The Owosso times., 1922-03-03
Airship Roma. Bought in italy, Is
Destroyed With Loss OF
Thirty-FOur Lives.
PROBABLY WAS Defective
Senate Reservationists Busy With the
Four-Power Treaty-Movernent to
Postpone Soldiers Bonus Leg
isIation-Irish Factions in
Three Months Truce.
sv EDWARD w. PIcKARp

THIRTY-FOUR more lives nave Deen
l. sacrificed to Americas iufatuaton
for foreign-built airships. If we must
have these craft, is 1t not about time
we relied on our own designers ana
constructors for them? Unless the IN
formation available at this writing is
misleading, the disaster that befeh the
Roma near Hampton Roads last week
will be found to be, I'm Its causes, com
parable to that of the Zit-2 in ENG
land last August. In both cases, ap-
parently, there were vital defects In
construction of which the builders
were cOgniZant.
So far as investigation has revealed,
the fall of the Roma was due TO the
breaking of the controls that reguiat-
ed the altitude of the airshtp. Despite
the heroic efforts OF her navigatOrs and
the frantic casting overheard OF all
ballast by the crew, the huge balloon
plunged downward from height OK
about 400 feet. AS she crashed against
the ground she broke some high ten
sion electric wires and at the same
moment the big gasoline tanks burst.
In the resulting explosion and hre
most of the victims met mercifuliy
instant death. Even If the Roma mad
not struck the wires, say army air ser
vice officials, the men caught under the
vessels gas bag and steel frame would
have burned to death, for the gasoline
from the broken tanks would have ig-
nited from the engines. This fact may
avert possible blame for the using OF
ordinary field gas i'm the Roma instead
of the noninfiammable heIium gas, de-
veloped by the air service. All the
helium in the country was TN the to.
mas bag when she was given a trial
trim late In December, but as this was
wanted for a contemplated long tour
over the country next summer, 1T was
drawn out and the ordinary gas sub
stituted.
Although General Mitchell, head o.
the United States air service, now II
Berlin, says the Roma was perfect
there is reason to believe that ne u
mistaken Last summer Kenneth
} Roberts witnessed demonstration
flight of the balloon in Italy shorti.
after Size had been sold to America
and he wrote for the Saturday Eve
, ming Post story of that flight Il
which lie brought out these points
| That the gas bags were Old an
. leaky: that the Italians wanted a CALI
day for the trip; that they refused
{ sail the ship over Mount Vesuvius, al
, parently fearing the heat OF the crs
Q ter: that they preferred sailing owe
r the ocean, the air being more quit
4 there; that the ship reared. bucke'
l. iumped. and was buffeted about iik
:. a feather in a cyclone; that the shi
|. had a tendency to nose downward
l. a high rate Of speed.
n II may be this new disaster viii r
z suit i'm the cancellation OF the ord'
t for Zeppelin for America to be bui
o In Germany. General Mitchell sa!
1. this craft is not under way, "becau'
r. of the numerous difficulties betwet
d America, the entente and German
a These difficulties center on wheth
America shall get the latest type
n an old style. II America wants q
:, latest, the entente must permit &c
:. many to build airships. which the VI
:. :, saiIIes treaty forbids."
a DRESIDENT HARDING Inform
a I the senate that he could not CO.
,y ply with It's request for the recor'
nt minutes, conversations. etc. resati
N. to the four-power treaty, because mt
40 tha conversations and dlscussle
RI were quite outside the conference q
ct were without record He added:
st do not believe II to be compatible VI
public interests o. consistent with