SOUTHERN CROSS STORY

Grey River Argus, 16 April 1929, Page 5

SOUTHERN CROSS STORY

Ulin’s Log A Graphic Account for Paper

(Copyright t 0 “Sydney Sun” throughout the World.) SYDNEY, April 14. Ulm’s account of the Southern Cross flight furnished a (hrilling story. Ex tracts from the log. after covering th: early hours of ;h e journey. which are already known, describes their running into rain on Sunday, March 31. at 345 a.m. The rain continued off anil on for the next two hours. When dawn was breaking at 5.50, it was wet and cold, and they did not. know if the coast had been reached, a" there were thick clouds below; but all thought so. At 6 o’clock, :hcy

seemed to be approaching Wyndham. At 9.15, the lo s states: “The last hour has been spent at about. fifty feet in thfrk in v,,, . v ,t,w along a very broken coast line, look-ing-for Wyndham. At 10.30 they thought they had found the entrance, but an hour later, the log says, there was nothing to icpoit. The log continue-: EJ.3O: Been losi in rainstorms for eight hours. Now on eoast at rivermouth. Couds ml abobt. ~. 12 20- JKS’t passed some rapids. Heading west. Ge.ting over toast Have about 1) hours’ gas. 2*lo* Passed over a mission. Threw . ■ ’ note and a chap gale us di Action. All hands tired. Been in the air 2 4 t r en Been V hopele U ssly lost it, tain- ’ ’for tell hours. Now going to " a forced landing at a price wbelieve to be 150 miles from Wynd in > 3.20: Have made a

Raih had forced us right down to the hi IT lops, and we were unable to locate the mission, so eventually land ed on the edge of a mangrove swamp. Smithy made a wonderful effort. The Southern Cro s is undamaged, but the only 1 food on board is seven sandwiches, all about to putrefy. We have -lit a fire,.. r All. are tired out after-2H4 hours in the air. Mac rigged a long wave aerial to aileron from kingpost and listened in. All are very deaf, but we heard Perth call Darwin about us. Before dark, we trudged through about two and a-half miles of bad swamp grass to an adjacent hill top but saw nothing, so returned to the bus before dark. It was very heavy going. Smithy and Litch got in five or dix hours’ sleep the first night. Mac and I had barely an hour. Mosquitoes and flies make sleep ahnos impossible. Monday, April 1: Smithy and 1 spent practically the whole day im provising a bvldriy e for the radio generator. We- had no tools and th* flies were, awful. In the evening wc listened in again. Our food had given out, but we have plenty of water. All are very weak. Mac and I are the worst, because we had no sleep. We got Sydney on the radio. They say a launch ha's left Wyndham lo search the Drysdale River, and a plane is to leave Derby on the search. Litcwifield fixed our position at about 120 mi'es from Derby, and 180 west from Wyndham. The plane is our main hope. We turned in about 8.20, after hard physical work by Smithy and myself trying o tune the radio just, enough, to get out a message. Doubtful if it is any good. Smith and Litch had le s than an hour’s sleep,- Mac half an hour, and myself none. Our mosquito bites arc swelling, and wc arc all much weaker. We have named, this place Coffee Royal. Smithy and 1 searched the swamp for oysters, but found none. We saw a small kanga roo on Sunday, but nothing since. We

turned the plane round his afternoon to slightly dryer ground. Tuesday, April 2: All visibly weak er this morning. Any exertion tires us altogether. Smithy and Litchfield went on the hill to light a fire. Mac and I have one going near the South ern Cross. Will stay here to-night and lis en-in again. 9.40: A plane coming is our best hope but it has not sighted us. We feel we can last a week, if the flies and mosquitos don’t devour us, but the main thing is that the Southern Cross is un damaged, and wc can take off in a few day- 1 , if there is no more rain, and may see the mission again. We will be able to send radio on short-wave from the air, though another landing here will be perilous. Even writing is an effort. Smithy and Litch re turned from the hill top at noon Couldn’t stick the heat without pro tection. We gol Sydney at night, but though we are reported missing in the Press, there is no direct’ message to us. A thunder shower cam* 1 ust before sundown and another at 1.30 a.m. All had about three hours’ sleep. Mac is a scream, making jokes and sometimes playing a mouth organ. Food is all we need. We are weak for lack of it, and sleep. Wc tried to shpoi birds with Ithe autotaiatie, but with no success. VERGE OF STARVATION. Wednesday, April 3: All are weaker now. but mentally alert. I feel gone in th e legs and arms. We corrected ou r longitude position, collected wood, and kept the tire burning all th? morning. We had gruel for lunch. J feel slightly better. The flies are un bearable and mosquitoes damnable. Another small shower about 2 p.m i The flies hamper our work. For in s ance, when taking a shot, Litch field uses a sextant with Mac switch ing hitu. while Smith and T read the chronometer and sw sh each other. Then on c Or the other swishes Litch. while he works up h’.s sights which confirm our latitude. All -this is ini possible in our weakened condition I wonder where the Airways’ plane

