The sun., 1919-07-09

feather in the air, but the navy men on
duty did not wait to admire It.
Busle Calls Sailors Out.
A bugle bit silence with an impera-
tive call. From nearby barracks sleepy
eyed sailors, sailors asleep and moving
automatically, sailors half awake and
unable to do more than stumble wildly
about for a moment and sailors almost
wide awake tumbled out They plunged
across field. as nondescript com
pany responded e. n bugle call.
Their ranged from single gar
mont to re than their usual supply
OF clothes. Feet in socks, feet in Shoes
feet In sock and shoe and Just plain
feet padded across the field with it's
stiff prickly grass rapidly singing them
into full consciousness. BY the time they
reached her the airship was alarmingly
brisk in her UP and down swing and
was coming nearer the ground at every
plunge. The stern gondola, swung some
distance from the extreme end Of the
airship. seemed In imminent danger Of
being dashed TO the ground, with re-
sulting destruction to Its great twenty
foot propeller and it's two big driving
engines.
On rapid. snappy instructions the
sailors dashed under the dipping stern
with hands appraised to fend It or before
It reached the ground. Their position
seemed perilous, but, according to tho
officers. SO light is the great ship that
the 800 appraised hands would easily and
safely have prevented the tail from
hitting the ground. But as IL perceiving
that her efforts at self destruction had
been thwarted the R-s4 slowly ceased
her motion under the dropping wind
and the gobs were finally released from
their position.
That was the prelude to the battle
which was to follow, a struggle which
was waged for the most part during
the day by soldiers. although once in a
while the naval aviation mechanics
were again called upon to lend a hand.
The 700 men Of balloon companies
originally told OF for the ground crew
Of the R-34 were utterly unable to
handle the whole Job. for they were
sore and blistered from their labor Of
Sunday and Monday. During the day
the gondolas or cars of the ship were
brought within two feet OF the ground
so that mechanics might work upon her
motors and other odd Jobs might be per-
formed. 1t was this position, a foot or
30 above the ground. that was dificult
and dangerous to maintain. The R-34
was fish partly out Of water, a
creature of neither earth nor air. and 1t
was plain to see she did not like the
situation.
Ship q Living Creature.
While the R-34 was an airship. a dis
tant relative OF an airplane and a thing
of fabric, aluminium and gas when she
| dropped gently downward to the ground
Sunday. she is no longer such. The R-34
Is to every soldier or sailor who has been
stretched by her moorings a real living
creature, and very bad creature at
that, malignant. bent on senseless
suicide and utterly Indifferent to reason.
It's tho cussedest darn foolishest
thing I ever run into" declared one SOL
| der after four hours on the ropes. as he
gingerly prodded the blisters on a by no
means delicate paw.
Don't call It an It." reproved q COM
pan!on Just as badly of as regards bills
tera shes a she She's a -"
And then he told his companions more
about what she was.
Absolute dependence was placed yes
terday. not upon the huge concrete an
chors 80 carefully sunk into the neld
long before the arrival of the ship. but
| upon the bone and slnew OF the soldiers.
They stuck to the half dozen ropes by
which tho R-34 was held to the ground
and hung by their arms by scores to the
front and stern gondolas in much the
Same position as men strung up by their
| thumbs.
| The shift to men and ropes from con-
| crete anchors and steel cables was due
to the very narrow escape Monday morn
ibg from losing the great ship when the
sun came up very suddenly BAKING hot
The R-34 before the sun can,s was al
perfect equilibrium that Is to say, she
was neither heavier or lighter than the
air. The added weight of a man would
| have brought her gently to the ground