New-York tribune., 1922-02-22

OF the two men IN one OF the forward sc
Of the six pro jcctng motors who. Will,
we were going Mt full speed. trans
fcrrcd the propeller from one motor t,
another to show how easily and qulckl,
it could be done. They seemed to b,
in a pcrilous position, the motor bein;
supported only by fine projecting iron
rods upon which narrow plank led tc
the airship. Only four of the motor.
we're in operation, otherwise We eout
have had greater speed
Most OF the day we kept to an alti
tudc Of from 700 to $50 feet. so we hao
no difficulty in making out details below
us And how full these were of beauty
and historic suRgestIvcness The gray
ish cities and towns seemed like EN-.
broidcrics on brown and green gar.
ment, cross -hatchcd by "thc mono.
white roads Of Italy, Part Of the way
was along the Via Appia Antca. Mean
Monte Circcio associated with the En-.
chantress, we had n full view Of the
sea. Indeed, it had been in sight al.
most from the start, but here it was 60
glorious that we cried. "Thaattn, tina.
latta!' and by 10 o'clock we were above
1t, sklrtlng the classic southwest coast
In sight were Terecina, then Fondi, with
a background of gray mountains, show
ing patches of green, and later Gacta, to
which Plus TX fed at the time Of the
capture OF Rome, and Arpinco, the
birthplace of Cicero
Bottom Of Covcs Visible
Along here the sea is about Gftv
yards in depths, and there are many
coves OF cXquisitcly green water. the
notion OF which we could clearly see
Every eye had been strained for the
hrst view OF Vesuvius, which we now
saw on our left as we regained the
land route On the right was Cum@a
the first Greek settlement in Italy,
nothing now but vineyards, with the
taciiis descensus Of eighboring Lake
Avernus, both Of which ! had visited
IN 1886. Next came historic Capua, on
the left, where we dropped parachute
with message to daughter Of Signor
Mobile. AT this point Captain Mabry
where was told he could walk be-
tween the folds of the envelope in
perfect safety. am sorry that
was not invited to accompany him,
for although have always been made
dizzy by looking from city attitudes, |
found this trip entirely free from such
sensation, even when I gave myself
the severest tests.
At l1:35 we were approaching Naples,
and here for the first time we felt
slght and gentle side o-side motion,
due to the passage from a green cur
rent to a brown one. There is also a
difference of radiation in passing over
water, and it is part of the pilots
business to watch the egster on the
opposite side of the deck, which in
dlcates in colors the pressure in the
various sections of the ship, and by
his steering to counteract the slight
impairment of equilibrium.
Soon we were above the wonderful
city of Naples, with the great palace
of Capo di Monte as it's most prominent
into the sea to the northwest and the
big bulk of Ischia beyond. This is all
in great contrast to the green savan-
nails and winding streams which we
had been seeing. Just here the meteor
ologist of the trip became very busy
in reading records taken at the window
of the cabin and Signor Hezi, the
parachute jumper, made new calcula
tions of the speed of our shadow.
Sent Wireless to Weeks
We had radio apparatus on board,
and as we passed over the city sent
the following wireless message to the
Secretary of War:
"American Embassy, Rome. For Sec
rotary Weeks, Washington, by wireless
from airship Roma above Naples. Sue
ccssful trip, carrying American flag for
the first time. American aviation Off !
GERS and American military and naval
attaches and American guests send
greetings and congratulations. Robert
Underwood Johnson. Ambassador
This was repeated from the En-
bassy and was duly communicated by
the Department Of State to the Secre-
tary Of War who through Secretary
Hughes sent thanks to me and my asso-
ciates for the message, with congratu-
lations ION being the pioneers in the /
manner Of conveying it.
At 1896 we were we'll above the Bav
of Naples, with the whole superb view |
spread out before us-the amphitheater
like city. the broken outline of the |
summit Ct Nosuvius with the line of |
white smoke rising into a cloud, and |
the long, beautiful south coast running
down nas; Pompeii to Castellamare and !
on to Sorrento. The bay itself, as |
looked ov,r the side of the ship, was
a deep ccrulean with the transparency
of the Blue Grotto of Capri. Against /
this blue. following us faithfully. was
the deep-cut, indigo shadow of the
Roma. the wake of it trailing off into
the softer color. On the shoreward
side were ID score of boats with vivid
white sails, while on the other side the
water sparkling in the sun gave an eff
feet of night of winter stars.
Capri Seen From the Air
And then. fair before us. and soon
beneath us, lay as a climax of the vow
age beautiful Capri, the island of
picturesque rock, its two massive prom
ontorles divided by green swale. in
which the town itself is situated The
sheer Rock of Tiberus, from which
that amlable emperor used to precipi
tate his guests to their destruction, was
very impressive, and below its rugged
were the exquisite purple.
green and blue in the fringcs of the
coast. The three little rocks known as
Gree Islands. to which Ulysses came.
stood out conspicuously and the hard
ness of the dark rock was softencd bv
the noontme light.
After circling the island twice and
playing about the Gulf of Saerno we
started on our homeward trip. About
O'Clock delicious luncheon of sew
eral courses was served in the cabin by
camerierc IN the full dress of his
craft, which gave touch of luxury to
the trip, though it did not add to the
of it. Even champagne was
served, and after General di Siebert
had toasted America in an eloouent
speech and Signor Cortesi, Signor Usu-
ell and others had spoken graccfullv-
lhe tailans are all orators-it became
my DUTY to make an appreciative re-
spOnse.