HOPES FADING

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19374, 12 July 1937, Page 5

HOPES FADING

FATE OF FLYERS AIR SEARCH FAILURE CONTINUANCE OF QUEST COMBING WIDE AREA WORK OF U.S.A. NAVY (£I«C. Tel. Copyright—United Pross Assn.) (Reed. July 12, 10.40 a.m.) . ‘ NEW YORK, July 11. Washington reports state that as hopes of the rescue of the missing flyers, Mrs. Amelia Earhart Putnam and Captain F. J. Noonan, when navy officials intimated that they were not hopeful of success, sharp criticism was voiced in the House of Representatives in regard to the costliness of the hunt.

Representative Scott said that it was time some authority announced that the navy would not be used to search .for “publicity stunt’;; flyers in the future.'“Do you think that if some poor fisherman got lost in the Pacific the navy would spend £50,000 in a search?” he asked.

High naval officials admitted to-day they had virtually abandoned all hope of finding Mrs. Putnam and Captain Noonan alive on the basis of reports received from the Colorado’s aviators. The belief has been growing in Washington with each successive day of fruitless searching that Mrs. Putnam and Captain Noonan are dead, but officials have been issuing optimistic statements, trying hard to convince themselves that they were true.

Now it is almost universally believed in Washington that further searching is merely a matter of form in order to make certain that no possible stone has been left unturned. If there is a single spark of hope remaining it rests entirely upon the forthcoming efforts by the Lexington’s flyers. Officials have been reluctant to adopt the theory that the flyers are dead due to the enervating effect that such an admission would be bound to exert over the searchers. Now it is regarded as useless and cruel to delude either themselves or the public further. If the Lexington’s search fails to find a trace of the missing flyers it will remove every last lingering official doubt as regards their fate. Planes on Seven-Mile Front The coastguard cutter Itasca advised by radio yesterday that the planes from the United States warships searched in the neighbourhood of Winslow Reef, thence south over more than a seven-mile front for a distance of 50 miles for the lost flyers. The Itasca is continuing the search south and east of Baker Island. The minesweeper Swan continued in a south-easterly direction searching in the vicinity of Canton Island.

The seaplane-carrier Lexington is expected to arrive and begin the search on Monday. It is estimated that the naval searchers have already covered an area of 140,000 square miles.

Naval officials are considering the theory advanced by Mr. H. Gow, copra plantation worker in the South Seas that the flyers may be found m the Gilbert Islands, directly west of Howland Island. Mr. Gow said that the prevailing winds on the route from New Guinea were south-east. If the flyers had been forced down at sea after overshooting Howland Island, the current would have carried them near the Gilbert Group.

Radio experts who doubted the authenticity of many messages which were purported to be from Mrs. Putnam, said the present absence of messages was helping the hunt by eliminating confusion due to conflicting positions.

Driven Off Course Naval aviation and wireless experts are now convinced that Mrs. Putnam was driven off her course by winds, and not having any wind drift instrument, circled the Phoenix Islands area and possibly landed there. The search to date has not yet touched the southern position of this area where, it is believed, is the most likely place the flyers will be found.

The Colorado’s aeroplanes have not sufficient range to reach Gardner and Hull Islands which are the furthest south from the Phoenix Group. The Lexington’s planes are expected to traverse these islands.

Although holding little hope for the rescue of Mrs. Putnam, naval flyers from the Colorado scanned the Phoenix Islands while the Lexington, carrying 300 aviators, hurried for the last chance to survey the South Pacific area.

Natives at Hull Island rushed from their huts fearful and wondering when the three seaplanes soared overhead and one landed in the lagoon at the island, causing thousands of birds to take to wing and seriously "handicapping the landing of the other machines. The aviators were forced to wait for half an hour for the natives to paddle out in a canoe. The white manager of the island, who was an occupant of the canoe, said he was the lone white inhabitant of the island, on which only 100 natives lived. He said he had a radio but was not aware of Mrs. Putnam’s flight. Fleet of 63 Planes The Lexington is expected to reach the search area on Monday. The naval authorities said that they might unleash the entire fleet of 62 planes, which are capable of covering 60,000 square miles daily. With this armada it is expected that the search will be brought to a swift conclusion. Shore patrols from the minesweeper Swan, are. en route to Canton Island, the Archipelago’s largest island.

Naval authorities said it had not been decided how long the Lexington would stay in the locality. Admiral Murfin has blocked out an area of 265,000 square miles to be covered. Theoretically the Lexington’s planes could scan the area in about four and a-half days. Officials said that the Colorado must start back for Hawaii on Tuesday for fuel. She was ordered to meet and rdfuel the Swan during the day and to supply three destroyers convoying the Lexington. The fuel for the Itasca which was obtained earlier from the Colorado is deemed to be sufficient until July 18. The Swan does not need further fuel until July 20. The Lexington carried 10,000 extra gallons of petrol, but the total amount was not given. Earlier, it was stated th«t the Lexington could keep the planes aloft for three days.

Mr. Putnam has abandoned his vigil with the Coast Guard naval radio operators and has arranged to return to his home in North Hollywood. He said he had not given up hope. “1 feel there is nothing more I can do here,” he added. “Mrs. Putnam’s mother is at my home and I feel I should be with her."