OMINOUS SILENCE

Taranaki Daily News, 25 November 1935, Page 5

OMINOUS SILENCE

NO WORD OF ELLSWORTH

FLIGHT OVER ANTARCTIC

RADIO MESSAGES CEASE

ANXIETY ON WYATT EARP

By Telegraph-Press Assn.—Copyright. Rec. 7.20 p.m. New York,. Nov. 23. Mr. Lincoln Ellsworth and Mr. Kenyon (his pilot) had been away for about 14 hours on their flight over the Antarctie and. since 4.05 p.m. no wireless communication had been received from their plane, the Polar Star, said a message sent from Dundee Island to the North American Newspaper Alliance at 10 pun. Greenwich time. Whether they had made a forced landing or the transmitting set was out of commission there was no way of knowing. At 4.03 p.m. they indicated their position at about 76 longitude, 79 latitude, after which the sending became jumbled and finally ceased. They might still .be on their way to the Bay of Whales, having fuel for about 20 hours, but in any case the Wyatt Earp, although she was prepared to sail, would remain at Dundee Island until definite word was received.

Until 4.05 p.m. frequent wireless messages were exchanged with the Polar Star. News from Mr. Ellsworth indicates that, although there was some fog, the flight was progressing favourably. At 11.45 a.m. he reported seeing the Lurabee Channel and Stefansson Strait from an altitude of 13.000 feet. The temperature was 21 degrees Centigrade below zero. Until that time they had maintained a speed of 125 miles an hour. From then until the final message he sent a rapid fire of reports of seeing new mountains and spotting of charted georgraphical positions. He once mentioned seeing many crevasses but added “There are a lot of places one could land.”

The Polar Star is equipped with emergency radio and it was prearranged that if needed Mr. Ellsworth would attempt to communicate with the Wyatt Earp at specified hours. One of these times had passed already, however, without word.