Evening star., 1925-09-04
MISSTEP ON THE SHENANDOAH
MEANT DEATH, PASSENGER SAYS

Life aboard the lost Shenandoah
was one of ever r-present danger, an
existence separated from eternity by
thin layer of Gotten gauze. with
death waiting to claim the forfeit for
a careless step, and yet it was an ex-
istence of fascinating romance that
the agile vikings of the clouds soon
learned to love.
This. at least, was the way Junius
B. Wood saw it when he was a pas
senger aboard the big ship, once
queen of the skies, on its first trip
across the continent. Barriers of rank
had no room in the rugged life aloft;
officers and men lived in common
comraderie, facing common dangers.
Yet the discipline was as strict and
as perfect as aboard any ocean dread
nought afioat.
Day and night the life of the air.
ship is in the keel" said Mr. Wood,
writing in the National Geographic
Magazine of his trip. 1T is triangu
lar tunnel running the length Of the
ship. Its base is the thin cotton bot
tom panel of the outer covering of the
big tube; its equilateral sides are the
gas bags, when they strain full
against the wire and twine network
which holds them in place.
Cats walk" Tests Nerve.
~. I'm the center, 6S2 feet long, from
nose TO tail fins, is the runway, 9
inches wide. 1t is called the cats
walk. from the skill required to tread
it. The thin cotton covering, IL inches
below, gives a false sense of security;
but the ground, usually 5000 feet be-
low, is only two steps removed. A
roughly stitched rent in the cotton
shows where one man made the first
step. and with true sailor veracity the
marks of the fingers are shown
where he gripped the steel-hardened
duralumin to save himself from taking
the second step. No admonitions are
row path. The crew, as nimble as
structural steel workers, trot along,
pass each other, and even stop to
-Four lateral ruhways pierce the
sides of the tube to ladders leading
into motor gondolas. Though the run
way is precarious, negotiating an un-
inclosed ladder 5000 feet above the
ground while speeding 20 miles an
hour requires cooler nerves.
Men skip up and down and even
stand on the gondoias to watch the
passing scenery.
Every five meters in the tunnel,
corresponding to the outer circular
ribs, is a triangular frame of latticed
girders. In the center of the ship the
triangular frames are IL feet across
and 9 feet between base and apex. The
sides become shorter in the ends, and
cross -girders. One bump convinceS
the most skeptical of the rigidity of
the Shenandoah.
In the upper angle of the triangle
is the rubber gas pipe, wilted and
loose or puffed to the size of an 49,
inch water main, according to alti-
tude. F'lanking 1t are the metal fuel
and water pipes. At the sides, dis
tributed so the load will be equalized
through the length, are the 724-pound
gasoline tanks, the smaller cans OF
lubricating oil. and the sleeping hunks
for officers and men. One habituated
youth slept in a hammock, only the
cotton between him and space, as
comfortable as if his bed were swung
between the towering aerials of the
Arlington wireless station.
Decks of Thin Plywood.
"At intervals along the runway are
three decks, little 12-foot-square plat
forms Of thin plywood. One Is for
the mooring equipment and the other
two are euphoniously designed as
officers quarters and crews quarters
Though discipline does not deteriorate
side is lacking on an airship. In.
stead of suite of three rooms and
private bath and messboy, to wh'ol
a rear admiral is entitled on bat
tleship. his private bunk is not diff.
| ferent from those of the crew. The
same sized shaving mirrors, the only
luxury aboard, are in both quarters.
The rations are the same, the combi.
nation cook and messboy is the same
mess hours are whenever anybody
! has time to eat, and as the food, in.