Evening star., 1921-09-03
Editorial Digest.
The Dangerous Dirigibles.


the light Of its bearing on the future
Of air navigation. American editors
! reach varying conclusions. Most OF
them feel. with the Philadelphia Pub
lie Ledger. that "the growing distrust
of the dirigible type of aircraft has
, received tragic confirmation in the
| disaster to that beautiful. powerful
and complex ship of the sky" and
that. as the Adrian tMich.) Telegram
says. while 1.-The conquest OF the air
is bound to come" 1t will be "by
heavier -than-air machines" On the
other hand, the Charleston news ano
Courier speaks for the group Which
bholds that there is nothing funda.
dirigible and that. as the Wilmington
| IN. c. Star expresses it, confidence
| in this type of aircraft has not been
/ diminished by the wreck OF the Zh-2
since it merely "proves that dlriGipie
construction Is to be improved IN GER
tain details; 1t does not prove that
this type of craft must be Abandoned"
What is undoubtedly proved. In the
opinion Of the Des Moines Capital, ts
that the conquering of the air ts
still more with the builder than with
the flyer" since. the Arizona Repub-
ship which had been builded with
all the human experience and all the
skill available" with the result, the
Seattle Times adds, that "she was the
superdirigible. representing the
| highest development in this line Of
! endeavor." and yet 1.-The whole craft
may have been constructed on faulty
principles" It's destruction will
necessitate not new start" but, the
Cleveland Plain Dealer believes. "a
reconsideration of the principles Of
construction which were supposed to
nave been established"
Even the worlds most terrible aerial
diSaster, the Flint (Mich.) Journal
PODS; will assuredly not be permitted
70 nalt TOT one moment the conquest of
the air. for. the Cincinnati Enquirer
ADDS, too much has been learned and
achieved now to cease its development"
me giant airship possessed all the ele-
ments and possibilities Of success" says
me oshkosh Northwestern, and ''unfor-
.unate ,'.,1, as the accident is. it doubtless
rnuch real value in the field of aero
nautics and will increase. rather than
lessen, interest and efforts along this
line"
Certainly "the world is not going to
give up the idea after SO much. proof Of
he great possibilities" the Des Moines
Register declares, and 'the building of
he ZR-1 in America should go on"
AhS boStOH also turns with
hope from the unfortunate ZR-2 to the
IR-1' now building. because there can
be mo turning back. AS rocks STONED
| neither the sailing of ships on the seas
nor the running of trains on railroads,
they will not stop the navigation of the
Iir. but rather strengthen the resolve to
overcome all difficulties"
To the Manchester Union, however,
further development of these unreliable
monsters of the air" seems like expert
no yx,tt1
5eded." since. as the New London
tConn.) Day expresses 1t. 1t ''is glaringly
positive" that the dirigible sis in a much
more rudimentary stage Of development
than the airplane," and certainly after
III these years of experiments with giant
links, .:some real Formula ' of SAFETY safety
should have been arrived att
The wreck of the ZR-2 will
strengthen the contention Of those
ship is destined to be the medium of
aerial transportation" the Milwaukee
Sentinel says. and further, according
to the Philadelphia Record. will
heighten the popular prejudice which
has always existed against the
bany Times-Union recalls that tragic
indeed. has been the history of the
development and use of this vehicle
of flight" and while in its opinion
the dirigible has future" there is
still "a vast field to explore and de-
velop in the elimination Of the ele-
ments of danger which now exist"
Heretofore, however. the New York
Post points out. that element of
danger has come chiefly from such
uncomfortable factors as storms
Now in the pursuit Of power and
speed the airship is apparently de-
veloping structural defects" within
itself which must be overcome, and
''airship construction must strive for
solidity rather than speed" Just as
there ''is a limit to the length of
ocean steamers" the Indianapolis
News believes the disaster has dem
onstrated that there should be "a
limit to the length OF dirigibles." and
until the mysterious buckling Of the
ZR-2 is better explained the Norfolk
Virginian-Pilot thinks the presump-
ton must remain strong that its ex-
treme proportions and the expert
mental state Of the knowledge of the
pressures and stresses that these pro-
portions involve played a controlling
part in the tragedy"