The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-08-25
43 Lives Are Snuffed Out When Mistress of the Air
 Breaks and Falls AfIame
tContinued from Page ohe)

| hrO@ FAkt OhNJ
 windows on land, the whole being reminiscent of war times when Ger man airships bombed Hull and ex- plosions shook the whole town.
 Today's concossion was so great that it wrecked over an area of about a mile square.
 Some spectators asesrt that the air. ship began to buckle before any flame or explosion was seen or heard. The broken halves of the ZR-2 reach- cd the water nearly a mile apart. The general opinion of the public of Hull is that the commander of the :. airship accomplished a remarkable , feat Of bravery in diverting the , descent of the vessel so that it fell into the water instead of the crowded streets.
 Moment of Terror ], It was moment of terror tor the ,l populace when the disaster occurred. People in the streets rushed madiy to cover fearing that the massive wreck would fall upon and crush them. The terror gave way, however, to horror ias the wreck plunged into the middle T of the river near the Corporation ! pier
 During the fall of the airship, three ] members of the crew were observed making thrilling parachute descent -iThey came down into the river where ',they were rescued by small boats T All who jumped from the falling craft lost their lives. They had no chance for escape, for the water was cover : ed with burning gasoline, and the heat fromTthe burning wreckage was so intense that even the rescuers ex- perenced the greatest difficulty In approaching for sometime. Barges, i trawlers, and small boats thronsed around the debris wiling to render any possible assistance.
 | Immediately after the disaster mes- sages came from distances up 10 50 miles reporing that the people had felt an earthquake shock.
 Designer Aboard
 Among those on board the ZR-2 were the designer. Superintendent warren of the works where she was built. and Flight officers Wicks and i, Matheson.
 |, zR-2 closely resembled her sister ship, the R-34, which sailed across : the Atlantic in July, 1919, but was q 3 feet longer and feet greater in di- was greater than that of her sister
 
 . of s,00o miles in contrast with 4,s0o miles credited to the R-34. {, It had been estimated that the |. zR-2 would be able to cross the ], 3,2o0 miles to the American conti- d nent in from three to four days whereas the R-34 had required nearly five days in her voyage,
 X telephone system connected up the zR-2 so that Commander Max field standing al his wheel in the trip across the Atlantic, could have any part of the aircraft under his im- mediate control. Brigadicr General Maitland, who met death in the dis aster today, was one of the officers who made the transatlantic flight in the R-34,
 It was recalled today how the American members of the crew of ZR-2 recently had chafed over the decision of General Maitland not to permit the giant aircraft to leave Howden until sailing conditions were perfect. Maitland was criticised moro or less for what was termed over consciousness.
 Like the zR-2, the RIA ended her career in disaster. She was cut in two by a violent wind and left a wreck outside her alrdome near Edinburgh in January, 1921. In the construction of the ZR-2 it was thought that many of the seri- ous defects of the smaller ship had ! been remedied The vessel. under I went daily policing or cleansing, then the engineers tested and re- paired the six engines, the rEgers i'm spected the controls, gas bags, valves, the outer cover and thin surface. Constant hull inspection on all diri- glbles is necessary because of the breakase of small braces and wires. The outer cover fabric sometimes gets torn or blown loose at the joints and repairs are made immediately to prevent the holes from becoming larger. Gas bags were inspected by going over them with q leak finder which registered any traces of es- caping hydrogen. The fabric in the zR-3s bags was very thin and light and when it chafed through 1t suf- fered loss of gas.
 Tn flight the ZR-2 was operated as far as possible along the lines of a seagoing vessel The ships alti- tude capacity was 250o0 feet.
 The crew of the ZR-2 selected to bring her across the Atlantic to the United States included IA officers 10 riggers, 16 mechanics and two radio men. Only few of these were aboard, however. when the giant air craft plunged into the waters of the Humber today.
 BYRD REPORTED SAVED
 Lynchburg va.. August 24.-Lt. Com. R. F. Byrd Jr., navigation ex-
 pert of the dirigible zR-2 Is among
 the survivors, according to a Wash
 ington dispatch to the News, quoting cablesram received at Washington. Commander Byrd is son of R. F. Byrd, former United States attorney
 for the western district of Virginia.
 and a nephew of Representative H. D. Flood, of Virginia.
 ADVISED or SAFETY , Macon, Ga, August 2t.--Shine s. Holliburton chief engineer On tho zR-2 is safe, according to cable
 gram received tonight by. his brother
 T. H. Halliburton. The message was
 dsted Hull, Eng, and was signed
 "Shine."
 l arise for both in trying to cover the situation gracefully. The situation
 becomes more complicated when the
 butler discovers the woman accom- panying the Englishman Is his for , mer wife. The bridegroom becomes desperate when he discovers his wife kissing the butler and would have killed him but for the fact that the , gun was not loaded. He is surprised d , to find that the butler Is Beth's un-