Evening star., 1924-11-25
Huge DirigibIe Comes Into
Sunshine Over Capital and
loafs Above RooftopS.
Waiting Call for Ceremony.
REACHES WASHINGTON
AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
Part of German Crew on Beard Get
First View Of Capital as Resi-
dents See Airship for First Time.
Ceremonies at Field to Be Sim
pie and Brief.

pie and Brief.
At $3.50 O'Clock this afternoon the
ZR.3 was rnaneuyering for the third
time to land at BooIing Field. Presi-
dent and Mrs. Coolidge were among
the thousands who saw the big ship
first overshoot the field, then rise to
try it again. The second tine the
leaders" from her nose were Sc
cured by the men on the ground.
but she was not low enough. SO with
her engines roaring she scared away
to try il a third time.
Out OF the Northeast. under dark
clouds and through log banks. the
German built dirigible IRIS poked
her sllvery nose into all area of blue
and sunlight over the District just
At 1880 o'clock this afternoon to
be christened Los Angeles, .Ameri-
canized and comtniss ioned into the
naval service OF the United States.
The ceremony for this most i'm
portant areonautiCal event ever held
in Washington is scheduled to take
place at ) O'Clock, and will be wit
messed by the highest officials OF the
land. Mrs. Coolidge will formally
christen the ship.
CoOIidges Arrive At Field.
The President and Mrs. Coolidge left
the White House, accompanied by mill
tary and naval aides. d little after .
laA
navy yard, where the presidential yacht
Mayfiower is docked. and crossed the
river in the yachts barge.
Arriving at the naval air station land
Ing the President and his party were
met and escorted to the fieg-dJaped
presidential box erected in front of the
temporary stands. also decorated with
naval flags and embIems. They joined
large crowd which had been gathering
ever since the big ship first was sighted
over Northeast Washington
Upon their arrival at the naval
air station the word was flashed by
radio to those in command of the
dirigible as she hung in the air
above, and Immediately the monster
tilted her nose downward and pre-
pared to land
Ceremonie. to Be Simple.
The radio and the arrival of the
Presidential party on the field was
also the signal for renewed activity
on the part of the 300 sailors grouped
on the field, who for days have been
schooled in the problem Of landing
the big ship. They had been put
through one intensive drill an hour
or SO before and they waited i'm
patiently to fulfill the most delicate
and important task of the ships trip
TO Washington.
y misstep on their part might send
he giant ship crashing her nose
against hangar. The absence of
wind, however. was expected to make
their task much simpler.
The christening ceremonies will be
simple. Mrs Coolidge will come on
the field when the ship is made fast
and pull a cord. which will release
a f1uttering crowd OF white pigeons.
which will be accompanied on their
flight aloft by myriads of vari-
colored toy balloons. At the same
time the guns from q nearby battery
will fire a salute of 81 guns and the
band, stationed on the field. Will play
The Star Spangled Banner.
Two temporary stands, draped in
naval signal flags, many of them now
obsolete, were erected for the spec
tators at the christening ceremony,
and directly in front of them stood
the pIeSlueHlidi DOA, from "nlcn Mrs.
Coolidge will christen the dirigible
the Los Angeles. Flanking the presi-
Dental stand on either side were four
rows of seats for members of the
cabinet, Government officials and
other invited guests. Only a small
group or newspaper and camera men
had arrived at the naval air station
when the dirigible was first sighted
coming into Washington. A big am
plifier, directly behind the temporary
stand, erected by radio engineers at
the naval station, kept the crowd in
constant touch with the movements
of the big ship during its cruise over
Washington.
Purr of Motor Heard.
With the sun glistening against her
silver colored body the worlds larg-
est dirigible moved into Washington
almost silently except for the purr
of two of her five motors. Coming
into the District over the Northeast
section. she gracefully turned south
ward toward the aviation reservation
at Anacostia, while the handful Of
spectators and two airplanes enthu-
siastically received her. The reason
for the lack of a large body of sight
seers was due to the fact that the
ship came in one hour ahead of sched-
ule, it having been announced she
would reach the city about o'clock.
White Star Appears.
AS the craft came closer large white
star with a red center. and inclosed in a
blue circle, stood out plainly just for
ward Of the cabin. Along her sleek side,
plainly visible, were written "U. s.
Navy" Aft was another big star. and
next to it were the words Los Angeles"
The five motor gondolas, suspended
two on each side and one aft, were tiny
in comparison to the mammoth body
Slowly over the field. and at an altitude
of 1900 feet, the five motors that
powered the ship across the treacherous
Atlantic hummed merrily, and one could
almost feel that the 10 Germans, part
of the crew that carried her from Ger
many and who have been retained to
give the Americans the benefit of dirigi-
BILE operation, were straining their eyes
behind the cabin windows to get their
lContinued on Page 2, Column 4.)