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THE NOME DAILY NUGGET
Volume 36. Number 194. NOME, ALASKA, SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 1935. Per Copy Ten Cents
Bodies Flown Fairbanks During Night
GOV. TROY AND D1MOND ISSUE STATEMENTS
Pacific Alaska Airways To Fly 2 Bodies To States
GOVERNOR TROY EXPRESSES
SORROW PEOPLE OF ALASKA
DEATH POST AND ROGERS
(Governor Troy Was Their Host In Juneau
(By The Associated Press)
JUNEAU, Aug 17, — Governor of Alaska, John W. Troy,
who was host to Will Rogers and Wiley Post upon their ar
rival here August 7th, issued a statement today expressing
personal grief, and that the Territory and “people of the
country were profoundly shocked and grieved at the untime
ly deaths of Post and Rogers.
“No man in the country was more universally loved
than Will Rogers, and the feeling of loss reaches into Alas
ka, and is particularly personal, as they were guests of the
•Territory of Alaska. The people had become warmly at
tached to Rogers, like all who knew him. I cannot refrain
from giving expression to the deep feeling of personal loss
through his tragic death.
“As a philosopher and humorist the man was among
the country’s greatest.
“Wiley Post had come to be regarded as a pal and an
Alaska—and all that that term means. Two great Ameri
cans are dead. We all mourn them.”
PAA ELECTRA
TO Y BODIES
BA< [ TO HOME
(By The Associated Press)
WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, — The
Department of State requested per
mission from the Dominion of Can
ada for an American plane to fly
over Canada, to return the bodies
of Post and Rogers from Alaska
to the United States.
The department acted for the Pan
American Airways, at the request
of Mrs. Rogers and Mrs. Post.
Pan American Airways is arrang
ing for the twin-motored Lockheed
Electra of the Pacific Alaska Air
ways, Alaska subsidiary of Pan Am
erican, the latest type of air trans
port plane in existence in the Un
tcd States, to bring the bodies to
their homeland from Fairbanks.
Pilot Joe Crosson of the PAA, a
close friend of both Post and Rog
ers will fly the plane, which is ex
pected to fly from Fairbanks via
Burwash landing, Whitehorse, Tele
graph Creek and Prince George.
Widows Request
Bodies Be Flown
Out By The PAA
(By The Associated Press)
NEW YORK, Aug. 17, —Lindy
officials of the Pan American Air
ways system were instructed by
Mrs. Rogers and Mrs. Post to fly the
bodies to Juneau.
Mrs. Rogers is going home to Cal
ifornia and is leaving Skowhegan to
day accompanied by her daughter
Mary, and Dorothy Stone, daughter
of Fred Stone, actor friend of Will’s.
ROGERS LIFE
IS MODEL FOR
ALL AMERICA
(By Tlir> Associated Press)
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 17, —Will
Rogers was an early riser—five A.
M. being the time he was up taking
care of his ponies and goats, which
was the first thing he did.
He was the earliest riser in the
movie industry, and the latchstring
was always out to his friends. The
key for the entrance to his ranch
was hidden in a notched hole on
one side of the gatepost and all his
friends knew where he kept it.
His ranch home was as unpreten
tious as his dress. He would read
all the morning papers before break- i
fast and have them scattered all ov
er the house. He always saw the
humorous side to everything.
Next to the love of his family,;
horses and flying shared his passion.
He flew everywhere possible.
Despite a large fortune, Rogers
was a frugal liver. His clothing
testified to that. He often remarked
that it cost him more for newspapers
in a year than for clothes.
Long ago a friend suggested the
possibility of danger in his air
flights. Chewing gum, Rogers
paused, smiled, and commented that
he bore a charmed life, and that he
expected to live to be at least a hun
dred years old.
Mirow Flies Nome
Pilot Mirow arrived Nome this af
ternoon with mail and express and
is to return to Fairbanks for anoth
er flight tomorrow weather permit
ting. |
Plane With Bodies
Arrived Fairbanks
7:30 This Morning
—
(By The Associated Press)
FAIRBANKS, Aug. 17, — Pilot
Joe Crosson and Bob Gleason landed
1 at the Fairbanks airport and taxied
i into the Pacific Alaska Airways
’hangar at 7:35 A. M. this morning
! or 9:35 A M PST, from Point Bar
row, in the plane which carried the
bodies of Wiley Post and Will Rog
I ers.
Congress Voted To
Buy Winnie Mae
For Smithsonian
(By The Associated Press)
WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, — The
Senate yesterday passed the house
bill authorizing the government to
purchase the Lockheed plane of Wil
ey Post, the Winnie Mae, for twenty
five thousand dollars, to have it
placed in the Smithsonian Institute
along side of Lindbergh's famous
airplane the Spirit of St. Louis.
MEMORIAL SERVICE AT
BARROW BODIES PUT
INTO CROSSON PLANE
(By The Associated Press')
POINT BARROW, Aug. 17, —Wrapped in snow white
linen, the bodies oi Will Rogers and Wiley Post were placed
in the Pacific Alaska Airways plane piloted by Aviator Joe
Crosson.
A dozen white settlers and a crowd of Eskimos gathered
on the desolate Arctic shore while the bodies were laid in
the ship.
At the scene of the crash other Eskimos salvaged for
their own use, scattered fragments of Post’s monoplane in
which Rogers and Post plunged, in a fog, to their death.
Dr. Griest said there would be little left of the plane—
the torn tundra being the only visible thing to mark the spot
where the famous men died.
