The sun., 1919-05-16
ESCAPED DIRIGIBLE
Is FOUND AT SEA
Continued from First Page.


ruly dirigible ride out the gale at the
end of longer lines, but before this
could be done the rigging on the front
of the nacelle gave way. Lieut.. Charles
G. Little, in charge Of the landing
party from the Chicago, decided to de-
fate the envelope, and accordingly or
dered the mechanics in the car to get
out. He climbed in himself and made
his way toward the rip cord. Then
came wild gust Of wind, shrieking
with what seemed to the aching sailors
as unholy glee. Every guy rope
snapped. Lieut.. Little gave a tug at
the rip cord and then another more
vigorously The cord snapped in his
hand as the gust struck the alrship.
He leaped from the car as the dirtgible
shot upward. Spectators gagged the
height from which he sprang as thirty
feet. He sprained one ankle badly and
was severely shaken up. The log Of
the airship was saved by Chief Ma
chinist's Mate CHAMPION as he Jumped
out Of the car Just before Little.
Lightened by the Jumps OF the two
men the dirigible leaped upward into
the full strength Of the breeze and went
drifting seward. As soon as the news
OF the mishap reached the Chicago her
wireless snapped out a command to the
destroyer Edwards, which had come to
port at p. NJ. After stopping mo-
ment to take aboard ten aeronautical
experts to advise him, the commander
of the destroyer sent his little craft
streaking after the dirigible, which was
headed northeast. She was on ner way
Aftaan raipptaa ftar fha accident
Commander. Tells of Flight.
Lieut. Commander Coil and his asso-
GATES. Lieut.. Lawrence, Lieut.. q. g. e.
o. Campbell, coxswain: Ensign Nh
Easterly, radio operator, and Chief Ma
chinist's Mates @. H. Blackburn and t.
L. Mooreman, engineers, fully expected
that they would start upon the trans
atlantic flight as soon X not sooner than
their brother officers and friendly rivals
Of the heavier than air section or the
nayy-the NC voyagers. All that re-
NAMED to be done was the refilling OF
the hydrogen bag, a routine Inspection
of the engines and the loading aboard OF
coffee and sandwiches-the staple rations
p, both bands Of naval aerial voyagers.
Besieged by newspaper men. Com
mander Coil narrated the flight Of the
dirigible much as another man would
tell of his adventure on railroad train.
AT s o'clock yesterday morning we
left Montauk Point. shaping our course
through Long Island Sound to Chatham
Cape Cod" he said. Then we put out
o sea, going outside Massachusetts Bay
and heading for Cape Sable on the Nova
Scotian coast We had favorable winds
and the moderate breeze which had been
on our tail since the start gradually In
"Our first landfall on this leg of the
Journey after leaving the point of Cape
Cod-that is, our first sight of land
was Cape ST Mary on the west coast
of Nova Scotia. Making certain OF our
location we headed for Little Hope
Island, which we made accurately on
the course set From there we skirted
the coast line to Cape Breton.
Ran Into . Gale.
THE moonlight was good at this
stage of the journey and we could see
land for many miles. At 10: 80 p. NJ.
OF ST Pierre and M!auelon. south of
Newfoundland. We set a course for
these islands from the Cape Breton
coast. Shortly afterward the clouds OBJ
scured the moon and the weather was
not looking good. We had no station
airy object from which to verify our
course and the winds were shifty. maxi
ing accurate steering exceedingly Diff
cult
Our rate of speed at this time was
estimated by US at forty-five miles an
hour. For the greater part Of the
night the ship swayed and tossed In the
gale, but notwithstanding these I'M
avoidable conditions we made good
progress We passed the island OF St
Pierre at $40 A NJ. The next land
sighted was the west end Of Placentia
Bay, some miles west Of the point We
! contemplated reaching when our course
was set from Cape Breton coast and
| later from st, Pierre.
THE exact location of the ship WAS
| unknown to us, but knowing that we
were off the southeastern coast OF New
foundland the SLIP continued eastward.
| Crossing the deep inlet (Placentia Bay,
the shore on the east side directly ahead
| OF US was seen and we realized that we
we're crossing Placentia Bay. Soon after
| this we made Cape Pine, recognizing the
headland. We then shaped our course
| easterly for St. Johns, but being some
| what uncertain as to its actual situa-
| ton we swerved inland and after some
| little time OF uncertainty we spotted the
|
from the city. We proceeded at better
| speed toward our destination. Thirty
| miles west OF St Johns we made a
| descent over the village OF Brigus juno
| ton and communicated with the resi-
dents there. They informed us that 81.
| Johns lay eastward and in the direc-
ton in which the ship was heading.
From that time onward to our des-
tination no difficulty was experienced
and no misgivings were entertained. We
finished the voyage at good speed, hav-
| ing the shores OF Conception Bay In
sight for thirty minutes, and turning
| inland at Topsail. a point twelve miles
west OF st. Johns, we sighted the Mount
| Pearl wireless station. Then the city
of st. Johns began to loom in sight
| We were in wireless communication
with the Chicago for an hour before
picking UP the city, but no assistance
as to direction was obtainable. There
| fore on reaching the outskirts of the
city we returned southeasterly and
| crossed the high mountain range south
| OF the port, reaching the sea one mile
| south of st. Johns Narrowa
Rising about 500 feet above Signal
Hill we located the field which we con-
cluded was our destination. The voy.
age was without unusual incident, and
no unpleasant experiences were record
! ed. All were quite satisfied and en-
, joyed the experience immensely The
men were feeling somewhat hungry, as
| their rations had been used up early
In the morning"
| Although Commander Coil reported
the voyage was without unusual Incl
| dent and no UNPLEASANT experiences