Evening star., 1925-09-04
Twisting Off of Control and
Radio Cabins Opened Holes
in Mammoth Bag and Air
Rushing in BuckIed Frame.
SURVIVORS TELL GRAPHIC
STORIES OF NIGHT WRECK
Crew Heroically Worked After
Ship Collapsed to Bring Down
Fluttering Fragments of Big
Craft Without Loss Of Life.
Many Thrown Out in Midair.
Rr the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press
CALDWELL, Ohio, September A.
Air rushing into holes torn in the
Shenandoah by the twisting off Of the
radio and control cabins caused the
buckling of the ship and its breaking
up into two major parts. in the opin-
ion of the naval board Of inquiry that
visited the wreckage of the ships
prov today.
Swapping Of guy wires at the same
time that the cabins were torn away
in the gale also served to weaken the
structure.
The stress upon the hull Of the ship
by it's rolling and rising and falling in
the wind and electric storm are be-
lieved responsible for the wrenching
loose of the cabins.
Nothing Could Avert Disaster.
Comdr S. NJ. Kraus, Comdr. G. Full
ton, Lieut. Comdr. William Nelson and
c. P. Burgess. expert technicist on air
ship construction, all of Lakehurst
n. j., visited the wreckage Of the
ships nose in company with Lieut.. X.
G.. Mayer, one of the survivors who
landed with that portion IL miles from
where the tan and midsection fell.
In discussing the crash. it was
agreed among the inquirers that
nothing could have prevented the dis
aster except. perhaps, greater speed
to get away from such gale.
Technicist Burgess said that ships
had not as yet been devised capable
Of attaining a speed sufficient to have
served the purpose, however eH'f'f~e
Comdr. Kraus said II would be use
less to attempt to salvage any OF the
wreckage for further use. Salvaging
even for experimental and study pur-
poses was prevented by the looting
that has occurred. Lieut.. Mayer said
that when the prov landed it was in
tact except for he two cabins that
had been lost. Today when he escort
ed the inquirers to the hillside on
which the wreckage lay the frame
work was stripped of every loose
article.
Wreck Stripped.
Covering and cells had all been torn
away with the exception of some of
the silver cloth over the uppermost
part of the ships remnant. Cables,
platforms, joints. gasoline tanks, cleo
tric communication. .wires-everything
detachable was gone.
LoOting had stopped today at
Sharon, however, an improvised guard
of American Legion men in overalls.
straw hats, khaki belts and carrying
rifles standing watch and keeping
spectators beyond the fences.
The body of Celestino P. Mazzuco
was ordered shipped to his father,
August MaZzuco, at Murray Hill, n. j.
The Navy Bureau of Medicine and
Surgery advised Lieut.. Comdr. Charles
Rosendahl to telegraph relatives of
victims whose bodies were badly mu-
tilated, suggesting that they consult
with local undertakers before viewing
the bodies.
All Looting Stopped.
Crowds continued to swarm about
the main section of the wrecked air
ship today. They began to arrive at
daylight and all day automobiles and
pedestrians crowded the narrow, dusty
rough road leading east one and a
half miles from Ava to the wreck.
In some places the reddish dust is
four inches deep and frequently auto
mobiles are forced to stop and await
the clearing of the dust in the air SO
that drivers can pilot their cars on
the hilly road. This adds to the traffic
congestion.
All looting has been stopped by a
detail of soldiers from Fort Hayes, at
at a distance of 100 feet. from the
wreckage. Meanwhile, as the crowds
continue to come, hundreds of dollars
poured into the pockets OF Charles
Niswonger, owner of the farm where
the main section of the ship landed.
Many gained entrance to the field
without admission, crawling under
fences.
What remains of the only American
l{,-;or
by the wind much the same as an
ocean-going ship aground is broken up
by the waves.
Fourteen dead members of the crew,
including Lieut.. Comdr Zachary
I.ansdowne, lay in an improvised
morgue in Belle Valley, their faces
uncovered to the view of the visiting
hundreds.
Two I'm Hospital.
Two injured members of the crew
are in a Marietta hospital.
Nothing could have saved the dirigi-
BILE in it's battle with the storm, accord
ing to the consensus of all members
of the crew. Neither was it any fault
of the ship, in their opinion. The dis
aster was the result of the most feared
of storms to an aviator, a line squall,
the result of the clash of hot and cold
currents of air.
Lieut.. Comdr. Charles Rosendahl,
who came into command of the crew
after the death Of GoIpdr. Lansdowne
and Lieut.. Conldr. Louis j. Hancock,
declared that nothing could have saved
the Shenandoah and that human hands
could not have fashioned a ship to live
through the ordeal.
At the same time Navy officials are
1Cnntin1ied cr Pa re D Cninrnn d