The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1919-07-17
R.94 LANDS SAFELY
UPON ENGLISH SOIL
COMPLETES ROUND TRIP BE-
TWEEN ENGLAND AND U. S.
The Voyage from Long Island Was
Made Without Particular
Incident.

13-(By the Associated Press. y
Great Britain's transatlantic air
pioneer, the dirigible RS4, arrived
here at 6:56 o'clock, Greenwich time
today, completing her round trip
from the British Isles to the United
States and return.
The R-34 poked her nose out OF the
clouds northeast of the village and,
after circling the flying field three
times, glided gently to the ground,
and ten minutes later was housed in
the dirigible shed. The voyage from
Long Island was without particular
incident and was completed in approx
imately seventy-five hours.
Shouts from those on the field
greeted the first sight of the long gray
body low onthe horizon. AS the R-34
approached the field she dropped from
a height of 5000 feet to 1000 feet.
The men who were to aid the airship
in landing were ordered to their posi-
tions and waited silently as the ship
circled the field, dropping lower and
lower.
The Landing.
When Major G. H. Scott, her COM
mander, had maneuvered the airship
into position for the landing the wat
er ballast was released to steady her
and q rope was thrown from the bow.
The rope was grasped by eager hands
and the giant ship moved across the
field to the shed, where the delicate
operation of berthing her was COM
pleted quickly and without accident.
A military band stationed on the
field played "The Call to Duty" as
the airship began to settle, and then
changed to the strains Of "See, the
Conquering Hero Comes" AS the ship
was warped into the shed the band
played Keep the Home Fires Burn
ing" The crowd was too intent in
watching the ship to notice the music,
while the whirr Of the propellers
made it inaudible to the men in the
R-34.
Tired, But Smiling.
The tired unshaven, but smiling
men who composed the crew quickly
climbed from the gondola and were
greeted warmly and with many slaps
on the back by the officers aid SOL
diers gathered on the field.
"The voyage home has been with
out incident, said Major Scott. eve
want breakfast After breakfast, and
while enjoying the belated luxury of
his little black pipe, smoking not be-
ing permitted on the airship, Major
Scott told the story Of the return
flight as follows:
1--WE estimated we would make 1T
in from seventy to eighty hours" he
said. 1--WE made it in seventy-five.
When We left we had a strong wind
behind us and we covered the first
500 miles in about eight hours. When
we circled over New York we could
plainly see the crowds on Broadway
waving to us as we passed, but we
could not hear them because of the
noise of the engines.
Slower Progress.
"South of New Foundland we en-
countered head winds and our prog
ress from then on was slower. We
travelled at an average height of from
5000 to 5000 feet and found much
low clouds and fog. Once we saw
nothing but fog for twent-four
hours.
1--WE struck Ireland at Clifden and
made good progress from there, al
though our steering engine broke
down Saturday morning. We started
with 4,900 gallons of gasoline and
had 1000 left.
1--WE are naturally pleased with the
trip, all of us. l expect important
changes in the size and speed in the
future airship, the big ships that will
travel seventy to eighty miles an
hour and powerful enough to crawl
through anything"
A Great Trip.
''This has been a great trip" said
Col. w. N. Helmsley, Jr., of the Unit
ed States army air service, as he
climbed out of the car. eve were lost
one whole day because of the fog,
which was so thick we could not get
a shot at the sun, moon, stars or
no t-on but We worked out of it and
struck the Irish coast. We passed ov-
er the Isle of Man about o'clock
this morning and then, mounting
above the clouds witnessed most
beautiful sight. Above was the bright
moon; below soft, fleecy clouds,
touched with all the colors of the
rainbow, and far down below occa-
sionally could be seen the dark, deep
blue of the sea. But we did not have
time to admire the beauty of the,
scene.
I'VE soon passed over Liverpool and
the northern cities and towns and
here we are. We suffered no hardships
and no inconvenience, except that we
had no hot water for shaving. Our
eggs were cooked, in the exhausts of
the engine and We had plenty Of 9TH
er good food and coffee, tea and CO.
Goa to drink
Over Rough Seas.
"No one suffered from air sickness
and, while the sea was tossed by a
forty-mile gale, we were moving
along in comfort on an even keel.
Regular airship service between
Europe and America is bound to
come, and soon.'
The members of the crew were