Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-02-03

| breathing compressed air, all aper.
lures being closed. No sign of earth
lay below US. and, except for the
barely perceptible throb of the en-.
! gines and the roll of that wonderful
navigating globe, nothing indicated
| the high speed at which we were
travelling. No lights were shown ex.
te.nally, but the glow of the stars
! in the tropical night was enough
dimly to illumine the shape of oul
! sister ship astern, little to the side
| to escape the backwash of our sia
propellers.
| After a steady progress of about
seven hours. the silver hulls were
| tinted by the first flush OF dawn
| while the sea Of cloud far below us
still lay unlit and inky. We were
approaching VINEYARD Passage, be-
tween Cuba and Haiti Jamaica
though we could see nothing of IT OF
of the sea, lay on our port bow
ahead. Quickly the light grew, and
the clouds under US, now paling &c
delicate green, began to break UP
| into patches and to dispense. Then
in flash of time we saw through a
break in the veil of cloud an arc OF
bright, scintiilating spots against the
| dark blue of the sea. The spots were
planes. no doubt thrown out to in
tercept the passage of airships should
| they approach that way,
At a word from the chief, one of
| the men turned a little wheel, and
| almost at once both ships foated in
a thick vapor that soon dispersed in
the air behind them, while a mass
| of 1T yet seemed TO cling about the
hulls. From below the effect must
have been as of two slight wisps OF
| extremely high cloud. We could not
see the planes, nor apparently had
| they seen the airships, for half an
hour passed and we picked up no
radio or sign to indicate that we
| were pursued. The vapor was turne
| off
Day grew, and the ships were sail
| ing In a cloudless sky. Below, the
masses of Cuba and Haiti faded dim
| ly into the west and southe l.
Ahead, the Bahamas dotted the ce-
rulean sea. The toe of Florida loom
ed up on the horizon, blue smear 10
the north on our port bow. 1t was
6 o'clock, and we had been cruising
nine hours. At the present speed we
were still six hours off Washington
Here and there op the sea below US
the black dots OF steamers were to
| be seen. One of these, almost gray
| in tone. sped faster than the others
| and even at the distance II was easy
| 20 see that she was a ship OF war
White Vapor suddenly wreathed the
gray dot, and under the airships, toe
| far below for harm, there mush-
roomed the saffron puffs of bursting
shells. Then the open receiver OF
our ships ordinary radio sung to
| the lorg-short of Morse.
"Four-fifty meters" the chief said
10 a man called Sam Poster. and into
the special radio at once, jam
Poster jumped for the key and be-
gan to rattle nonsense on IT. The
| warship below still was partly en-
veloped in Vapor, and the air under
US was dotted with she'll bursts
| Then, when we passed over her and
she got the angle for guns of greater
caltber, she opened fire with this
heavier armament, throwing the big
| shells high above the airships.
Full speed, Deyonridge." said the
chief. Wen trouble them to find
the range"
Devonridge touched the control and
the ship leaped to the access of pow