Evening star., 1925-12-13

pieces in the air with the loss of her
captain, Comdr. Zachary Lansdowne,
and 13 of her crew. the ship herself
being totally destroyed.
X
So F. we are pessimistically inclined, ;"
says Secretary Wilbur. I'VE can
look al the shattered hulk of the Shen-
andoah and deprecate the decadence
of the United States Navy, but if we
go into the clouds and see the gallant
commander of that ship, unperturbed
ard undismayed, giving his order in a
quiet conservational tone for the man
agement of his ship in the storm
which he encountered; if we see the
men and officers under him perform
ing their duties unhesitatingly and
without evidence of fear: if, after the
tearing away of the control cabin. we
note the remainder of the crew han
ding the broken parts of the ship and
bringing them safely to earth; if, in
stead Of dwelling upon the loss of life,
deplorable and heart breaking as il is,
we recognize the worth of the men
who fought with the elements. we see
occasion not only for congratula ton
that the men of the Navy are operat-
ing the Navy with the same courage
and skill and determination that they
have always operated it, but also we
Will note that the expectations of
those who designed the ship, with its
lS Independent gas cells, We're justified
In their belief that these separate cells
or balloons would, in event Of disaster,
provide a relatively safe means of
escape. The greatest loss of life in
the Shenandoah accident was due to
the breaking away of the control car"
1t may well be added that the real
cause Of the disaster appears to have
been the lack of adequate and fire.
quent weather reports. which are nee
esSary and must be provided, all eX-
perts agree, if we desire to develop
air navigation to its ultimate destiny
| with safety over the continental area
, of the United States.
While the Navy was mourning the
| loss of lives in the Shenandoah acci-
dent. on September the destroyer
Noa suffered an explosion In her
boiler room, killing four Of her crew.
These men, trapped within narrow linn
it's, without chance of escape, were in
simultaneously surrounded by cloud
Of super-heated steam.
Before the Navy could recover from
| these two terrible disasters word came
| on September 25 that the steamship
City of Rome, off Block Island had
rammed the submarine S-51 and that
the submarine had gone to the bottom.
| carrying to their death "a members Of
her crew.
Pitiful as disasters of this kind are,
they are typical of the hazards of the
sea, for under the most propitious cir
cumstances a seafaring life is danger
GUS. The safeguards which are the
| development Of centuries and which
have been thrown around the mariner
and his floating home by governments
and shipping operators intent on re-
ducing maritime losses. while contrib
| uting to the safety of ocean naviga-
ton, cannot remove certain definite
! hazards always and forever present.
The latest visitation Of the iinx
| was on October 25 at Baltimore, where
during a tornado which swept over
| the eastern part of the country IT
seaplanes broke from their moorings
| and were dashed against u sea wall,
totally destroying six Of the planes.
| seriously damaging five and slightly
damaging six more. No lives were
lost.
Not including the Shenandoah disas-
ter and the sweeping smashup of the