A STRATOSPHERE FLIGHT

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 21019, 22 November 1933, Page 9

A STRATOSPHERE FLIGHT

AMERICAN SUCCESS COMMANDER SETTLE REACHES j 58,000 FEET | (CMTBD PHF.S3 ASSOCIATION*—BY 35LECTBIC ■ TELEGRAPH —COPTIUGHT.) (Received November 21, 9.10 p.m.) AKRON (Ohio), November 20. Seeking to gather new information about cosmic rays, Commander T. G. W. Settle, of the United States Navy, and Major L. Fordney,'of the Marine Corps, took off at 9.27 a.m. to-day, expecting to rise 36,000 feet in a few hours. After attaining a height of more than 58,000 feet, according to the altimeter inside the gondola of their huge balloon, Commander Settle and Major Fordney began the descent late on Monday. They intended to land near Washington. Early to-night Commander Settle was estimated to be somewhere over Delaware (New Jersey), and was preparing to land as soon as possible. About 5 o'clock the balloon was seen near Baltimore (Maryland), at an estimated altitude of 1500 feet, moving eastward rapidly. Earlier, Commander Settle had reported that he was valving gas, in an effort to lose altitude. He then estimated his speed at 44 miles an hour. He declared that he was busy with his instruments and expected to have interesting scientific results. The altitude reached was greater than the earlier record of Professor August Piccard, but about a mile less than that .claimed by the Russian balloonists on their ascent of September 30. [Commander Settle recently made an unsuccessful attempt to enter the stratosphere. He used a balloon of the type favoured by Professor Piccard.] BALLOON MISSING NO FEARS FOR SAFETY

'(Received November 21, 11.50 p.m.) NEW YORK, November 21. A message from Salem (New Jersey) states that a search of wooded sections of New Jersey had failed early this morning to disclose any trace of the stratosphere balloon. It was last sighted over that area at 8.45 p.m. on Monday. No fears are felt for the safety of the two pilots. It is believed that they are keeping at a low altitude, awaiting daylight. Communication with the balloon was cut oil when Commander Settle dumped his storage battery and other paraphernalia overboard. He still had a receiving set, however. OVERSEAS ATHLETES AT CAMBRIDGE * RESTRICTION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR BLI'ES LONDON, November 20. With the object of giving English undergraduates a fair chance to win Blues the Cambridge University authorities have barred American and other overseas athletes from competing at the inter-university sports. This does not apply to overseas students taking a full course at Cambridge, but is directed against Amer-ican-trained athletes who do a year at Cambridge solely to get a Blue. Overseas students who have completed a year or more at another university are not eligible to represent Cambridge at the inter-univer-sity sports unless they are under 19. The'rule will be enforced in 1934. Officials slate that a similar regulation in America operates against British athletes and retaliation is long overdue. No such ban is being imposed at Oxford. IThis message Dr. A. L. Haslam, a former Rhodes scholar, described as unintelligible, in commenting \ipon it yesterday. The report said that overseas athletes taking a full course at Cambridge would not be aflected by j the new ruling, yet it said also that if students had completed a year or more at another university, as practically all overseas athletes did, they would be ineligible for blues. If this were correct there would be few students at all from overseas who could compete for blues, and this seemed absurd. Several years ago there had been an age limit for blues, and an agreement in the matter had existed between Cambridge and Oxford Universities, although it had been enforced only at Oxford. It had been carried out for three or four years, but was eventually dropped.!