Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-07-11
Story OF Inventors Death il
Sight of Wife and
Children

ATLANTIC CITY, (N. u July -
/ Sailing out over the Atlantic ocalu
under perfect control with thousands
watching, the great dirigible balloon
Akron, In Command of Melvin Vaai
man, with a crew of four men. OK.
ploded while 1000 feet in the air earsg
today and shot down into the water
tangled mass, carrying to death the
daring aviator and his companions.
| In all the tragic history of disaS: er
to airships and aeroplanes, probably
| none has been as sensational as that
which brought to an end the greatest
and most costly air craft ever con
structed on the western hemisphere.
Built to Withstand the storms of the
Atlantic, and to carry at least a dozen
men across the ocean to Europe, tire
Akron went to her doom in calm
weather.
Two Brothers Perish.
Those who went down with the
big dirigible besides The intrepid
Vaniman, who previously had one
thrilling experience in an airship on
the ocean, were:
Calvin Vaniman, his younger brctn-
er.
Fred Elmer.
George Bourillion of Philadelphia.
Walter G. Gest, friend of VaDi-
mans financial hacker.
Up to shutdown two bodies. those of
Calvin Vaniman and Bouriilion, had
r.
which lies submerged in about eight
teen feet of water off Brigantine
Beach.
The Akron, which had been inflated
last February with gas manufactured
by Vaniman in the big hangar, was
taken out shortly after a. m. for a
test flight. One flight already had been
made about month ago and defects
discovered at that time were rem
edied. Todag's trial was to have been
among the last prior to the attempt
to cross the Atlantic. Mrs Vaniman
bid her husband good-by at their little
cottage near the hangar at a. m.
and waited for daybreak to see her
husband sail away.
The city authorities had been no.i-
fed of the intended flight and a hun
dred policemen, ffremen and other
willing helpers assisted in floating tie
great gas bag out of the hangar A
large crowd had gathered The laucn-
ing of the air craft was accomplished
without difficulty, and she salad
Absecon inlet Vaniman maneuvere1
and then after few other movements
he shaped the ships course out TO
sea. taT .E
When, halfJ mile off Brigant'ne
beach the thousands of spectators who
had been watching the ship saw a
burst of flame. For perhaps ten sec
onds the half million dollar dirigible
was invisible, while the air about the
spot where she had been lowering
seemed to be all fire. Then the ship,
outlined sharply against the sunrise,
was seen to fall like plummet. First,
the car in which were penned the uT-
fortunate men broke away from the
envelope and appended. the bow turn
ing first in a slow arc Then IL re-
versed suddenly and plunged down
ward Directly above, twisting i'll 4
long spiral, was the bag, smoking
mass of rubber and silk with flames
shooting out from dozen sections rs
it collapsed 1t f1uttered moment
and then dropped after the car.
Body Seen PIunging Down.
In the descent something which ap-
peared to be the body of a man shot
out to the left of the wreckage aud
hit the water before the rest of the
descending mass 1t was reported
that this was the body of Calvin Vani-
man.
Fishermen and yachtsmen who were
out in the little boats watching the
ship Immediately started to the res
cue Powerboats and every othnr
kind of craft in the resort We're
brought into use, and soon a hundred
boats were beating their way out
over the rough waters of the inlet bar.
When the first boats reached the
wreck the rescuers found only the coz
lapsed gas bag. After search a sub
merged body was recovered. 1t proved
to be that of the younger Vaniman.
Among the first on the scene were tae
Federal life-savers stationed in Allan
tic City. Divers went down to the
wreck. but there was little that could
be done until low tide, when Ge+t's
body was disentangled from The
wreckage and brought ashore.
Four Wives See Disaster.
Mrs. Vaniman saw the collapse of
the balloon, and its drop into the
ocean, carrying with it her husband
and brother~in-Iaw. She fell in
faint, and was unconscious for some
time. Friends who were with her
sent for physicians, and when she re-
covered consciousness she talked of
her husbands bravery. The wives of
Bourillion, Gest and Elmer, who lived
near. by, also saw the disaster from
their homes. Neighbors tenderly car
ed for them, and later they went over
10 the Vaniman cottage, where a most
scene followed. Men turn
r.. i