The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1919-07-22


enact will be in the nature OF pioneer
rules for air traffic that may form
the basis for future aerial law MAX
ing.
The coroner's inquest is scheduled
to get under day today but may be
deferred until all witnesses whose
testimony is desired, are located.
Eighteen persons. most OF them en-
ployes Of the Goodyear Tire & Rub
Der company. of Akron, o., which
owned the Inflated bllmp, are being
held as witnesses.
Hideous Aftermath.
A squad of workmen early today
completed the task OF clearing away
the charred and shattered debris left
by the flaming blimp as 1t crashed
through the skylight OF the bank
The interior OF the bank, called by
architects a perfect specimen OF Gre
clan art, revealed today a hideous
aftermath of the tragedy. MA
There were traces Of where bodies
torn and mangled, had been taken
up, bit by bit and carried to morgnes
to await Identification. Outside the
bank a curious throng gathered as
the big financial institution prepared
TO open for business despite the fact
that its countingroom could scarcely
have been more completely wrecked
had a shell from giant gun crashed
down upon IL.
Eleven Killed.
OF the eleven killed in the disaster1l
FIVE were girls, employed as clerks
or stenographers in the bank. Four
other employees OF the bank lost their
lives, while Carl Weaver, mechanic,
and Earl Davenport, publicity man,
were two passengers aboard the
blimp who were killed. All OF the
victims except Weaver, who came
from Akron, o., were residents OF
Chicago.
Cause OF Tragedy. :.
The cause of the tragedy as YET
remains unsolved. Jack Boetner, the
pilot, who is held for the coroner's
investigation, is unable to advance
any logical explanation. One theory
is that dripping oil from the motors
may have ignited the gas bag; an
other is that sparks from the pro-
pelled may have leaped to the bags
as gas was being waived in" wniie
the theory that friction between the
silk balloonettes and the rubber gas
bag caused the tragedy, has been ad-
yanced.
REPORTS of negligence on the part or
the owners, makers and mechanics OF
the balloon, which only the most thor-
ough probe can justify, are current. IL
Is declared that the blimp was hastily
assembled by men unfamiliar with such
work and II is admitted that the diri-
Chile is the first to be equipped with
rotary style motors, which II is believed,
may not have been properly tested OF
installed. Correspondence revealing m
structions given the men who assem-
bled the blimp by officials of the Good
wear Tire and Rubber company has
been seized and will be used in the
various Investigations.
IT is charged also that the aeronauti-
cal expert under whose direction the
fight was made, knew nothing ABOUT
the dirigibe's motors. This expert W.
G. Young, in charge of the aeronautic
department of the Goodyear company
is among the witnesses held.
The dirigible. it has been disclosed
was built chiefly for publicity purposes,
and at the time the disaster occurred
ii was engaged in a fight from the
White City, an amusement resort, over
the business section of the city.
At the time ii began its downward
fight the blimp was between 1,2OO and
1000 feet from the earth, and accord
ing TO Pilot Boettner, was making be
tween forty and forty-five miles an
hour, II carried five men, three OF
them members of the crew. The other
two were Milton G. Norton, photog-
rapher for the International Film Serv-
ice, and Earl Davenport, publicity
representative of the White CITY,
Bllmp Catches Fire.
Spectators watching the flight from
the downtown streets first saw wisps
of smoke coming from the big gas bag.
Then the balloon burst into flames ana
as It burned the engines and carriages
left the gas bag and plunged dow1ward,
landing squarely on the skylight|of the
bank.
The heavy body of the bimp crashed
through the steel framework OF the sky
light and dashed down into the count
ing room of the bank where 100 clerks
were at work. As it struck the. floor
the gas tanks of the engine exploded,
throwing sheet of flaming gasoline
over the men and women at work.
Indescribable horror prevailed in the
counting room as frantic men ana
women fled to escape the furnace-like
heat and the seething flames that ema-
mated from the wreck.
Terror Stricken"
"My God. it's raining hell" shouted
one terror-stricken employee as he stag
gered away.
Women clerks ran from the building
with their clothing in flames and blood
streaming from cuts, caused by flying
wreckage. The bodies of men and
women we're crushed and mutilated be-
yond recognition, or We're burned black
by fire The shrieks of agony were
appalling and in the midst of indie
scribable pandemonium lay the snarllng
splitting agent of destruction now
an ugly. inert mass of wreckage.
AS the carriage of the dirigible
started its downward fight the five
men who were aboard it leaped with
| their parachutes. In mid-air. however
! the flames leaped to the parachutes o.
| Dayennort and Weaver and they fei
| unprotected. meeting instant death as
they struck the earth. The parachutet
| OF Norton. the photographer, Pilot
Boettner and of Harry Wacker, me-
| chanic, of Cleveland, O., saved then
\. "A