Evening star., 1925-09-21
GLOOM SURROUNDS
D|R|C|BLE PROBE
Tragedy Has Left Lakehurst
Field DisspIrited-Future
of Airships at Stake.
by Consolidated Pros.

Ky Consolidated Press.
LAKEHURST. n. j., September
21.-No more depressing scene could
have been selected to determine the
future of lghter-than-air craft, at
least as far as the United States
Navy is concerned, than this. where
n high court of inquiry is delving into
the causes of the Shenandoah trag-
edy. It is in the Shenandoah offices.
high up on n mezzanine balcony of
the mammoth hangar at the naval
air station, whence the Daughter of
the Stars" sailed forth to meet her
doom.
Looking down from their eerie
perch. the court members could see
all of value that was left of the
Shenandoah-the trucks on which she
was trundled forth for her last flight,
a set Of painted markings on the floor
where the big ship had rested. And
a mass of tangled WreckaSe.
Letting their eyes stray on a little
farther, the investigating officers
could see the great hulk of the Shen-
andoah'S sister ship the Los Angeles,
almost entirely dismantled. Her gas
bags have been taken out for patch
ing. Her engines have been removed
and sent away for overhauling. She
will not be back in commission for
several months.
Air Station Dispirited.
A couple of half-infated blimps,
which also have not flown for months,
complete the picture-save for a cou-
pie of big blackboards which still
bear the Shenandoahs last sailing
orders; on them have since been
pinned notes expressing the gratitude
Of a half-dozen Shenandoah widows for
tenderness shown them by the post.
Lakehurst is undeniably a dispirlt-
ed air station. The flyers have lost
none of their daring. They would
sail today in the flimsiest aircraft
imaginable, were they ordered to do
so. But the shock of losing IA of
their fellows, and with them the Shen-
andoah, has left the post a little
apathetic; more than a little dis
Couraged.
If the Shenandoah, with its gallant
crew, could not master the elements.
they wonder what airship could.
Moreover, some of them are recalling
the Scant measure of success as
military weapon which the dirigible
was able to score in the World War.
The diIigible. these critics say, cannot
do anything in war time that an air
plane cannot do. They are no match
for airplanes in combat. and they are
far more costly and more dangerous.
Defenders of the dirigible concede
that big airships have yet to prove
themselves as effectual war weapons.
The Germans spread a certain
amount of terror with their night
raids over London and Paris, but the
British quickly developed an airplane
defense that put the Zeppelin fleet
out of commission.
Seeks to "Show Up" Mitchell.
The dirigible advocates concede also
that postwar experiences with lighter
than-air ships, particularly Americas
experience, has been most painful.
But. they contend, the airship is yet
in its infancy. If it can be rendered
safe it promises to reVolutioniZe long
distance travel, and America cannot
afford to fall any farther behind in
the development of aeronautics.
The court of inquiry will sit two
weeks, maybe three or four. 1t will
amass reams and reams of testimony,
much of it technical. And in the end
1t will report back to Secretary of
the Navy Wilbur why it thinks the
Shenandoah was wrecked. and what,
if anything, can be done to make
dirigibles safer.
one other thing II Will do II ap-
parently well authenticated reports
are substantiated. 1t will seek to
show up Col. BILLY" Mitchell as
lacking in knowledge of gas-flying
sufficient to have warranted his charge
of almost criminal negligence" on
the part of the Navy Department in
sending the Shenandoah on her fatal
trip. And thus it will lay the ground
for the public spanking Col. Billy"
seems to be in for when his court
martial begins
But the really big job is to settle
the future of the airShin