The sun., 1919-07-08

this rise The crews of balloonists and
| mechanics, who had stood late watches
Sunday night, were routed from their
barracks and hurried TO the scene, while
| officers from the various parts of the
| field came shouting orders. The dirigible
was allowed to ride thus high and easily.
| with four hundred men bending and
swaying on the ropes and lines as she
swayed, until Major Scott, awakened
from sleep at the last possible moment,
arrived on the field about 10 :16 o'clock.
Under his direction the forward end
was hauled carefully TO the ground, ten
men were sent scurrying up into the In
( terror and hurried att. Their weight ait
promptly brought the stern within reach.
I ing distance and the ship was held
, throughout the day on an even keel.
which mechanics worked busily within
! and without in the hopes OF getting
everything ready for departure before
another sun.
Expects to Leave Before Dawn.
Brig Gen. L. f. o. Charlton asserted
! his belief at noon that the R-34 would
get away before dawn this morning.
THE men are now overhauling the
engines" he said. The same watch
/ has been maintained on board through
out as would be maintained on ship at
sea, the men standing four hours on
and four hours OFF. We spent three and
1 q half hours loading on Sunday after
noon. putting on board gas and water
and holding the ship close to the ground.
She was then anchored by the nose be-
cause one end has TO be free. She swung
| easily and rode to her mornings beauti-
| fully all through the night. When the
sun expanded the gas this morning she
struggled to rise and We had to pull
| her down by the nose. send men up
through TO the stern and bring her TO
an even keel again"
| Major Pritchard again at this time in
sisted on minimizing the incident Of the
fmorning.
1--WE did not como anywhere near
losing the ship" he said, land allow
me to say that even II we had II would
have been all right. When we planned
| to come here the British Government
\ asked the United States Government to
build shed for us. The United states
Government refused, and the British
Government sent reply which
| amounted TO a We'll, all right"
| THE British Government felt that the
voyage was well worth the risk. We felt
| IL would tend to increase the friendship
between the two peoples and that 1t
would be well worth the cost, even II
the ship was lost. The British Govern
]
knowledge of tho conditions here
| So slight was the damage to the small
union braces between the dirigible's main
| frames that Commander Scott told the
| reporters at noon that the departure this
morning was sure.
I'VE hope to have 5000 gallons of
petrol on board when we SAIL" he said.
I'VE will fly over New York and thence
| over the ship lane to England"
nS4A N..aaA
| Roosevelt Field yesterday afternoon was
Col. william N. Hensley, Jr.. of the
United States Army. who has been desig-
mated to replace Commander Zachary
| Lansdowne of the United States Navy
| as the American observer on the return
| trip. Col Hensley is one OF two men
| In the American air service who are en-
titled to wear the two sets of wings-ono
for the heavier and one for the lighter
than air service He has piloted both
dirigibles and airplanes.
Has More Confidence in DirigibIe.
ut is a great pleasure that / am to
make the flight back he said yesterday.
| Aside from the honor, dirigible is
| very much more comfortable than an
airplane to ride In. There is not the
terrific roar Of the unmuffied motors OF
the airplane. Personally / have more
confidence in the dirigible than in the
| airplane. though the latter presents per-
haps more interesting technical studies.
I'VE hope" he concluded, soon to
have in this country something COM
parable to the RIA"
After completing the transocean flight
Col. Hensley will make tour of in
spection OF aircraft. principally balloons,
through Great Britain, France and
Italy, and through Germany IL pos
sible.
The German ia" he said. which
the German Government has asked per-
mission to fly to the United States, is
even larger than the RIA and OF a
more advanced type. She has 5000. 600
cubic feet of gas capacity, or SO per
cent more than the RIA"
Col Hensley wore among DECORATIONS
and campaign ribbons on his breast a
bow OF green ribbon edged with black
almost as large as mans bat wing tie.
1t was a new one to the reporters and
they asked him about It.
That" said Col. Hensley with a
smile, lis the insignia that entities Inc
to go on board the RIA"
Nothing the reporters could offer him
in the way of either wealth or fame
would induce him to part with 1t, even
for few minutes.
i b1Dle presented 10 Sre"s
, When the R-34 starts home she will
carry with her a handsomely bound
Bible containing the inscription, Pre-
. scented to the crew of the R-34 by the
Rev. John r. Nelson, New York" Mr.
| Nelson, a missionary, went to Roosevelt
Field yesterday afternoon and presented
the Bible. which was gratefully received
!, by the crew. Mr.. Nelson said he had
been prompted to this act by the stories
of the charms which the aviators had
carried coming out. A photograph com
J machine to replace the one which, &C
. cording to Gen. Maltland's account
broke handspring on the way over
RI Newspaper men were complimentini
} Gen. Maitland yesterday on the excel
J lence of that same account.
/ when the Irish conquer England
/ General" said a fresh reporter, "yol
. can get a job on any newspaper In
, running"
We'll" replied the General with I
? twinkle. you honor me II you dom
honor England"
P Capt T. 7. Craven, who has been II
. charge OF the arrangements at Roosevelt
, Field for the United States Navy. left OF
J late afternoon train for Washington
yesterday. He would not explain tn,
y object of his trip. He had just returned
4 from Boston. whittier he had gone on
A fruitless quest Saturday night when tn
RIA reported herself running short o
= gasolene.
Secretary Daniels called Roosevelt
Field by telephone from Washington