Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press., 1924-01-31
No1O For The North Pole; Rush
Repairs On The Shenandoah
Expedition Will Attempt to Chart
100000 Square Miles Now a Mys-
terry; Storm Test Turned Tide.
Written Specially for The Leader
By JOHN THOMAS WILSON

By JOHN THOMAS WILSON
LAKEHURST, N. J. Jan. 3o-The
greatest dfrigible in the world, the
Shenandoah (claim based upon per-
tormance alone) rests in her hangar
here, as enthusiastic U. S. Navy chiefs
lovingly direct the work of repair
which will make her ready for his
tory-maklng flight this summer, trip
to the North Pole.
Two weeks ago the proposed flight
was IN doubt, as Congress was ques-
tloning the possibilities of success in
such venture. Now, how ever, criti-
clsm has disappeared, as a result of
the unscheduled flight and test of the
great craft in an eight hour battle
with the terrific 70 mile storm which
swept the Atlantic seaboard.
Every American was thrilled with
the story of that performance. 1t was
a triumph complete in rigid dirigible
construction and handling with all hon
or to American brains and ability.
Charles F. Burgess of the Aero
nautical Bureau, civilian who hap
pened to be aboard when the Shen-
andoah parted from her mooring mast
IN that great gale, expressed it all
when he said:
Show me in the history of the seas
where steamship has gone to sea in
a 73-mile gale-with a skeleton crew.
a smashed bow; two-thirds of her steer
ing gear gone; with ballast compart-
ments stove yin, and has come back
to port under her own power. The
Shenandoah did that-and in doing it
removed all doubts regarding the pos
sibilities of building and navigating
dirigible in all kinds of weather-and
with safety to her crew.. This great
test was cheap at the cost of the slight
damage she suffered"
How Shenandoah Battled
The Storm
The actual damage to the Shenan-
doah i'll dollars is between $4,000 and
$l000,O00, the principal loss being in
the escape of expensive Helium gas.
The ships blunt nose was smashed;
the steel plates covering the jennings
both fore and aft were ripped away.
The top blade of the vertical rudder
was snapped; the fabric was torn in
lilSC gas SSNdpCu
two forward compartments.
Despite these handicaps, imposed |
she was wrenched from the mooring |
swivel, within five minutes after be- |
ing tossed crippled into the raging |
elements the Shenandoah was under |
control, had turned her face into the
storm to fight it out and in eight hours
returned to her hangar under her own |!
power.
May Claim New Land for
United States
According to the Navy claim the |
trip is not dash for the pole. Instead |
it is simply following the policy of the
Navy to explore More than one mil |
lion square miles west of the pole re-
main unexplored and still mystery. |
If the Navy can clear UP this last geo.
graphical riddle it will add a new
achievement to its list of peacetime
accomplishments.
Two main approaches are available |
to the explorers. The Eastern course
via Greenland would be a hop-off of |
about 700 miles to the pole. However,
it is likely that the Shenandoah will
take the Western course from Point
Barrow, the northernmost point in
Alaska and then to the polar regions.
a mooring mast will be built at Point
Barrow.
The Shenandoah will be equipped
with radio with broadcasting range
of more than 1000 miles.
Reduced to briefest statements here
are the four main objects of the expe-
dition:
One: Conquest of the North Pole
by air, dreamed of by the late Admiral
Peary, discoverer of the North Pole.
Two: A trans-continental airship
flight from America to Spitzenbergen.
Three: Exploration for the United
States, which may later claim it. of an
Arctic area of 100000 square miles
unknown to man.
-Four: Observations of the phenom-
ena OF the North Magnetic Pole.