The Washington herald., 1919-07-14
BY MAJ. q. IL. sIuIT.
Commander of the R-34.
Copyright, 1851

NSopoTknt, HlS.l
Pulham. England, July 13.-I
think L, am a pretty fair prophet
The night we left New York | said
we would take between seventy and
eighty hours in crossing. We ac-
tually did it in seventy-fve hours.
three minutes. as against los hours
on the outward journey.
This is exceedingly satisfactory to
me since the last leg of the return
was made under adverse weather
and despite one broken engine.
The first 500 miles of our home
ward journey were the fastest. We
reached a speed of seventy-two
knots, which is equivalent to
eighty-two miles. but didn't keep up
this speed permanently.
shall never forget the farewell
sight OF New York, when we circled
the Times tower shortly after mid
night. at a height of 1000 feet.
Look Down on Broadway.
Below US lay a fairyland Of lights
and we even detected thousands of
white dots representing upturned
faces between the lanes of lights.
1t was the weirdest night any of US
had ever seen. The engines of our
airship were too noisy for us to de-
tect any sound from Broadway. bu,
we beliebed the people down there
were giving US hearty farewell cheers
We had a strong wind behind us
when We passed $50 miles south OF
Newfoundland. but as we drew east
ward the wind veered around and go,
ahead of us. though there was nc
great velocity.
Thereafter VIC had light winds from
various directions the whole way
across. and a lot of low clouds anc
fog which prevented our getting sight
of any sort for twenty-four hours n
the middle part of the journey.
Most OF the trip across was done
above the lower cloud strata; the sea
was not visible, which made it hard
10 estimate drift or speed.
Just before Ireland was reached we
travelled six hours at 5000 feet All of
us were very cold. particularly after
the terrific heat that prevailed at New
York.
We struck Ireland at exactly the same
spot where Alcock and Brown landed
-Clifden. The breakdown of one OF
our engines in the after-car was not
as serious as it might appear. Though
this meant a loss of one-fifth of our
driving power VIXEN we were l.al
miles from East Fortune, it made
practically no difference because in a
dirigible only four engines are used
normally except when bucking head
winds. Occasionally. only three en-
gines are necessary.
Really. compared with the dangers
and the anxiety on our outward voy-
age. this return was pleasure taunt,
and we'll have to rack our brains to
provide the correspondents with sen
sation.' AS far as 1 can remember
the most sensational feature was
when we discovered the cook asleer
under the dining room table. No
don't make a mistake. 1t wasn't toe
much of that twelfth hour rum which
we took aboard on Hazlehurst Field
but he was sleeping for a perfectly
cXcusable cause-that is eNcusable ir
any airship. You'll have to get the
cooks own story on that point
Grateful for Rum.
But incidentally l wish to thank the
benefactor who slowed some rum
aboard just before our departure. The
members OF the R-Sfs crew have
voted to build him a monument.
| No. sir. We don't dare reveal the
name of this benefactor who riskec
the terrors of the law in dry Americs
to guard us from the Arctic cold
which We experienced when approach
ing Ireland.
/ We have a thousand gallons oi
petrol left in our tanks. which is g
happy contrast with the terrifyini
! shortage while approaching Ions
| Island. II We had only known what
a small consumption OF petrol wa.
! ahead OF us we wouldn't have lef
! any members OF the crew behind. w,
might even have brought back oul
stowaway.
| To sum UP the results of the rounC
| trip: 1t was not as difficult as W,
| had anticipated, though we haC
anxious moments during a thunder
storm over Nova Scotia and wher
the petrol was running low.
Fearful OF Storm.
was consumed with anxiety all tn
/ time the R-34 was at Hazlehurst, be
cause one of New York's famous thun
derstorms would have wrenched he
seaward in a jiffy.
| am convinced beyond doubt tha
the dirigible is the only type of trans
ocean voyager. and the R-S4 Is only ,
pioneer. Larger and faster craft will
! follow.
Safety and dependable schedule /,
crossing depend wholly upon petrol
carrying capacity and consistent spec,
OF seventy or eighty knots. We all be
lieve that the good old R-34 has blaze,
the trail for ships of quadruple he
size which will make transatlantic
air travel as common as sea trave
is today.
What are my immediate plans
| Sleep! Twice around the clock!
John D. to Help
Dill " M n