Japan Has A Look At Howland!

Sidelights on the Search For Amelia Earhart

From Our Own Correspondent

Honolulu, July 14.

JAPAN pulled an interesting bit of Yankee bluff during the search for the missing American aviators, Mrs. Ear hart Putnam and Mr. Fred. Noonan, in the vicinity of the Phoenix and Gilbert Islands.

For long Japan has been intrigued by the American activities on Jarvis, Baker and Howland, the newly colonised equa torial islands, and by British activities south-east of Japan’s mandated islands.

Instantly the American aviators were missing, the Japanese Government through Washington offered every faci lity for the search. Japan wasted no time. The U.S. navy soon reported that a Japanese aircraft carrier, convoyed by a navy survey ship, and several warships, was steaming towards Howland, which the U.S. army and navy have converted into a modern airport, suitable for the longest ranged military aircraft.

Politely Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Saito in Washington informed U.S. Sec retary for State Cordell Hull that the Japanese war vessels simply wanted to be of service!

So, by using Japanese Marshall Islands as operating bases, the Japanese have inspected the Gilbert, Ellice and Phoenix Groups, and gone further eastward to

Howland and Baker, and, it is possible, northward towards the Hawaiian Islands to Johnston (midway between Hawaii and Howland) where America is creating a new and permanent patrol airboat operating base.

The Japanese have tackled the search with the same enthusiasm as the Ameri can navy and coastguard ships have in spected the three groups which are British owned. The American press has not mentioned that, of course. And, off the record in private to reporters, U.S. navy officials boast that the long range p’anes from the aircraft carrier Lexing ton will take more than a peep at the Marshall Islands (Japanese Mandate)!

TT is most likely that the U.S. Govern ment will not permit any more long distance flights to be undertaken by American aviators. The Government stopped the proposed New York—Paris air race, in celebration of the 10th anni versary of Lindbergh’s solo flight, from starting from American soil, and Mrs.

Putnam’s ill-fated flight was okayed only because she was a close friend of the President’s wife. The newspapers did not hesitate to ask of what use was the flight, what did it contribute to the science of aviation that already was not known?

Before the Putnam-Noonan party had left Lae, New Guinea, to fly to Howland Island, the U.S. Government had taken all the precautions against disaster that it could by placing navy and coastguard ships in the vicinity and giving the avia tors the benefit of specially compiled weather reports. The globe-girdling plane, however, apparently was poorly equipped with radio. As a matter of fact, the American experts who prepared the plane and the Government officials who okayed it, could not state definitely how it was equipped with radio. So much could have been removed since it left Florida.

VTOT once during the flight from Lae * until the plane was forced down out of gasoline, did the party give their posi tion. Not once. They said at one time that they were 700 odd miles from Lae, but that vague message wasn’t very use ful. The last message said they thought they were 100 miles from Howland, out of sight of land, that a landing was to

be made on water. This was given over the radio-telephone.

Every American station forthwith lis tened for further messages or signals, but the first reported as apparently coming from the lost ’plane was one picked up by H.M.S. Achilles , flagship of the N.Z.

Division of the Royal Navy, which was near the equator- en route to Hawaii.

Other stations reported receiving the same or a similar message.

The following week proved a tremen dous strain for everybody involved ill the search and this included dozens of ama teur radio operators, who remained at their seats almost without sleep. The strain was climaxed when Mr. George Palmer Putnam, husband of the missing aviatrix, requested the U.S. navy to fly

him from Hawaii down to Howland Is. so that there he might set up a broadcast series and play up the search commer cially on American national networks.

In very plain language, Rear Admiral Grin G. Murfin, in charge of the search, turned down the extraordinary request.

Ritter criticism of the navy’s hunt for the aviators with costly battleships and aircraft carriers rang out in the U.S. Con gress. Representative Charles I. Faddis, of Pennsylvania, said what was in mil lions of people’s minds: “Do you suppose the navy would spend 250',000 dollars a day to hunt for some poor fisherman, perhaps the father of a family, if he were lost in the Pacific?”

Added Representative Byron N, Scott, of California: “It is time someone in

authority announced that henceforth the navy would not be used to search for ‘publicity stunt’ aviators.”

Wild excitement was caused among the few white men and hundreds of native guano workers in the Phoenix Group when seaplanes from the U.S.S.

Colorado combed the islands for possible traces of the missing plane.* Millions of sea birds caused the planes to hesitate from flying too low. However, one of the seaplanes made a' landing, the first plane ever to do so, on the lagoon of Hull Island.

The plane was greeted by the white manager who said that the missing plane had not been heard on the island’s radio set.