Great Falls tribune., 1922-02-23

1
Clear Debris to Start Inquiry
Air service men from Langley field
the home station of the craft, began
shortly after dawn Wednesday the
clearing up of the wreckage Of the
warped and bIstered skeleton and at
the same time preparations began for
an official inquiry. Major General
Mason NJ. Patrick. chief of the air scr
vice, who came here by airplane Tues
day as soon as word of the disaster
was flashed to Washington, made &
personal inspection Of the wreck dur
ing the night and ordered an immediate
investigation.
| Officers at Langley field still are al
Il loss to account for the mishap that
caused the ships rudder to tilt ant
thereby rendered the 410-foot craft te
become unmanageable Possibility de
yeloped. however. that the inquiry
would take notice first of reports that
! the bag Of the Roma. constructed il
Italy, Mas rotten, although officers a,
the field declined to discuss such re-
ports.
Mechanics Report Bag Rotten
| Mechanics who worked on the Roms
| "tlfu Que was blpu5ht W ILniS IVY
| field are quoted indirectly as saying
the bag was rotten. This is discount
ed by officers and enlisted men, who
point out that the Roma was giver
several thorough tests BY experts be
| fore she ever was sent up. They fur
| ther declare that had the bag beer
rotten or construction faulty. trouble
would have developed on the tria
flight to Washington some time ago
at which time the Roma raced bacl
to Langley field ahead Of one of the
worst storms of the year.
In connection with the Forthcoming
| inquiry these developments also vii
be definitely considered:
First, that the left rudder of thu
Roma gave way when She wa. less
I than half mile from where she went
down near the army base fire station
Second. that there was no fire on The
ship until after the tilt began as a re-
| suit of the right hand side of the rud-
der going into an almost vertical posi-.
ton.
Third, that the craft became unman-
ageable as she sWooped over the base
reservation, narrowly missing a 100
foot smokestack OF the central heating
plant.
Motors Not Held Responsible
Fourth. that the immediate cause OF
the explosion with such force as to
wreck the entire craft and set her Oh
fire was contact with net Of 1900
| volt, high power electric wires, less
than 100 feet from where the Roma
crashed into a pile of debris.
Fifth, that the Liberty motors
which were being tested, were not re-
sponsible for the disaster unless
something more tangible should be
learned than now appear.
The point which the army board OF
! investigation viii decide Is what
caused the rudder supports to give
way. There were two pilots in charge
| CAPTAIN Walter j. Reed and Iieuten-
ant b. Burt, both of whom had been
| at the wheels Of the Roma on pre-
! vious trips. Burt was uninjured and
/ Reed is on the road to recovery from
| slight injuries.
I One Survivor in Serious Condition
Charles Dworack. superintendent of
construction Of McCook field, Dayton
I Ohio one of the passengers on the
/ Roma, is in serious condition at the
! public health hospital. having swal-
\ lowed flames, ard is also suffering
/ from the effects Of gas fumes
! Other injured survivors are expected
! to recover.
Work of Identification has pro-
gressed slowly, the officers and men
from Langley field detailed for this
work completing their examination
! shortly before daylight.
| Identification was established by
sears and hair in some instances, but
even then there were four bodies at
| noon that could not positively be iden-
| titled.
Morbid Give a Look and Gasp
| A morbidly curious crowd milled
! about outside the undertaking estab-
lishments far into the night. One Of
| two ventured inside on one or another
pretext but staggered out, gasping for
breath. few seconds later. There
| was one man who stood stoically by.
never shifting his position. He was
DR.. j. II. Mabry, Of Newport News.
He was looking for his brother. Cap
tain Mabry. Body after body was
identified or sent back for a later