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Show Two Other Machines Successfully Negotiate Air Flight to Halifax, Coast of Nova Scotia. Aviators Believe Prospects Pros-pects for Reaching the English Goal Are Exceedingly Ex-ceedingly Promising. WASHINGTON, May S. With two of the three navy seaplanes which started from Rockaway, Long Island, this morning on the first leg of the transatlantic flight arrived safely at Halifax, navy, officials were bending every energy tonight to locating the third, missing since early in the afternoon. after-noon. No report of the missing machine, ma-chine, the N. C.-4, commanded by Lieutenant Lieu-tenant Commander A. C. Kead, had been received after the machine passed tho destroyer McDermot, first station ship, located more than sixty miles north of Cape Cod and less than half way to Halifax. Orders were issued at once sending the McDermot and the next ship beyond it, the Kimberley, in search for tho missing seaplane. Commander Read had reported just before reaching the McDermot Mc-Dermot that the oil pump on one of his motors was giving trouble and he might have to come down. Later the N, C.-4 reported to Commander Towers, in the N. C.-3, that the trouble had been repaired. re-paired. MACHINE PROBABLY FORCED TO DESCEND. The navy department at midnight had received no further information regarding regard-ing the missing N- C.-4, and officers were satisfied the sea piano had been forced to descend, probably as a result of further trouble with the oil pump, which began to work poorly soon after the machine left Eockaway. As the N. 'C.-4's radio apparatus had a sending (Continued on Page 3, Column v) DESTROYERS SCOUR SEAS FOP. FUME (Continued from Page One.) radius of only about twenty-five miles when the boat is on the surface of the water, officers believed Commander Read had been unable to pick up any passing vessel or any of the destroyers which lined the route. As the hours passed and no word came regarding tho missing plane, officers grew more anxious, anx-ious, but were not apprehensive as to the safety of the seaplane 's crew. TRIP TO HALIFAX MADE IN 9 HOURS. Commander Towers, with the X. C.-l and X. C.-u, made the trip to Halifax in a fraction less than nine hours, the distance on the map over the course they took being 525 miles. These two planes went through the test in such fashion as to convince officers here that prospects for reaching Plymouth, England, Eng-land, tho ultimate goal of the navy airmen, air-men, were exceedingly bright. Each of the three planes had a triple radio installation when it left Koeka-way. Koeka-way. One set was the telephone by which tHoy communicated with each other while in flight at a distance of a score or more miles. Stations and guardships "listened in" on many of these conversations and reported them. Tho second set was the regular long distance radio installation and the third was the equipment for the radio compasses. com-passes. As the planes approached one of the patrol vessels, long before it was sighted, sight-ed, the long distance radio was buzzing. Questions and answers flashed back and forth, dealing with directions for navigation. navi-gation. LONG DISTANCE RADIO IS KEPT A-BUZZING. Important communications were relayed re-layed to and from the speeding seaplanes, sea-planes, some from Washington. One carried greetings to Commander Towers and his crews from Acting Secretary Roosevelt, who watched tho trip with keen interest all day as the department's depart-ment's messages came in. Another relayed re-layed cabled assurances from London that every facility of the British admiralty ad-miralty would be at the disposal of tho American airmen when they reached British waters. ' The communication arrangements of the navy department worked out perfectly. per-fectly. Repeatedly messages from Commander Com-mander Towers sent from his speeding flagship of the air squadron, the N. C.-3, reached the desks of officers here in a few minutes of the time they were sent. Intercepted by any of the radio stations ashore or afloat on the chain reaching clear to Halifax, they were rushed lo Washington on tho navy's leased wire. LIEUTENANT CRAVEN DIRECTS OPERATIONS. The entire operation of the system was grouped under direction of Lieutenant Lieu-tenant Tunis A. M. Craven. Throughout the day Lieutenant Craven Cra-ven kept a communications log on the flight, made up from the messages that came. The log pictures graphically the swift rush northward of tho big flying boats with their crews. Even the fifty minutes that elapsed after the N. C.-l and N. C.