Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-30
j, 5, MAIL A|RSH|P
LOOTED BY VANDALS
NEAR AOCKESS|k
Stripped of All Sorts of Valuable
Equipment That Could be
Carried Off
GOVERNMENT ON TRAIL

When airship mechanics in the employ
of the government, at noon yesterday
went TO the farm of J. Howard Mitchell
tiIst north of Hockessln. for the purpose
of recovering a wrecked mali alfshlpt
there, they made the discovery that the
machine had geen looted OF all the valuable
eotlinment which could be readily carried
off
The most valuable articles stolen in
cludcd number of intricate necessary
devices, attached To n board IN the opera
tors section of the car, which he uses IN
navigating the air. Some OF the stolen
articles could be detached without damage
to the rest of the machine, but IN this
instance time was not taken to try and DO
this. but instead the whole board, with
it's valuable contents, was ripped on ana
carried away. Not content with stcalinE
several hundred dollars worth OF coup
ment, the vandals had gone all over the
car and mallciouslv slashed the wings,
the III or and side coverings mere
annears to have been no excuse for dong
this. particularly rs 10 the ru or Tor
there was. nothing inside of i worth TAX
ING That the rudder sustained no damage
when the car was wrecked was evident
touch the ground.
While the identity Of the thieves Is
not definitely known. the government
10 which the vandalism has been reported,
i understood to have a very dchnitc clue.
On FRIDAY night, about dusk, Smail
Ford car drove up on the road alongside
oi tic field III which the airshlp vas
located, and two men got out they were
seen going 10 the wrecked alrshlp, ap-
parcntlv haNing planned their VISIT,
when no one else WAS there, for though
there had been a crowd ot spectators
about Il all dav. all had left before these
two men appeared
TIN. theft would seem TO have been
the work of amateurs, IN vlew OF the
TACT that most oi the articles taken are
of no use except on an airshlp, and any
attempt to dispose Of them would tie
likely to arouse suspicion.
The mechanics found the engine, q
twin siN Liberty motor, III perfect con-
dition. One tladc q the propcllor was
broken. but otherwise It i ~ good shape,
and il it had not been tor the ralding q
the machine i,y vandals II could have bccn
repnircd at comparatively small cost.
The machine was taken apart hy these
ne, III. MES and shipped - Wilmington ID
Two of tyson Brothers, trucks, and from
here was sent L, one OF The government
airplanc factories, where Il vail l'c rebuilt
Judging from its appearance, the arr
shin, II a arsfgad new one. thus apparently,
having been its first trip 1t i numbered
80 .361 and shows no evidence q uscage.
AVIATOR LOST IS a Foc-
The airship was wrecked on MIR
Nt-hellS farm shortly after noon last
TUESDAY. IN A verN thick fog The aviator,
after landing. told Mr. Mitchell that he
was on his way from Washington. and
had lost his WAY III i log. lie had no
idea where be was, tut thought he WAS
near Baltimore he ..rsi decided 70 land
here when suddenly there doomed up
ont Of the fog the roof Of house. his
proved to bc Mr. AIitchell's house After
circlng the building to get some idea OF
the topography there, 10 ascertain
whether there Was q suitable landing. ne
inadvert eutly ran through tho tops OF
some trees. further back on the farm, and
made another turn. and, seeing ahead OF
him what appeared to be 4 level field,
started 70 make landing
II happened. however, that this field,
which i planted in wheat was on an
incline and because of that fact. the
airship pokcd it's nose INTO the hillside,
which accounts for its being wrecked.
Al the same time, the landing wheels
were knocked of and the plane on the
LEFT side vas broken The aviator sus-
tanned no personal injury except some
scratches on his face. when he WAS Jolted
against the side Of the car He was strap
ped in. and would not have fallen out
ii the machine had turned over I'M
mcdiatelv after alighting, he went TO
Mr. AItchells house and reported the
matter 10 Washington Ii happened that
be was running light and carried no mail
Ever since the wrecked airship has been
on Mr.. Alitchell's farm, IT has been the
object of q great deal Of curiosity, hun
drcds OF persons from the surrounding
country. as we'll as from HockcSsin and
Wilmington. going there TO sec il One
result Of his and also Of the actual damage
done by the machine. is that Mr. Mitchell
will lose several bushels of wheat, but it
is likely that the government will make
good his loss. in this behalf
He was Very kind 10 the aviator, and !.
a. far as possible. kept watch over the
machine. which Was not far from the
farmhouse. until it could be taken away,