CROSSON FLIES HIS DEAD COMPANIONS OUT
The companions in the life and death were flown across
the Endicott Mountains, while the Northland and the whole
world mourned their passing. Crosson and Robert Gleason
radio operator flew to Barrow yesterday through considerab
le fog. The broken remains of Post and Rogers lay behind
the Mission Hospital where Griest and Charles Brower, the
man whom Rogers was enroute to see, and known as the
grizzled “King of the Arctic”, prepared them for their jour
ney home.
The plane was so badly wrecked that it seemed doubt
ful whether the exact cause of the crash would ever be deter
mined. Salvaging by Eskimos almost eliminates any furth
er chance. The natives said the plane took off and raised
about fifty or sixty feet before the motor miss-fired. The
ship slipped off on one wing and crashed nose-first into the
tundra and then ground-looped.
ESKIMO RUNNER AND MORGAN TO THE RESCUE
An Eskimo, breathless from running over the tundra,
brought the first word here—“Red Plane blow up! Two men
dead”—the Eskimo said to Morgan of the U. S. Signal Corps.
Morgan engaged a motorboat and set out in the dark
ness for Walakpi settlement at Refuge Inlet, where the Es
kimo said the wreck occurred. An ice floe slowed up Mor
gan’s trip. By the time he arrived the Eskimos had already
pulled Rogers body from the wreckage. With the use of
ropes Morgan and a crew of Eskimos were forced to pull the
shattered plane apart before Wiley Post’s body could be
lifted from beneath the motor, in two feet of icy water.
The bodies and some personal effects were taken from
the plane and placed in a native skin boat and towed to
Barrow by Morgan who flashed the word which shocked
the world.
He closed his key at midnight last night, after having
operated it without relief or sleep since 4.15 A. M. yesterday,
assisted at several times by Mrs. Morgan whom he taught
to operate the radio equipment, in case that some time he
may be injured, or that an emergency might arise, as it did
in the case of the death of Rogers and Post.
DELEGATE DIMOND SPEAKS
ABOUT TRAGIC AFFAIR AND
ITS EFFECT ON TERRITORY
Dimoml Declares Memory Will Domain
(Bv The Associated Press)
WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, — To air-minded Alaska, the
death oi Will Rigers and Wiley Post, is a major tragedy, said
Delegate Anthony J. Dimond.
“An accident like that might happen to any flier on the
peaceful Potomac. The memory of it will remain in Alaska
for decades to come”.
“Familiar with the far-North Territory where Post and
Rogers met death, Dimond said. “It is a fine, safe country for
flying with nothing in the terrain or climate to cause i ndue
x eril -to a pontoon equipped plane.
“Time after time I have known fliers to make forced
landings in that district on pontoons.” Dimond said that
Post was a hero in Alaska on account of his round-the-world
flights over the Territory, coming through Nome from Sib
eria and thence to Fairbanks and back to the states. He is
also known for his pluckiness on account of his successful
forced landing at Flat on his last flight around the world.
Dimond said that that landing involved much greater danger
to any pilot than the conditions under which Post and Rog
ers cracked up.
SPECTACULAR
AIR PLIGHTS
BEGUN IN 1930
(By The Associated Press)
OKLAHOMA CITY, Aug. 17, —
Post saved money enough to learn I
to fly and in 1920, tired of flying
borrowed machines he went back
to the oil fields to get together a
stake for a ship of his own. His j
second day at work, he lost his left
eye when it was struck by a steel
splinter, chipped off of a link pin.
In 1930 he started on his way to i
fame by winning the nonstop air
derby from Los Angeles to Chicago.
Following Post’s prominent cross
country flight from the Pacific coast
to Chicago,he began many historical
flights. He flew with Harold Gatty i
around the world for a record in
1931, of 8 days 15 hours and 51 min
utes.
He was the first and only man to
Hy solo around the world in 1933 in
7 days, 18 hours and 46 and one-half
minutes.
Post then concentrated on the
practical side of aviation. He made
two sensational high altitude flights
over Bartlesville, Oklahoma, wear
ing a supercharged suit of his own
design. He then made four unsuc
cessful attempts at trans-continental
flights through the stratosphere,
each time being forced down. He
used the Winnie Mae in all of his
acievements—the plane was named
after the daughter of his backer F.C.
Hall.
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HOOVER AND F.
I). ROOSEVELT
DEEPLY HURT
(By The Associated Press)
UNDATED, Aug. 17, _ Herbert
Hoover at Chicago said: ‘The news
is a terrible shock to me. I have
known both of these tine Americans
for a long time and am appreciative
of their accomplishments. They are
typically American: they are great
souls. I feel a sense of deep person
al loss.’
President Roosevelt at Hyde Park
on a week-end vacation said: ‘They
were outstanding Americans and will
be greatly missed. I am shocked to
hear of the tragedy. Will Rogers
is an old friend of mine and was
beloved by all. I had the pleasure
of greeting Wiley Post only once
and that was at the end of his sec
ond world flight. He leaves behind
him a splendid contribution to the
science of aviation.’’
Four Post Family
Prostrated Grief
In Dallas, Texas
(By The Associated Press)
DALLAS, Texas, Aug. 17, —Four
members of Post’s family,—95 year
old grandmother, Mrs. C C Post
and brother S S Post who wanted
to go along with Wiley on this trip,
and a sister Mrs Irvin Junelle, were
grief-stricken at their homes here.
All relatives of both families have
been prostrated with grief.
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