-3 were safely moored for the night at Halifax and before the cruiser Baltimore, stationed sta-tioned there, sent in the official report of the arrival is shown. Had not that slip occurred, it could have been known officially in London that two of the three American seaboats had made the first laps of the transatlantic journey on schedule time almost before the machines themselves had been moored. More difficulty will be experienced in getting word through promptly when the long lap from Newfoundland to the Azores starts. When the fifth or sixth station ship has been left behind communication will have to speed ahead to be relayed back by cable. The destroyers de-stroyers cannot communicate more than 250 miles by radio in davtime and they will leave their posts after the last of the flyers has passed. Goes Under Sealed Orders. CAPE MAY, N. J., May 8. The navy dirigible C-5, commanded by Lieutenant Lieuten-ant Commander E. W. Coil, left the naval na-val air base here at 2:-5 o'clock today under sealed orders, bound for Mon-tauk, Mon-tauk, N. Y., by way of Rockaway. As the airship left .under sealed orders, naval na-val officers were unable to confirm or deny reports that the C-5 was expected to go to Halifax, and would leave Rock-away Rock-away tomorrow for Chatham, Mass. In addition to Commander Coil, the C-5 carries two officers, who arrived here today from Washington, and four men. NEW YORK, May 8. The dirigible C-5, which left the naval base at Cape May, N. ,T., this afternoon for Mon-tauk, Mon-tauk, N. Y., landed late in the afternoon after-noon at the naval air station at Rock-away Rock-away point, it was announced tonight. It was understood that the flight to Montauk would be completed tomorrow. Flight Again Deferred. ST. JOHNS, N. F., May 8. With snow, rain and fog blown in by a south-, east wind, hope of a start in their transatlantic trans-atlantic flight was once more deferred by the British aviators, Harry Hawker and Captain Frederick P. Raynham, here today. No uneasiness was shown by either of the Britishers when w7ord was received re-ceived of the start of the American naval na-val flyers on the first leg of their trip, and both tonight seemed to have settled down to await the full moon, scheduled to make her appearance with favorable flying weather on May 14. Expects Get-away Today. HALIFAX, May 8. Commander John H. Towers, who brought, the two giant seaplanes safely to port after a flight of 540 miles from Rockaway point in nine ! hours, announced that he expected to get ' away tomorrow morning on the second leg of the journey, which will take the aircraft to Trepassey, N. F., a distance 1 of 460 miles. Commander Towers based his expectation expecta-tion on a report of Professor Alexander McAdie, the meteorological expert at Harvard university. Professor McAdie said tonight that the present favorable atmospheric conditions werfi likely to continue for another twenty-four hours, at least. Meanwhile destroyers and other craft are searching for the missing XC'--t, commanded com-manded by Lieutenant Commander A. C. Uead, which fell behind the other craft because of engine trouble. "When midway mid-way between the destroyer McDermot, stationed at Capo Cod, and the Kimber-ley, Kimber-ley, which was number two in the chain of craft sta Honed along the coast to protect the airmen in their flight. Read reported that lie would be forced to descend de-scend becauso of a defective engine. No Word Received. The McDermot was seen to steam off at full speed to the assistance of the NC-4, but late tonight no weird had been received aboard the U. S. y. Baltimore, the mother ship, stationed here, to indicate in-dicate that she had been picked up. The airmen reporLed, however, lhat at the point at which the ?s"i'-l was compelled to come down the sea was reasonably calm and they expected no serious difficulty dif-ficulty would be encountered In rescuing the men or saving the plane. All the aviators agree that the. first leg of the transatianl ie journey called for the most severe test and ail are delight- ! ed with the way in which the two hydroplanes hydro-planes performed. Stood Up Very Well. They say the new meteorological equipment stood up especially well. Strong head winds were encountered, throwing the planes 30 degrees off their course, according to Lieutenant Commander Comman-der Reyberd. radio operator in the NC-3, the first to arrive In Halifax harbor, and the apparatus recorded those divergencies, enabling the airships to hold to their course with the greatest ease. The two planes flew at various altitudes alti-tudes during the trip, the NC-1 ascending ascend-ing at one point to 3500 feet, the highest altitude recorded during the journey. At times the two planes got out of sight of each other, but they adhered closely to the schedule fixed before the start and flew up the harbor within ten minutes of each other. |