with Chateau, is. 2FC Sydney; reported that Chateau flew to Drysdale, and will search again to-morrow. We feel chirpy to-night, but damned hungry. Thursday, April 4: Daylight: An awful march up the Darlinghurst hill j to light the fire, then stoking in half hour shifts, and heat unmerciful. We are really starving. Keeping alive on one and a-half cups of gruel per day. Mac nearly out to it to-day. but still working. All are feeling gnawing hunger pains. Smithy’s super-energy is wonderful, but even his strength in failing. The flies take half our energy in the daytime, and sleep is impossible owing to mosquitoes at night

Friday, April 5: We decided ‘ft ero q s the mud clay pan, and light y fire there, as none isi capable /of climbing the hill. All felt better last •light, but are weaker. The sky is cloudless and the heat terrible. We found some mud snails hi a mangrov • -wftmp, which we ate. They were awful, but we fee] stronger. Smithy and I had a shot at eu ting a tree dov n. Our tools were two screw driv ers and rocks for hammers, but we had t 0 give it up. When we returned to the shade of the wing, wc were all just on collap e.

Saturday, April 6: Our worst day. A plane passed within four miles o ,! ns this afternoon. We are nearly < killing ourselves, marching up the hillkeeping the fire aligh . Ju t after, we had returned fnom Darlinghurst Bill, and had lit th e coffee royal fire, Smithy heard a plane. All worked furiously stoking up the big smoke fire. He passed us. but not more than five miles away at 2.50. This decided us t 0 have the tree cut down to jack up the wheel lo work the radio generator. Smith and I worked without a rest for two hours, while Litch kept the flies off, and we wo” We got that great tre e down, but it knocked us up. That plane passing was terribly disappointing, a’nd we cursed the pilot. Sunday, April 7: Got the wheel jacked up by noon. This has been Smithy’s big day. He excelled him 1 self, and never stopped working, making a friction wheel on which to run th e generator, and finished it with a * penknife only, in a blazing sun tor mented by flies. Then Smith rigged the '• engine, the starter handle in the out-

er end of the axle making wooden bearings with a knife. We took off the generator. Mac spent an hour wiring it up. Smithy mounted his little wooden drive on the generator, and we had a practice run,-. .Mac in the cabin at the. set, Smithy and Litch turning on the forty-four inch wheel, and myself holding the: on the wheel making a friction drive. Loud cheers from old Mac. He says, that we can transmit, but the trouble is we can’t keep it running more than ten seconds at a tune, so we worked hours to-night, winding the wheel, while Mac sent S.O.S. and other sig nals. Our best hope is that some one picked it up and reported to La Pcrouse, which we received excellently here. , HARDSHIPS INCREASE. Monday. April 8: We had a good sleep last night, as it came up cold, and drove the mosquitoes away. Smithy and T got two hundred snaiß on the mud flat, to the south. W e had half f or lunch. Last night, Mac heard all s.ations again, but there was no news for us. Smithy is knocked out. but most of our heavy work is done, and we are all resting. Then we have to expend more strength in turning the generator. Each turns ten to fifteen seconds, then all rest for a quarter of an hour. Our tobacc o ran out to-day. We tried to smoke leaves, but they were awful. Tuesday. April 9: This was the day of the greatest hardship yet. A plane pasccd us twice this morning.

