Evening star., 1925-09-26
Saw Bag Debated Before
Hearing Ship Crack,
He Asserts.
AFT ENGINE CAR BROKE
FIRST, SURVIVOR AYERS
Lieut.. Anderson's Evidence Is Ex-
pected to Throw Light on
Cause of Disaster.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
LAkEHURST, y. J., September IS.
Additional testimony indicating a
failure of gas cells in the airship
Shenandoah was given today to the
naval court of inquiry here. which Is
meeting to ascertain the cause of the
disaster to that craft.
August c. Querenheim, one of the
survivors, said he saw one cell in the
after part of the ship debated before
he heard the cracking of the ship.
Similar testimony was given yester.
day by James II. Collier, chief rigger
on the Shenandoah.
1T is possible the ship had broken
at frame 105 before that time
Querenheim said. 1T would have
been difficult for me to hear a sound
that far away"
Describe the character of the defia-
tion." directed Judge Advocate Foley.
Whole Cell Dropped.
THE lower part of the gas cell was
cupped up one does when debated,
Querenheim said. Then the whole
cell dropped down to the axial cable.
After that l didn't take much note of
it.
This was slightly before l heard
the cracking up of the ship, but |
think the ship had cracked before
that time, because Coleman, who was
either on the ladder or at the ladder,
came up into the ship from an engine
car aft and told me he had seen No.
engine car carry away. 1t was after
that the gas cell became Debated"
Chief attention of the court was
directed yesterday to the testimony of
the remaining survivors of the airship
Shenandoah as to the condition of the
helium gas cells just before or at the
time of the wrecking Of that craft.
Collier, chief rigger, who had super
vision over the cells, created mild
sensation late yesterday, with the
statement that there was a failure of
several gas bags before the ship foun-
dered.
1t was the first testimony of this
character to be adduced and was in
direct conflict with that of dozen or
more others, who had declared that
they neither heard nor saw anything
indicating that there had been such
failure.
Saw Bags Debated.
Collier. who was awakened from
sleep just before the crash, was very
he was satisfied when he woke up and
saw several of the bags debated about
80 per cent that the ship was doomed,
adding that he so told another of the
crew in a bunk nearby.
More than half a dozen survivors
were called today for re-examination,
among them Lieut.. Bauch and Mayer,
who assisted in bringing down diff
ferent parts of the ship.
The examinations conducted yes
terday developed some rather sharp
conflicts as to the sequence in which
the ship broke, but this was not con-
sidered unusual, taking into account
the stress of the time and the different
locations of the men on the craft.
There was agreement that the ship
actually broke in two forward of
amidships, but whether this happen
ed before or at the same time or after
the control car fell furnished the main
points of differences in the narratives.
Although only one session of the
court was arranged for today, Judge
Advocate Foley was hopeful that the
remaining survivors who have been
here since the first of the inquiry
could be heard before adjournment so
that Monday might be given over to
the examination of Lieut.. J. B. An
derson, the only survivor whose story
has not been told.
Lieut.. AndersOn's Testimony.
This officer arrived here last night
from Ohio. where he has been conduct
ing an investigation to determine just
what were the weather conditions
around Noble County just before and
at the time of the catastrophe.
Lieut.. Anderson was the aerological
officer of the Shenandoah and is re-
garded as one of the foremost author
tiles on this subject in the Navy. He
has had long training both in this
country and abroad and is considered
as an expert witness before the court.
Lieut.. Anderson probably had the
most thrilling experience of all the
survivors. He was leaving the con-
troll car just as it fell and caught
the keel of the ship by his hands.
He swung in that position for several
minutes until Lieut.. Mayer could pass
him a rope and haul him to a safe
place in the bow of the ship, which
had broken away then and was free
ballooning at a very high altitude.