Salt Lake Telegram | 1937-07-16 | Page 3 | Heat Hampers Amelia Search

HEAT HAMPERS AMELIASEARGH irmen.alteVnatel'y Jldgueof by scorching heat and blinding rain squalls, today moved toward the close of their hopeless South seas hunt for Amelia Earhart and Frederick Fred-erick J. Noonan. Four massed flights over the vast equatorial area where the pair vanished van-ished July 2 have netted not a clue to fliers from the aircraft carrier Lexington, which is running short ef supplies. , Somewhere In the shark-infested waters surrounding lonely Howland Island the aviatrix and her navigator naviga-tor disappeared while attempting a 2570-mile flight to the mile and a half long island from Lae, New Guinea. Currents Are Factor Tf the missing monoplane is afloat, officers of the Lexington calculated It should be adrift in the area charted chart-ed for searches today and tomorrow. Currents and winds, they said, would probably carry it into the area West of Howland island. Today's flight orders for 42 planes started them combing 28.800 square miles from a point 220 miles north of the equator and 180 miles west of Hie international dateline. This is the furthest west any United States airplane carrier has ver been. Mor than 200,000 square miles In every direction from Howland, which peeps but two feet above the sea, have been combed by ships and planes. Squalls Are Blinding Terrific heat along the equator and blinding rain squalls, coming up suddenly, seriously hampered the hunt yesterday. Impenetrable squalls delayed an afternoon flight by 42 of the carrier's planes, which soared through blistering heat In tiie morning. Naval authorities here, who previously previ-ously Indicated the hunt would be called off Saturday, said the Lexington Lex-ington probably could not continue In operation much beyond that date because of dwindling fuel supplies. The giant warship, which arrived at the search area Tuesday after a IMO-mile run from Hawaii, has reduced re-duced the number of searching planes from 63 to 42 to conserve fuel and permit more rest among its heat-sickened fliers. Big Ares Covered The Lexington's planes have covered cov-ered more than 60,000 square miles, adding to the area scanned previously previ-ously by the coast guard cutter Itasca and aircraft catapulted from the battleship Colorado, which had to head for Hawaii several days ago because of diminishing fuel. The Itascs, now searching the Gilbert Islands area, 600 miles west ef Howland, and the mine sweeper Swan, third vessel engaged in the search, were expected to meet by Saturday and determine the future of the search, if any. Naval authorities here, together with officers aboard the searching craft, have expressed belief the lost fliers perished.