Evening star., 1925-01-03
D|R|G|bLES EASILY
RIDE WORST GALES
Officer From Shenandoah
Says Runaway" Flight
Proved This.

Deliberately planned tests, together
with unexpected and decidedly thrill
ing experiences with the big dirigible
Shenandoah, have demonstrated that
atrships of that type need have no
fear Of the hardest gales that blow,
Lieut.. J. B. Anderson told the Amer
lean Meteorological Society, which
met today in conjunction with the
concluding sessions of the American
Association for the Advancement of
Science.
Lieut.. Anderson was meteoroloRist
OF the Shenandoah's crew at the time
the great ship was torn loose from
her mooring mast at I.akehurst, n. J.,
some months ago, and was buffeted
by an 80 or 90 -mile-an-hour gale for
an entire night, weathering out the
storm despite the fact that her nose
had been ripped open and she was
heavy due TO loss of helium gas when
the break occurred.
Test Came Unexpectedly.
Although the breaking away of the
Shenandoah was purely an accident.
her officers and crew had hoped for
nothing better than just such a storm
for weeks. When il did come. how
ever 1T caught the ship with half of
Its crew ashore" and unprepared
for the tests the aviators had been
awaiting the opportunity to make,
Lieut.. Anderson declared.
We had been told" the speaker
SAID. that British dirigibles had
ridden out gales of a velocity of so
miles an hour. We felt confident our
ship and our crew were superior to any,
thing Great Britain had, so we looked
longingly for an opportunity to prove
that the Shenandoah could ride out a
oiow or like intensity at least We
were to have our chance, all right.
We just missed our first opportu-
nifty and the Shenandoah remained
snug In her shelter while the wind
howled at 62 miles an hour Then, one
Monday, 1 predicted gale before
night. Well, that night was the most
beautiful night you could imagine and
so was the next day and the crew be-
gan to inquire about my gale Wednes-
day, however, the barometer began fall
ing fast, and by night the wind had
reached a ground velocity of SO miles an
hour, which meant she was blowing
about 80 at the top Of the moof:ng mast
Feared for Safety.
with only half OF her crew
aboard, the Shenandoah was not
prepared to shove off that night and
began making anxious inquiries
as TO when we might expect the
gale to let up when I was told she
had broken loose. I looked out and
saw her sinking fast toward a wood
and began organizing a. search party.
thinking surely she would be de-
stroyed.
I'VE raced for the woods in auto
mobiles. but found no trace of the
Shenandoah. A farmer then told us
ne had heard her engines few minutes
before. That meant that her crew
was so efficient that before a 90
mile gale had swept her four miles,
the engineers had the engines going,
and I no longer had any fear as TO
her safety.
Il am told that one of the en-
gtneers had to climb out on the radi-
ator of his cockpit, right up in the
teeth of the gale. and turn his pro-
peilars over by hand. 1t was a great
testimonial to the efficiency of the
whole crew. But we were satisfied
after that flight that the Shenandoah
could weather the hardest gale that
blows"
Study Eject Of Lightning.
The next question, Lieut.. Anderson
said, was to decide the Shenandoah's
susceptibility to lightning bolts. She
was driven through thunder storms,
and IN several instances had different
storms crashing away on either side
or her. but came through every test
safely. Many times while en- route,
the speaker added, the Shenandoah
would engage in thrilling races with
clouds.
"One OF the most interesting Incl
dents I experienced aboard her oc-
curred on the trip to the Pacific coast.
We had just cleared the gap through
the Rocky Mountains when I saw a
dim cloud dead ahead. too close for us
to miss 1T. 1 barely had time to shout
stand by for heavy down gust when
we struck full force, and the rain,
hail and snow from the cloud bank
pelted US like bullets We began
shooting down like plummet when
the powerful down currents caught
us.
When we hit the cloud We were
more than 1000 feet up. When we
emerged from the storm we were less
than 800 feet from the ground, be-
cause our wireless antennae, which
hangs below the cabin, had been
wiped off. Once we cleared the cloud.
however, we scared up again almost
as fast as we had come down, and
the danger was past"
Meet Mt Weather Bureau.
The meeting Of the American Me-
teorological Society was held at the
Weather Bureau, Twenty-fourth and
M streets northwest, and was given
over to discussion relating to aerology.
Delegates to all sections Of the sew
enty-ninth convocation of the Ameri-
can Association for the Advancement
of Science were holding their con-
cluding sessions today and assessing
the progress reported in various
fields OF research.
Outstanding among these lines of
progress reported are those dealing
with the knowledge of the effects of
light on living things, of temperature
and atmospheric conditions of the
planets, and the effect of some forms
of electricity and of light upon the
determination of sex and the char
acter of offspring. Observations that
chimpanzees can really think attract
ed much attention.
Favor National Arboretum.
The association has gone on record
at the meeting as approving the pro-
posed reform of the calendar to a year
of 13 months of equal length: the pro-
jected national arboretum and botan-
ical garden, and the study of oceanic
conditions undertaken under the di-
rection of the Navy Department.
Other actions of the meeting have
included advocacy of a new national
park at Glacier Bay, Alaska. and the
condemnation of Government reclama-
ton of swamp lands not suitable for
farm land. but used by wild fowl.
Delegates, preparing for departure,
already were discussing plans for the
next annual meeting to be held in Kan
saS City. Mo-, in December.