To Wake & Back

To eight men on an atoll in mid-Pacific, the approaching drone of four Hornet motors fortnight ago was the climax of three months' arduous efforts. While hundreds of frigate birds and terns screamed in dismay, they hopped up & down on the beach, waving gleefully.

To eight men 9,000 ft. above in the gleaming Pan American Clipper, the exuberant specks on the beach were less interesting than the little lump of land they hopped on. It was Wake Island, an insignificant pinprick on the map since 1796 and an uninhabited U. S. possession since 1899. Now Wake Island had become vastly important as the third stepping-stone in Pan American Airways' long strides across the Pacific from San Francisco to Canton. Some 5,000 miles west of San Francisco, Wake consists of three low coral atolls, the largest but four miles long, surrounded by a dangerous reef. There is no drinking water, but, unlike barren Midway Island, the verdure of umbrella and hardwood trees is jungle-thick. Everywhere are coral boulders, hermit crabs, squawking birds. Nowhere is there a harbor for ships.

To this lonely spot the S. S. North Haven three months ago took 2,000 tons of equipment, set a trained squad to work dynamiting a passage through the reef, building houses, preparing for the comfort of future passengers to the Orient. Then the North Haven sailed off, leaving behind on Wake Island eight inhabitants. To salute these eight men and their work, which it was the first to use, the Clipper circled twice, then slid into the lagoon 8 hr. 8 min. after leaving Midway, 1,191 miles away.

Ashore, Captain Sullivan and his crew spent three days examining the new "village," with its radio station, weather bureau, power plant, refrigeration plant, electric stills for drinking water, airport office, service shops, kitchen, dining hall, four buildings for living quarters. Then last week they flew back across the International Date line to Midway, on to Hawaii, finally to San Francisco, having traveled 10,064 miles in three weeks in the third exploratory testing of the new airline.

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