Evening star., 1924-11-26

merly the German dirtgible ZR-5, to-
day Is secured In her hangar at
Lakehurst. n. j.. alongside the Amer
lean built Shenandoah. awaiting
future OF mbitious hopes and plans.
Although designed for non military
purposes only. the giant ship will
remain for the present in the keep
ing of the Navy. until her future
career has been definitely marked out.
Darkness was beginning TO close
over the aviation f1eld at Anacostia,
D. c., yesteI ly. when the worlds
largest airship and queen Of lighter
than-air craft. was walked" up to
fiag-decked platform by 800 blue
Jackets, where Mrs. Coolidge pulled
a red, white and blue cord. cried, Il
christen thee Los Angeles" and re-
leased a flock of pigeons, which bore
the announcement In the form OF
Biblical quotation, that the ZR-3 had
been christened
Attached to the legs Of the pigeons
were small pieces of paper bearing
the quotation, from the second chap
ter Of Luke, thirteenth and fourteenth
verses, as follows:
And suddenly there was with the
angel multitude OF the heavenly
host praising God and saying: Glory
to God in the highest and on earth
Ship Is Commissioned.
While the bluejackets held the ship
down with lines and bars attached
to the cabin and the after motor gon-
dola, Rear Admiral B. F. Hutchinson,
commandant of the navy yard ana
admiral of the Washington district.
read his orders and placed the ship
in commission. Capt. George W..
Steele, jr., prevented from command
ing the ship on its first American
flight owing to illness. then read his
orders as skipper. a commission pen
nant was broken out" In front OF
the cabin and the Navy Band played
the national anthem.
The President and Mrs Coolidge
then made an inspection Of the cabin
followed by Secretary OF the Navy
Wilbur and other dignitaries, while
the invited guests to the ceremony
crowded around in an effort to get
aboard. From the cabin windows and
the motor gondolas members or the
original German crew that flew her
across the Atlantic, wearing caps
with a shield in the form OF Il
with the figure of a dirigtble passing
through 1t, watched hte proceedings
and appeared not at all excited.
With the departure Of President and
Mrs Coolidge, Admiral William A.
Morfett, chief Of the Bureau Of Aero
nautics, went aboard for the return
trip. The commission pennant was
withdrawn, and the admirafs flag Of
two white stars on a field Of blue was
suspended by weighted cord in
front OF the cabin. In addition to
Admiral Moffett. Commander IL. G
Richardson, Col. T. c. Turner, chief
- ~
Commander Norneet and Lieut.. Ralph
Ofstie went aboard for the return
trip.
Leaps Into Air.
The field was cleared by a detach-
ment Of maripes and the dirigible
slowly turned around. with her nose
pointing in a northwesterly direction.
Suddenly the motors were started. the
bluejackets holding down the forward
part let go" as whistle blew,
while the detachment at the stern
held on just little longer in order
TO get the nose in the air first. Then
a roar from the five motors and the
big ship gracefully leaped into the
air. Skimming the top of the Army
War College, it continued to gain
altitude. and as the sky turned into
darkness it's dim outline could be
seen flying northeastward.
"She is some speedy ship" declared
Lieut.. Walter L. Richardson of the
Bureau of Aeronautics, who made the
trip UP from Lakehurst. II crawled
down a ladder which extends from
the body Of the ship to a motor car. and
I never encountered huch a blast in
my life. I've walked out on wings
of airplanes in fight, but the rush
Of wind there never was as severe
as on this ship. She must have been
making at least 70 knots"
Forced to XIII Time.
Lieut.: Richardson sad all went
aboard at 6 o'clock in the morning
and then had to wait until the sun
came up to allow the heium to
be super-heated. which would make
the dirigible lighter. we left Lake
hurst at o'clock and hardly knew
we were on our way before we pass
ed over Philadelphia. Then Comdr.
Klein cut down three motors, and re-
duced the speed SO as not to arrive
over Washington too much ahead OF
time. We circled Baltimore couple
of times and then went up to An
napolis to kill more time.
When We left Lakehurst the sun
was shining and the sky clear. but after
20 minutes of flying things bIackened
UP, and the clouds were dark and gusty.
We ran into the bumpiest air ever en-
countered. but the ship behaved wonder
fully. She pitched. but slowly and
gracefully. Just beyond Philadelphia
we lost 800 feet at one time Comdr,
Klein was greatly pleased with its per
for1nance in flight.
"As far as ] know there is no water
recovery apparatus on the motors. and
consequently when we were ready t.
land the ship was much lighter tha-
all expected. Lots Of fuel had been use +
up. and the warm sunlight on the he!iu
had expanded it. Comdr. Klein did nr
want to waste any Of the valuable ga
by valving 1t out in order to have tn
ships weight bring US down. but wa
forced to in the end. after three unsuc-
cessful attempts to get close enough to
be hauled down by the ground force"
Germans Take Pictures.
Lieut.. Richardson said the 10 Ger
mans aboard exhibited much interest
in the American cities and one had
a large German camera with which
he made pictures of Baltimore, Phila-
delphia, Annapolis and many parts
Of Washington for the purpose of
taking them back to Germany. Five
of the Germans were distributed one
each in the five motor gondolas for
the purpose Of helping the American
engineers on duty there to handle
the motors, but Lieut. Richardson
dc clared "our boys know all about
them now" The remaining five were
in the cabin and didn't seem to have
any particular job.
While the cabin was not heated. it
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