AERONAUTICS: When Practicable

The Chief of Air Service has left the date of departure in the hands of the aviators themselves. They will start "when practicable." Weatherbound so far, they are marooned in a hotel at Reykjavik, Iceland, studying their maps, receiving a large mail from admirers in the U. S., and not at all worried. They feel sure they will get through and time is no object. In the meantime, the Navy has been coöperating in wonderful fashion. The supply ship Gertrude Rask finally broke through the ice to Angmagsalik, on the south coast of Greenland, but found the clear space in the harbor too small and ice-infested for the fliers to land there. A new base has been found in a bay some fifteen miles from Angmagsalik and the "gobs" are painfully transporting supplies through the icy and stormy waters in small rowboats. The sea between Reykjavik and the new base is patrolled throughout by navy ships.

Admiral Thomas P. Magruder is on board the flagship Richmond off Reykjavik in constant touch with the fliers; the torpedo boat destroyers Billingsley and Reid are stationed along the southern waters of Greenland; the cruiser Richmond completes the chain, being stationed as near to Angmagsalik as the ice permits. Planes from the Richmond flew to the new base and created a great sensation with the Eskimos, who had never seen such giant birds before. An Iceland historian has unearthed an old prophecy which states that giant birds will cross to Greenland before the month of August is out. This favorable omen is not being borne out by the weather which is stormy, gales of 46 miles an hour being reported along the route.

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Lieut. Locatelli, Italian airman, reached Greenland, repaired his plane, called on Lieut. Lowell H. Smith, to whom he presented a letter from the American Air Attaché of the Embassy in Rome. This missive, 20 days old, was full of cordial greetings, hearty wishes; it brought smiles to the windburnt Icarians. Locatelli stated that he would fly to the U. S. with the homing planes of Lieuts. Nelson and Smith.