Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-08-25

officer, Lieut.. v. H. Wicks, remained
EaIIandy at his post to the last mo-
nent, communicating with the air
droms here.
Although facing certain death,
Lieutenant Wicks stuck to his post
II was believed here. from the fact
that his message was broken In the
middle.
HULL, England, Aug. 25.-The most
graphic stories OF the greatest disaster in
the history Of the air when the IRE,
worlds largest dirigible, exploded. burst
In two and fell flaming into the River
Humber, carrying sixteen Americans and
twenty British to their deaths,
we're told today b. Flight Lieut. A IL
Wsnn, commander Of the airshiP and
Norman o. Walker, rhe only American
saved
~The whole thing happened in I've Sec
onds." Flight Lieutenant Wann, lying
IN Hull hospital, said
my ship was running beautifully at
sixty knots as we swung over the city
Of Hull OL- tests were nearly finished
We hoped to be down soon
Il had just signalled that the speed
be reduced 20 fifty knots when suddenly
I heard a terrific crack I believe that
several girders must have broken The
ship buckled and the explosion followed"
WILL NEVER KNOW
TIE CAUSE
aThe cause OF the explosion will prob
ably never be known" the commander
said.
It was in sole control OF the ZR ?
when the disaster occurred Lieutenant
wann continued. Il felt the forward
car. from which I vas commanding the
ship, falling swiftly through the air
Immediately after the loud crack amid
ships
Then it rose sharply at a high angle.
'I pulled the water ballast for the pur-
pose Of leveling the keel
suddenly there was a terrific explo
sion which I felt and heard in the for
ward car 7 think many men were killed
outright By the blast, for they would
have been inside the envelope amidships.
@SOme Of the crew, and officers jumped
when the ship caught FIRE. I remained
on board until We were close to the
water. Then I jumped. but was caught
IN the wrecksge and pinned down for
fifteen minutes. The flaming pieces Of
the ZR-2 fell out about me and 7 was
burned about the head and face. 1 lost
consciousness and when I woke UP I
was in the hospital"
Norman o. Walker Of Commerce. Texas.
the only American saved, told the United
Press today:
mo one will ever have a clear idea
Of just what happened. I was with two
Britishers at the extreme tail Of the
ZR-2. When the explosion shook the
airship and she broke IN two our half
fell tail downward
~The three Of US hung on and we
foated down towards mid river almost
ike a big bird settling on the water. II
almost was like having a parachute.
JUMPED INTO
RIVER HUMBER.
Il looked down ana saw the water
rushing up at Us and when we were
ss5ut thirty feet from the surface I let
90 and dropped I thought would never
come up, but when I did. there were tugs
and boats already speeding TO rescue
work The airship could scarcely have
been IN the water thirty seconds before
they were on the job
Il feel fine. personally. I smoked
cigarette Immediately after they pulled
me out"
Thousands were gathered on the river
front at dawn. watching the search for
bodies Of the victims.
The ZR-2 was now invisible. both
halves being completely covered By the
tide. Preliminary work Of salvage was
under way.
A graphic eyewitness story Of the dis
aster was given by David PhipPson. who
photographed the debris Immediately
after the explosion and crash.
II was standing al the Quayside,'
Pbippson said The airship had just
emerged from behind some heecy clouds
and was outlined against the clear blue
sky
What g beautiful thing I remarked
to a bystander, without taking my eyes
from the speeding envelope, far over
head.
suddenly a wrinkle appeared about
the middle OF the airship's back, ike a
froWn in a forehead.
at deepened and others followed and
for two or three seconds they grew more
pronounced. All OF q sudden the whole
structure Iurched and nagged in the
middle.
LIKE EGG SHE'LL
BROKEN OVER BASIN.
aHeF nose and stern went up In the
air. while a great split appeared IN the
bottom. She was like some huge, elon-
gated egg shell cracked over a basin
xith each end upturned for the yolk to
fall out.
tumbling msn, debris. blankets and bits
Of weed snd steel, while we who were
watching were petrifed with horror.
"Then two terrific explosions rent the
sfrship still further. Fragments Of the
framework. men and all the details Of
the Interior mechanism Of the great ship
fell in a terrible shower. Out through
the great gap in the hill they shot, turn
ing and twisting IN the air, striking the
water with terrific. force.
MANY things which fell were flaming.
some may have been human bodies. Il
was hard to watch everything.
Then the airship spit in halves, sep
arating, each half drifting, hanging nose
upward while I could see the gaping
black interior, still splitting men and
loose parts.
"The two parts hung drifting for an
other instant and then the nose end
burst into pink flames. II was wrapped
in a sheath Of fire in moments time
and the flames were communicated 70
the tail end, though that was some dis
tance away.
"A terrible crash as the petrol tanks
hit the water and exploded added to the
horror Of The scene and the surface Of
the lumbar was covered with fume Ia
den LIQUID which instantly took FIRE The
whole river at that point was blaze Of
fame
meanwhile the tail end fosted slowly
down and struck the river farther east,
Just clearing the flaming oil, which was
rapidly spreading.
Then I recovered my senses and seiz-
ing ny camera, started taking pictures
Il saw only one parachute descend.
That was almost Immediately after the