the second time within four miles at a height of 4000 fee - , the day being clear and cloudless. We discussed the possibility of building a raft and taking it to what we believe is the Glenelg River, three miles to the south, and drifting down to the coast with the * ; des, but lack of water tn drink is dangerous. We at more snails to-day, but we are all failing, though Smithy and Litch have more energy than Mac and I. On the radio to

night, we heard of Holden, Anderson, Chatcr, Heath and Woods’ activt ties; also that lhe aborigines are searching. they would come down here. We piay that La Perouse will send out the exact position of Port George Mission, then we would try to walk there. 'Only two and ahalf tins of gruel are left, and Iwentytwo matches, and worst of all, the water hole is drying up. Wednesday. April 10: We have boon ten days lost, but are \ still alive. Mac and I tried t 0 walk to a new hill called Disappointment Hill, but broke down after a mile and a half. We are too weak t<r move, but we lit a flire and Smithy and Litch joined us with snails and water. A TIMELY RESCUE “We discovered a tiny long bean weed, ana cooked and ate them. We don’t like them, but there is some nourishment in them. {Coming back, Mac and I were cut off by tidal wat ers, and had io make a detour of an extra mile through mangrove swamp I collapsed five times, and staggered to Coffee Royal a beaten man. For the past few days we have all been getting mental mirages of wonderful dishes of food. It may sound childish, but it is tru;. Heat, flies, mosquitoes, light fires, pull down irees, pull up grass for smoke, walk for water, eat

a few snails, drink water, and very thin cup of gruel, listen to the- radio, and then lie down to be eaten by mos quitoes. That is our day. When will it end? Smithy found a new water hole but high tides make it inipo M sible to get snails. We saw emu and dingo tracKsi, but we yan’t shoot them with a .22 automatic. We dis--cussed making a raft out oi the twe wing tanks, but .here are too many difficulties in rhe way. After b?:ng passed by thro? planes, we are Ihp'*icss of their find.ng us, and hope they will send abos. (aborigines) out

Thursday, . April 11—Smithy and Litch went im Darlinghurst hill, where they will si art a fire and stay a night, while Mac and 1 keep a fire going here. A pair of planes passed northward at nine a.m. One passed south ward at two p.m.. ten to twelve miles off. Each time Smithy collapsed on Darlinghurst, so Litch d.d the bulk ot (he work. lie’s splendid, and looks good for a few days yet. The radio tells us that lhe planes searched the Kt>e River, Avon Valley, north of us. That is disappointing. We hoped that they would search south of Regent River.

Friday, April 12—Smithy and Litch stayed the night at DarLnghurst. Mac and I couldn’t sleep down here. We are on the ids- of the gruei, and taking almost ] ui« hot water. 9.50 a.m.—Saved! Holden’s Can berra appears from the south-east. 10.0

a.m.—Ths Canberra cam A low down over the Seutl ern Cross and circled for well ever an hour, dcoppiug four packages of rations. God it’s all too wonderful’ I rod! Smithy and Litch rushed down from Darlinghurst with I ears in their eyes and whoops of joy We are all in, but gee. the old South ern Cross is in one pie.ee, and eventually we will fly out. We just tore open the tins of bully beef and ate it

like animals. Holden returned to . Wyndham, dropping a message that he . would come, again with more food- ( God bless him. God bless everybody. Litch and Mac refuse to leave us though we had intended they should go gu; in the rescue planes, so wc have had to agree to their mutinous request, and all will leave together m the Southern CrossSaturday, April 12—All hands greet the day of rejoicing, knowing we will again make contact with ou r fellows. The Canberra arrives with food and Heath’s plane lands. TORPEDO-PLANES. LONDON, April 13. The Greek. Naval Air Service has - ordered six Jokkers-Rolls Royce tor--1 pedo planes, capable of carrying a torpedo weighing a ton. GERMAN SERVICE IN MIDDLE i EAST. i BAGHDAD, April 13 *- A German . company operating in - Persia for two years, has started an

air mail between Teheran and Bagh dad, connecting with the London Karachi mail. The inauguration follows upon a settlement of the political difficulties by which the Germans hitherto have been unable -to cross the Iraq frontier.