Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-02-22
:4centinuea from paSs

were anSlH hrp01ht into sgbnissa9n
.bM three mo departments Who fought
them with chemicals. Then. derFicks
began picking " the Wreckage which
.stHeaStSa az scarcely mete tkaH the
slQa9pthlUM fr4MeESyk and the SIX
Liberty motors Of the once proud ship
4Af tho air. Within the Wreckaee lay
the ahodtss. praetAcANy Al 6hRsTSa be-
You'd sEscognitiop. But hefdleN the
'n n s3d passed, g 9sstss Aaa been !,
aS ssssyS Nsow s1eG to nave sak.a ni ~ 81 =
the fatal voyage. @F
AcSount4 at survivors and Of eye
sy3tpelsesf as ia what had happened
Appeared to aSrse'iipst night that tbs
huge kite-like structure Of the stern
,rUdder. itself as large as q. bombing
plane, had slipped to one side Is the
Roma drove alnnx a thousand feet
ab'ove! the army base.
The Dive to Earth
The shtp nosed steeply down and
AZ she came closer'it was seen that
her tcrew were hurting out sand hal-
last from the ports in the fragile fab
rio that formed the covering OF the
sraee betweenA her Keel and; back. the
!1siae a ;sSs %f G}na;an ,, SYsr. ter. Of re re
bag did not respond. t. 4 ",
On the ship came. unchecked. in
her Glide earthw'ard, head first. Her
commander could not force her the
few hundred feet that would have
dropped her Into the waters of the
bay. = c9mnarative safety for heefl
Rlast-Elcctricity-1Hre.
the IfIt9hs Power SElecttiGt Line. It
carried . 2,aoo volt currsnt. The
Rolna's nose shot with its aluminium
guard. thrust into the wires, broke
them as the shin Aattened to earth
and. rolled oyer, and the next monlennt
sg.'aaNesss burst out aleNf the huh
NThere. was q rush Of men to the
rescue from the navy post and the
navy base heYond, Just as the Roma
neared the wires. two men were seen
e Sni leap AZ from hish up in her slaaattipg
So asxift was the dare Of the. gas
Iefore its terrific heat. They watch
ed helplessly~ as the great eiEhty=toot
bbag shriveiled in the herce 7hlaze Of
the liberated . "S.
No Passenger List.
The Roma was q wall Of Game 9
city block lonE and until the thou:
water had checked the holocaust, it
! was impossible to reach the comrades
n!angled and dead in that derry fur
race. go 49,
Tho ship left no nsssenger> list be-
hind her when she set out tor i brief
run from Langley, sha is known to
have carried many officers and mex
as passengers, however, hn' addition to
her operating, crew. As she rose from
the field her commander leansd out
to signal that he had ~ persons
| Guide one civilian on The ship and thai
she actually carried Is:
Gas Bag Rotten, Charge.
Newport News, Va, Fob. a2.--Re.
ports that the bag of scni-rigid
dlrlsikle Roma, DESTROYED yesterday
ct the Norfolk army base with a loss
Of 81 lives. was rotten, will be proved
by an army board Of inquiry. =
The board of inquiry will be named
to-day OF tomorrow and there will be
a full and complete investigation 81
the datastrophe, officials declared. !.
Belief was expressed today by those
who saw the Roma on her flight that
one of the after compartments gave
way. forcing the rudder out Q.
Alignment.
Mechanics who worked on ths
Roma when she was first brought tc
Langley Field are indirectly quoted as
saying that the bag was rotten This
is, discounted by officers and enlisted
men who noint out that the Roma was
given several thorough tests by ex-
pcrts before she was ever sent UP
They further declare that had the has
been rotten or construction faulty.
trouble almost certainly would have
developed on the trial fight to Wash
ington sometime ago. at which time
the Roma raced back to Langley
Field ahead of one of the worst
storms of the wear.