The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-02-25

Big Dirigible Came in
to Contact w it h
High Voltage Wires
When Rudder Con-
troll Failed

ASSOCId(Su tTeSSt-- VI Ike 4 = ''i AZ
air service officers, enlisted men
and civilians Who left Langley field
air station st 1:45 this afternoon
on; the giant army dirigiLle Roma
Cd are dead. the bodies of many
of them being charred beyond rec
IGNITION. and eight survivors, are
in the army public health service
hospital here suffering from shock.
burns and bruises.
Flung ear:hward. presumably by
a asbroken ruddcr. the huge airship
planged thousand feet or more
today to strike ground at the
Hampton Roads army base, cap
sized across high tension electric
line and burst into roaring fur
mace, of blazing hydrogen gas
Long after dark tonight. many
hours after her fall. the ship was
stiu a mass ot.aapies from end TO
end of her 40 foot mass. The FIRE
was, feeding on the million cubic
feet of gas that had distended the
great bag for the fight.
Barely a dc.en of more than two
:scere, aboard had been picked up
alive One died on route to hos
pital All of those who survived
the fire escaped 10y jumping as the
ship struck. The others, pinned ir
thea hull beneath the fallen bag.
,were burned to death. Heat Of the
IRE fought back rescuers for hours.
Three fire, departments fouSlt
the flames with chemicals and by
Z m it was out. Derricks began
picking up the wreckase as tn"
.names were driven back. There
was scarcely more than the alum
inum framework and the six Lib
erty motors to move, Within the
wreckage lay the bodies. many Of
them clarred beyond direct rec"g-
nision. Tllirty-cne bodies had
been taken out tonight. Tree were
thought 10 be Still III the cilarreJ
mass that alone remained of what
had been the largest ship OF her
; type in the world.
Accounts of surviving officers As
TO what happenedpwere not avail
able tonight. Every ni:4n who >es-
capped alive was burned or bruised
or both. Eye witnesses who watch
ed the smash agreed. however.
that the huge, kite1ike structure OF
tfe stern rudder. itself as large as
a bombing plane. had slipped to
one side as the Roma drove along
thousand feet above the army
base.
She was making trial 1isht
wjth q new batterySgf Liberty mo-
tors. They were Installed to re-
place Italian engines bought with
her in Italy. but (which have not
proved satisfactorily Installation
was completed at xEangley field
two weeks ago.
1t was just. besoresy2 F. IN. when
those below at. The :artny base at
: Hampton Roads. caught by the APP
preaching thunder of the six mo-
tors. locked up to see the Roma
dip down from her straight fight.
They agreed that the rudder
seeanedveo have slipped bodily down
aJd 10 one side. 49,
Tie ship nosed steeply down. AS
She. game closer it was seen that
her crew were hurIiDg out sand
ballast from the ports III the fragile
fabric that formed the covering Of
tbs space between her keel and
back, tic living and operating
quarters OF the ship. The dipping
tlunt nose Of the bag did not re-
spnnd On the ship came, un-
checked III her glide carthward.
head first. Her commander could
not force her the few hundred feet
more which would have dropped
her into the waters Of the bay and
comparative safety for her people
Below ran the high double wires
of the high power electric line. Z.
carried a 900 volt current. The
Eoa.;l's nose. Shod with its alum
mum guard. thrust into the wires.
broke them aS the ship fattencd
b.
next moment came to- noise as Of
ar explosion and the flames burst
out along the huls space.
There vas a rush of men TO the
rescue from the .aruay post and the
navy base beyond. Just az the Ho-
MA neared the wires, two men were
seen to leap from hish up in her
s.antiug hull. As the stricken
flaming monster writhed in her
death agony ten more dropped from
doors oi. ports Or through holes
they tore in the fabric sizes that
enclosed them. Some lcaped from
tiie platform where the engines
stood. far out from the hull.
SO swift was the fare OF the gas
fame that fescucrs were driven
back before its terrific heat. They
watched helplcssIy as the great 500
foot bas sbrivcied in tn" fierce blaze
OF the liberated gas. The Roma
was a wall of 1la,nc Il city block
long, and Until the thousands Of
gallons of chemicals and waters
had checked the holocaust it MAS
Impossible to reac's the comrades
lnanglea and dead in that fiery fur
mace.
She left 70 passenger list be-
hind when she set out for u hIjef
trial run from Langley. She is
kn.wn to have carried many olli-
GERS and men as passengers. how-