AMAZON JUNGLES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 21, 6 January 1928, Page 9

AMAZON JUNGLES

MEN WHO HAVE VANISHED. SEARCH FOR COL. FAWCETT? New York, Dec. 10. Appeals have been made to Commander George M. Dyott to search for three other' missing men when he enters th e Brazilian jungle in quest of the lost British explorer, Colonel P. H, Fawcett. One of these men was last heard from when he started up the Xingu river to hunt for rubber. The second vanished in the wild Matte Grosso district. The third man is a mining engineer, missing for years. in behalf of this engineer the following letter was sent to Commander Dyott: “Dear Commander Dyott.—l suppose by this time you are used to being a ‘bureau of missing persons’ for the whole hf South America. “F. R. Gibb. 150 Clenooe road, Columbus, 0., is interested in finding the whereabouts of a mining engineer who disappeared some eight years ago in Brazil, or who, at any rate, has not been heard from for that length of time. Mr. Gibb is undertaking this work for relatives.“Quoting from his letter, O. MSpangler, whose last address was Mendohaia Mines, Geras Muniitio Do Diamantina, Brazil, was there when Roosevelt was down there, and when he reported discovering the River of Doubt. Al! the tourists who travel here stop at Mr, Spangler’s, and so here lies the dope. The Dyott expedition will go right near there and I wanted to know if I can get in touch with them, or will have to wait until they start on. Please give me what help you can “I am giving Mr. Gibb your address, and know that anything you can do to help him will be appreciated. Sincerely yours, F. E. Handy.” Commenting on this letter, Commander Dyott said that Mr. Handy was right in his assumption that the explorer was accustomed to being used as a “bureau of missing persons.” “Brazil seems to have the habit of swallowing people,” the commander remarked. “If one were to write a history of men who have vanished in the Amazon jungles it would run into many volumes. For every man whose loss is reported there must be a hundred we never hear about. “These jungles hold many secrets of human dramas which have taken place in their dismal solitudes. They would make sensational reading if they could be brought to light.” Commander Dyott says that he would be glad, of course, to trv to locate any of these missing men. “But,” he adds, “the main object of my expedition is the search for Colonel Fawcett. Therefore I would be unable to follow many side tracks.”