Salt Lake Telegram | 1937-10-19 | Page 11 | Hardships of Rescuers Compared in 2 Crashes

Hardships of Rescuers Compared in 2 Crashes MUar-s Mtoi sua Mrttatri, Nm tisiriii sat Mm taa r iu.i w " MHtn, aemma ii nimi in mnnimi n i narala KM t ttU4 ale IJM Maktfaee wkwk MM - Ins alM aaS SkS Bseme MntM Mrtt wiiSH iMt UinaiSw. Two lucent airline disasters, both in ths vicinity ot Salt Lk City in inacceaaibls mountain territory, hava tumlthad official! with technical problemi which at first sight appeared insurmountable. Last December a Westsrn Air. Express plana disappeared an route here. It waa found June southeast south-east of Salt Lake City. In a region of indescribable ruggedness. Sunday night a United Air Linos Malnllnsr disappeared en route here and waa found Monday In territory scjuslly Inacceasibls. But tough as removing bodies and wreckage appeared, two entirely different problems faced airlines officials. The Western Air Express plane rrmshsd on ths very top of a granite gran-ite ridge and plunged lono feet into Hogum canyon, "Little Hell of the Wasatch." But It was days before the fuselage waa uncovered In a snowslids and nearly twa months slapssd bsfore the last body waa revealed by melting snow. Precipitous granite crags, eltft 1000 fset high, slopsa with pitches of TO degrees, nightmare Jumbles of broken rock, bllsaarda, fog and other handicaps hampered the searchers. The United, Air Lines plane was found In a spot much farther from civilisation. Access to it waa over a frightful road, but heavily timbered, tim-bered, though steeply sloping, ridgss mads going somewhat easier. Eaalsr, that is, from the climbing standpoint No toe and foothold work waa necessary. No ropes were required to let searchers over cliffs. The snow was much shallower, one to two feet, wbers drifts wers from 10 to W feet deep In Hogum canyon. Ankle Deep ha Mod But the road up Humpy creek ankle deep In mud, littered with rocks, twisting and turning. And the subsequent climb to the plane a laborious process of constant traH breaking through crusted anow, up, up, up one three-mile, heart-breaking climb. Horses and men war working their way up Humpy creek Tuesday and It waa thought a wagon and animals could be brought to within lees than a mile of the plana. Searchers had to spend hours " packing ths victims on stretchers out of Hogum, over cliffs and rocks, down back-breaking slopes. In the opinion of a Tslsgram reporter re-porter who covered both aearchea, Hogum canyon wins the toughest aaslgnmsnt accolade.