Evening star., 1925-09-04
VALUABLE LESSON
IS SEEN IN CRASH
Officers Say Need for De-
veIoping Craft to Battle
Weather Is Shown.
BY Consolidated Press.

BY Consolidated Press.
CALDWELL, Ohio, September A.
One glance at the giant Shenandoah,
once the pride OF the naval air serv-
ice, sprawled out. crumpled and
broken, it's torn parts scattered over
this rough countryside, and the lay
man is convinced of the futility of
lighter-than- craft.
But not so the air navigators them
selves, though they are terribly shock
ed by the third tragic ending to Amer
, ican ventures into dirigible operation.
! Surviving officers of the Inflated Shen-
andoah, as well as other naval air
officials here, have not lost hope that
some day a perfectly safe lighter-than-
air ship will be built. While not talk
| ing for publication, they see this dis
aster as affording one more lesson to
be utilized in any further construc-
ton. Helium gas. developed in this
| country, eliminated the danger of ex-
| ploSions, the cause of previous disas-
| ters, but there remains the task of de-
| veloping ship structurally perfect to
| withstand the elements.
Wind Too Strong.
Thursdays disaster was simply a
case of the wind getting the better of
| the ship. A few more minutes and 1t
| would have passed the local twister
/ that enveloped it when above the
| rough hills of southern Ohio. The
| gale and changing air currents proved
| too much, however, and the ship
| buckled.
| But" say rhe naval officers. there
are perils that nature furnishes for
| every sort of transportation. Ocean
liners, including the supposedly per-
feet Titanic, have come to grief as a
result of natural accidents. Railroad
trains have had their troubles. In
stead of giving up attempts to over
come them, builders have set about
to meet emergencies.
THE lighter-than-air craft is still
pioneering. 1t is realized now as
never before that stress must be put
on bettering the structural part of
i the ships to make them invulnerable
i in violent air disturbances. That
| problem will have to be solved in the
same way that other transportation
problems have been solved"
Souvenir Hunters Busy.
The loss of the valuable helium gas
was another toll of the disaster. In
spection of the widely separated parts
of the ship, with the rear section
scattered over mile of hilly coun-
tryside and the front section nine
miles south, shows that all compart-
ments have been broken. If they had
not been broken by the fall itself
their fate would have been sealed
when the famous native American
| souvenir hunter got on the job.
Only a. part of the Shenandoah
wreckage remained when troops came
| in numbers to care for the situation
! Most every household in this section
of the State today is showing a piece
of the Inflated ship. Furnishings oi
the very cabin in which Lieut.. Comdr
Lansdowne and his men met then
death have been taken by the ire
pressible seeker of souvenirs. -
Troops End Vandalism.
The covering of the ship in huge
chunks, parts of the structural work
in fact, everything that could be car
ried away-was picked UP by the
crowd. Troops finally have put ar
end TO the vandalism.
Naval officers from Lakehurst, n. j..
have set about making a systematic
study to determine the exact details
| of the disaster. One thing conclu
sively. demonstrated, as seen here, is
| that helfum gas is the ideal filler foI
lighter than-air ships. With hydrogen
in use the tragedy would likely have
spared nobody But the problem re
mains in emphasized form of devel
oping structurally perfect ship.