■M 
By WENDEL BURCH 
(United Press Staff Correspondent) 
The United States probably will 
abandon “colonization” of tiny 
.Baker island within the current 
year, and may alter activities on 
Howland and Jarvis islands, the 
United Press learned today. 
Since 1935 “colonists,” consist¬ 
ing of three Hawaiian boys and 
one Chinese radio operator on 
each island, have made daily 
weather observations and collect¬ 
ed general meteorological data. 
Three runways and a landing 
area were completed on Howland 
island between J anuary and 
March this year. 
SPENT $35,000 
Purpose of this activity appar¬ 
ently has been to give the United 
States a weather outpost and one 
landing spot in the race for 
j South Pacific aerial development 
The Department of Interior 
spent an estimated $35,000 last 
year, and approximately $30,000 
to date this year, while the De¬ 
partment of Commerce spent a 
reputedly larger sum to carry 
forward the project. Theie have 
been 10 Coast Guard “expedi¬ 
tions” to the islands. Howland 
and Baker are approximately 
1,900 miles to the southwest of 
Honolulu, while Jarvis lies about ; 
1,000 miles due east of Howland. 
Cost of the Coast Guard trips 
has not been charged directly to 
the colonization, since Coast 
Guard vessels normally are occu¬ 
pied in long voyages at all times 
of the year. 
Abandonment of the Baker isl¬ 
and development reportedly will 
be based on proximity of the 
spot to Howland, which is but 38 
nautical miles distant. Weather 
(Continued on Page 2, Col. 1) 
yrs av c 
j-J ivi j- 
* a, V**J» 
X V* .M Ml p 
** c: 
A* ~ 
E. 
i n t q 
X *•' m i? 
i 
! ‘e *r’ 
A 
4. ’ v 
W hi', 
'Mzr 
i r ^ny flights over the route in the 
’gathered at Baker varies only immediate future, 
slightly from that observed atj 3. Repoited abandonment of all 
Rowland, hence no vital need for | plan's for a land-plane service bej 
the two operations exists. j tween Hawaii and the Antipodes; 
LANDING DANGEROUS * making practicality of Howland’s 
Additionally, landings at Ba- 
field. nil. Neither Howland, Baker* 
d ar 
w .10. ; 
- 1 ; « 
Jfrer are uniformly dangerous, ac- [nor Jarvis have lagoons or af- 
cording to those who have vis- | ford an y suitable landing area for 
seaplanes. 
"i r 
* ' n r.i n ,4. 
1 Oi MSi X ,V»; 
y‘u ex lO&Uxx 
cl f. xi, y 
js 3 } 
ac 
■j- ■ 
i ;■ ** 
Q 
V V Z 
r-> 
■r 
S*QQ(J 
JC if C 
, V , .. 
be depe; 
fUJCl * 
,*•*. vt 
■V v '* ii *•’ V* 
ited the islands. However calm 
dhe sea may be, a roaring surf 
hammers inside a dangerous coral 
reef on Baker’s steeply sloping 
,sand beaches. 
7 The outlook for changes in the 
, 'Howland and Jarvis Island proj- 
‘ idfcts, according to Honolulu sourc¬ 
es, involves the following points: 
07 1. Amelia Earhart Putnam’s 
, failure to reach Howland July 2, 
on her 2,600-mile flight from New 
., guinea. Runways on the island 
were hurriedly completed for her 
use. When she failed to spot the 
tiny equatorial dot, scarcely a 
mile and a half long by half a 
mile wide practicability of the is¬ 
land as a regular landing field in- 
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS 
; 
There are additional and pow¬ 
erful considerations involved, ob-i 
servers also contended. Pan Amer¬ 
ican Airways’ first flight route to 
Auckland lay between Honolulu,; 
Kingman Reef, Pago Pago, Suva; 
and Auckland. Landing conditions 
at Pago Pago may be unsatisfac-i 
fory for regular service purposes,; 
it was reported. 
Aviation experts predict that ! 
the Hawaii-Antipodes route will; 
be shifted to the east, with land¬ 
ing lagoons in the Palmyra group* 
of 54 islands, 960 miles south of 
Honolulu,' and Christmas Island,; 
south of Palmyra, utilized. The^ 
route from that noint remains un- 
y • 
.evitably was thrown into some | certain, due to the relatively few 
O i-OCA,., 
go- prcn 
y 
'Ultt 
w ■„.. . 
DO 
■yt • V- 
. n. W l ..Ml " W * UU m ,i u 
.IUMIIIIJIIP 9! Jtyji 
doubt. Despite rumors to the con- 
; ;trary, no plane ever has landed at 
Howland, despite proximity of air¬ 
craft carrier planes during the 
r Earhart search, and reportedly 
i during U. S. fleet maneuvers. 
'■ m 2. Status quo of current Ha¬ 
waii-New Zealand and Australia 
: aerial development. Pan Ameri¬ 
can Airways made an exploratory 
.flight to Auckland last March, but 
**io further flights have been an- 
;flounced and none are believed 
imminent. 
British Imperial Airways, .en¬ 
gaged with Pan American in de- 
n velopment of trans-Atlantic -serv- 
veiupmexii oi Lrans-^.nam.ic serv- ceiianny wuum wicuv aaj- 
j ice, is not expected to'engage in .'that struck them. Howland is af 
safe landing spots available and 
the tremendous over-water hops 
involved. i 
Howland Island, in the opinion 
of many pilots, has many hazards' 
which make it a dubious air ter¬ 
minal. Prevailing easterly winds 
make take-off and landing use of 
the short 3,000 foot east-west run¬ 
way mandatory much of the time. 
BIRDS A PROBLEM 
Additionally, thousands of birds 
offer a much more obvious prob¬ 
lem. Frigate birds with seven and 
eight-foot wing spreads, and sea 
birds as big as turkeys almost 
certainly would wreck any plane 
I 
w 
V" 
y 
; 
t; 
m 
; 
Ik 
