles in area I could not easily but darkness found me between tihem, ( miss• it," Hinkier said, "but as a land - meek I decided to gush on to Rome. mark it was of Iritis use to me." Though it was dark, the 1110011 came "I stmhck rainstorms up above cut and I managed to do it by 8.46 Gladstone, Queensland," Hinkler went pan. I had been in the alr for 12 i on. "There was a strong head wind, hours and 40 ,minutes, When I left and I followed the railway. Than I London,'I wore a sweater, a coat, a) came down the Dawson Valley, and Juamper, and an overcoat, but as at Baralaba I circled around to wave went southeast into a warmer climate greetings to my aunt For three I had to shed them. The whole route • weeks I rose between 8 and 6 In the between IEniglaud and Australia 1s morning, added Hinkler, "and I have littered with my discarded clothes:' seen 21 sum -lees in suocessdona, many Arab Tents and Camels of them over different countries. After that, Hlnkier said he seemed Carriage Built for Long Grass to remember nothing but endless "Tis engine ran perfectly," he said. stretches of desert, with oceaaional „I sat behind the engine ahroay�bbut Arab tents and camels. Once after this Long trip, and it never missed its landing iu Libya 'hie was trying to steady, droning -beat, The extreme clear a ansae far taking off, when a New Pact Gives Britain Control` In Transjordan Though Way Is Left Open for Union Between Differ- • ent Arab States London.—Britaln will adelse the, Emir of Transjordan In matters re. garding concessions, the exploitation of natural resources, the construction and operation of railwaya and, 'the raising'02 loans, according to the new treaty with the Arab etarte, recently Published here, The great railway from Bagdad to Medina, by which the Turks maintained their hold on Arabia before the war, passes through Trans- Jordan, an (Meat country is also con corned in the exploitation of the rialtos of the Dead Sea, so that this provision is of considerable import- ance. But, by the terms' of its man- date over the country, Great Britain is bound to maintain the "open door" system for trade and industry of all countries. The new treaty also maintains the Present customs agreement between Transjordan and Palestine, but the two countries are still to be kept en- tirely separate as regards administra- tion and legislation. No obstacle is to be placed in the way of customs or other agreements between Transjordan and neighboring states. Thus is opened up the possi bil1ty of ultimate political union be. tween the various Arab principalities, which has been the aim of educated Arabs for a number of years. Syria, however, Is under a French mandate, and the prospects of any sort of union with Trausjordan are considered ex- tremely remote. The same applies to Transjordau's southern neighbor, the Hejaz, since the rulers of the two countries, Emir Abdullah and King lbxt Saud, respectively, have a long- standing feud with one another; But King Feisal of Irak is Abdullah's brother, and here the chances of a union are thought to be somewhat brighter. Use of the words "neighboring Arab state" will bo interpreted, by the Arabs to include Palestine, where 75 per cont, of the population are Mos- lem Arabs. Here the question is com- plicated by the "Jewish Home," which is being fostered by Great Britain but is not recognizd by tlx Arabs. Trans- Jordan, hough undr the Palestine man- date, is expressly excluded from the operation of the clauses relating to the establishment of a national hone for the Jews, - Defense of Transjordan under the treaty is to be organized by Groat Bri- tain, but at the expense of the local government. Until such time as the finances of the country can assume more of the burden, however, Trans- Jordan will continue to bear one-sixth of the cost of the Transjordan fron- tier force. Great Britain is to be represented at Amman, the capital, by a British resident. Canada E::, ger To Have British As immigrants Official Counsels Making In- ducements Attractive Home Folk Ottawa.—"We should go to the limit to make it clear that we want all the Britishers to come to this country whom we can settle," W. J. Black, Director of Colonization for the Cana- dian National Railways, informed the Agricultural Committee of the House of Commons. Dr. Black recommended that the medical and civil inspection be made as simple as possible, consistent with reasonable protection of Canada's in- terests, and that the reduced passage rates be continued for the movement of juveniles and families migrating to engage in farming, but that for single mon arrangements be made for a Rat rate of £10 or £12, and that for this regularity and reliability became class there be no occupational test. monotonous, Tie explained shut his The same rate should apply to trans - party of Arabs rode np. Not know- portation in the reunion of families Ing whether they would Provo friend- machine was fitted with a patent u11 where the father or head of the family he made ovarturae to derearriage which gave him a very is established in Canada. them and finally secured their assts I wide wheel hack, .making the ma- tance in making the clearing. Soon china very stable on the ground, cls- he was flying' -over mora desert until•shite any wind that might be blow - he came to the stony wastes of Pales - in ing. Also, the carriage had no axle ( in the ordinary way. Therefore, in In order that opportunities for en- gaging successfully in farming may be increased and the lack of housing accommodation for such families in rural districts may be partially met, "i landh In long grass there was 00 'In getting from Victoria Point to it is proposed that the Federal Gov Java, I had to race a rainstorm;'tiring to hinder the machine, ernment establish a fund of $4,500,000 Hlnkier said, By a special contrivance the wheels a year for each of the next three "A wail of water ceased me, but I were driee,wn back as the wings were years, to provide for loans for the folded, thereby avoiding throwing any erection of workers' cottages on the managed to beat it. I had, Just laud extra weight On the tall. This made farms of those who wil lapply for such loans, These cottages would provide temporary hones for families while gaining experience, and should be va- cated within two years for other im- migrants. Dr. Black suggested that public lands in the prairie provinces should be placed ander the jurisdiction of the Department of Immigration and Coa. onizatio11, and that the present home- stead regulations bo cancelled; that all available lands sea' a railway be examined and only the bast be offer- ed for settlement, and 6 per cont. of these be reserved for Cauadians and British immigrants. She ---"You know that I love you, and wilt be true ex) the last" I•Ie— "But how shall I be the last?" Ad in exohangge "Experienced sales -people wanted, male or fentals6. No other need apply." ed when it came donvn m sheets, and I could not see 100 yards. "I landed at Darwin about 6,55 pan., after flying over the sea practically all the way tram Biwa on the Malay Archipelago, I fotm.d Mina inconveni- ent I put up dna native's hat, but could not sleep. I was out at 4 .p,nt. ready to start for Darwin. • 1 had a tricky elite]) with a full lead out of the mountains, and then made for the open .sea, My first sight of Australia Was Bathurst Island, and it caused great joy in the ,cockpit." Rigors.of Northern Territory Iiinkler said bis biggest thrill on the trim oame• after Ito had lauded at. Darwin, and ho plunged info a tb1ek haze round Anehony'a Lagoon. "Per- haps 1111d not understand the 0ond1• tions;" he said, "I always isnagined that Australia was a plane of good" Visih111tyt, brit eom0 .parte, owing to the machine just as handy to shove Qbont when the wings were folded as when their were open. In two or three places Mulder landed in a strong wind, and the undercarriage worked aclmlt•ably, keeping the ma- chine stable. Ali over the machine were fitted little Special techalemite nipples, and with hie grease can be could oil the machine from the cock- pit without walking round. The flight to Australia has been ac- complished previously by Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith, Parer and Mc- Intosh, Sir Alan Cobham, and the Italian airman, de Pinedo. De Pinedo Included Australia in a flight around the world, The ahertest ,time hither- to occupied in the Journey from Lon- don to Australia was 28 days, by the Smith brothers, apt• Sir Alan Cobham, The Smiths were the first to fly to this ooumtny in 1019.