Arizona republican., 1919-05-16

ST. JOHNS, N. F., May 15.-The United States Navy dirigible, C-5,
 which escaped from it's moorings
 here this afternoon, dropped into
 the sea about 85 miles off shore, according to a radio message re- ceived tonight by the cruiser Chi
 cago, from an unidentified British steamship.
 ] The steamship said 1t was stand
 ing by the drieible. The destroyer
 Edwards, which went out in pur-
 suit Of the bIimp, was notified by
 wireless of it's position and started
 at once to salvage the ship. ! Plans of the United States navy for a trans Atlantic flight by dirigible | received a serious jolt today, when the giant ''blimp" C-5 burst from her moorings in a gale and was swept out 1 to sea, soon after she had arrived from Montauk point, after being in the air continuously for 25 hours and 45 minutes.
 Lieutenant Charles G. Little of New buryport, Massachusetts who was giv- en charge of the C-5. after her crew had been bundled off to bed aboard the Cruiser Chicago, was almost car ried away by the fugitive gas bag while making a. nervy attempt to deflate it-
 Seated in the blimp's naceile when she broke away, he seized the rip cord and gave a tug which should have opened up the big envelope and per mitted the gas to escape. The cora broke, however, and Lieutenant Ldttfe, realizing he would be unable to bring the ship down, leaped out from a height of 25 feet His only injury was a sprained ankle.
 The escape of the C-5 followed long struggle by sailors from the Cruiser Chicago, to prevent it's injury, when gusty winds swept across it's mooring place in Quidividi basin, and began 10 swing it about. Several Of the sailors, } clinging to guy ropes, were thrown 7 down by the dirigible'S final tug, but none was injured
 3 A landing crew of 100 men, under the direction of Lieutenant Little, had fought with the gale for control of the 5 C-5 for six hours, before it broke away. : Forty Mile Gale . Wholly unsheltered on the wind I swept field, the dirigible pitched and ), bueked, stripping her bottom of canvas and then tearing the bow planes away, n Tenders were placed to blunt the shock . and the men of the landing crew rode wildly as they clung to the car through T it's oscillations, under succeeding gusts ! of wind, endeavoring to save it When the wind rose from 30 mile: T to 40. the rigging on the nose of th' ? nacelie gave way and it was decided t . deflate the envelope.
 Mechanics who were working on tn engines were ordered to abandon th' ship Lieutenant Little remaining an' endeavoring to pull the rip cord ant
 defiate the envelope.
 Thrashed wildly by the wind, the ga
 bag rebounded and every sta,
 snapped Lieutenant Little gave an Il other tug at the rip cord and it broke = He leaped from the ship as the bi l. bag rose and scared off.
 ,s The loss of the blimp was a bite L. disappointment to Lieutenant Com j.; mander Emery ". Coil and his creN le of five. They had brought the bi n ship over a 1s00-mile course fror t, Montauk point with a performance F. record which they were confiden
 would have brought the coveted orde
 from the navy department to attemr
 the overseas flight.
 The C-5, it is said, had performe
 perfectly from Montauk Point, an Y only final authorization from Wash n ington, a routine inspection of the en ! zines and replenishment of fuel an 1l supplies, the aviators had believes " stood between them and the trans .e Atlantic flight
 v. Weather Bad Performer le Although the C-5 performed per d fectly, the weather "did not perforI SC nearly so well,'' one of the crew said. S. Tt was the toughest ride ever had
 he declared, but this was due to th g 'bumpy' condition of the atmospher le not to the ship"
 to At times" he continued, "the win d careened the big ship until its engine n stood on end and stopped, but as 500
 as the ship righted itself, the motoi
 went to work again
 The dirigible was lost in the fog ft
 8 time this morning, over Avalon per
 insula, the southeastern point of Ne ed Foundland. For two hours she cruise ct about, seeking the landing field whic ne was known to the crew only by rad IS communication, Radio directions r i- ceived from the base served only re complicate the situation for while u io base was sending the bearings of u oe sending station from the C-5, the C-5
 navigators interrupted them as u T C-5's bearing from the station. l oiShNS
 Q narrow gauge railroad which he fo
 low to St. Johns. The town of To-
 sail was then recognized and a dire
 course was laid which took the dirig
 ble over Signal Harbor and the, na
 row mouth of the harbor, for a shal
 turn north through Cuckold's Cove t
 ward Quidividi valley.
 Lieutenant J. V. Lawrence was
 the wheel and effected a landing tn
 elicited exclamations of appreciate
 from British airmen who had gather
 to welcome the ship.
 Commander Coil gave much of tl
 credit for the flight from Montal
 Point to his pilots, Lieutenant Lay
 renee and Ensign D. P. Campbell. IT
 cold during the trip he said, was 3
 most numbing at times, but the pilo
 had hung on gamely, although tn
 were compelled to divide their tur
 at the wheel into short shifts.
 The ship occasionally made as hi
 as 70 miles an hour although the a
 craze for the trip was only AS mil,
 The direct course from Montauk "
 1200 miles, but an additional 100 mil
 was traversed in seeking the landil
 place after reaching the New F'oun