The New York herald., 1922-02-25
tROMA DISASTER NOT |
| END TO DIRIGIBLES|
Harding Favors Continual
tion of Experiments
With Big Craft.
u
WILL USE HELIUMl
Congress May Be Asked fox
$5,OOO,OOO to Help De-
yelop Plants.
lCABINET GETS REPORTS
Commercial Possibilities Of
CABINET GETS REPORTS
Commercial Possibilities of
Airships Appreciated by
President and Advisers.
Special Dispatch to THE New York HERALD
New York Herald Bureay
Nashiucfou Fab

Special Dispatch TO THE New YORK HERALD
New York Herald Bureay
Washington. ID. c., Feb. ~.
President Harding and the Cabinet
favor continuation of army and navy
experiments with dirigibles in spite of
the fact that disaster with heavy loss
of life has recently befallen the ZR- 2
and the BONA. They believe highly
important future awaits the perfection
of this type of airship, not so mugh
for military purposes, perhaps as fos
the carrying of passengers and freightl
Mr.. Harding and the Cabinet devoted
long time at their regular meeting
to-day to their airslEip situation, the
talk resulting directly from the Roma
disaster. They had before them pre- !
liminary report of the crash and ex-
plosion. and it served as the basis for
ar opinion Mr.. Harding expressed
later that there would not have been
so great loss of life if helium had
been used instead of hydrogen.
Mr.. Harding let it be known that the
Administration would prepare a pro-
viding for a further and more compre-
hensive development Of helium, believ-
ing it essential If dirigibles are to be a.
success. He is working along plans sub
mitteG by Secretary Fall of the De-
partment of the Interior, in cooperation
with the War and Navy departments.
1t is tentatively agreed that Congress
will be asked to appropriate $5,000.000
for experiments and for helium produc-
ton. perhaps even to build plants addi-
tional to those now maintained in Texas.
Department of the Interior engineers
have located helium fields also in Ohio
Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kansas and Ok
lahoma.
I'D to this time 100000 cubic feet OF
hellum have been extracted from tAol
natural gas of the Texas fields. although
the plants now are shut down for WANT
of money to operate. 1t is now pro,
posed to reopen these plants, one OF
which is at Fort Worth and the otherl
at Petrolia.
Mr.. Harding, In discussing the Roma
disaster with callers, did not venture an
answer to the question about which
many persons have been wondering
since the Roma disaster as to why the
airship's bags were not filled with
.helium. But the President did make III
clear that he believed airships in the
future should use helum gas lnSteau
of hydrogen. This is to be done when
the ZR-1, now being erected at thel
Lakehurst station, is completed
In the back of Mr.. Hardings mind.
as we'll as in the minds of others who
have been giving attention to the de-
velopment OF dirigibles, is the idea that
before long the great airships will be
valuable for carrying freight and pas
sengers While definite figures have
not been compiled. it has been the opin-
ion of military officials that consider
able economies of operation might be-
shown. particularly II the airships were
not required to land but simply tie up
to mooring masts at various stations.
The landing of such an airship is a
tremendous job. requiring the services
of several hundred men. With moor
ing mast the airship would anchor. as
q ship might anchor. and the passengers
and cargo would reach the ground h
means of elevators. "
Condolences over the loss e.
Roma continued to be received by Gov
ernment officials to-day, among the ex-
pressons OF sympathy being those from
France, Belgium and Japan.