Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-19
Zeppelin Commander Guest
at White House Breakfast
in Busy Day.
REPEATS VIEWS FAV0RING
D. C. AS AIR TERMINUS
He Will Take Dirigible West We'd
nesday for Tour Before Return
to. Germany.

The highest honors ever paid a for
eign aviator by this country were ac-
corded today by President Coolidge and
the National Capital to DR.. Hugo Eek
ener, commander of the German dirig-
ible Graf Zeppelin.
Accompanied by his first officer,
Capt. Ernst A. lehman, and three of
his passengers on the momentous trans
atlantic flight, Dr. Eckener arrived at
Union Station at o'clock this morn
ing and plunged Immediately into
full days program. The passengers
who came to this city with DR.. Eckener
were Col. Emilio Herrera, Spanish OBJ
server on the dirigible; Count Alex
ander Won Brandenstein-zeppe SON.
in-law of the inventor of the great
dirigibles bearing his name, and Comdr.
Charles E. Rosendahl, U. S. NJ. COM
mander of the Navy dirigible Los
Angeles.
The party was met at Union Station
by Government and diplomatic officials
and DR.. Eckener and Capt Lehmann
were given rousing welcome by
crowd of several hundred there despite
the early hour of arrival.
Official Welcome Given.
DR.. Eckener was officially welcomed
to the Capital by F. Trubee Dawson,
Assistant Secretary of War for Aero
ant Secretary of the Navy for Aero
nautics. Others in the welcoming
party included Maj. Frank N. Kennedy,
Army Air Corps, who was passenger
on the Los Angeles, formerly the Ger
man Zeppelin ZR-3, when she was
| flown to this country four years ago
| by DR.. Eckener; DIR. Otto G. Kiep, coun-
selor of the German embassy and
| charge d'affaires ad interim; Maj.
! Casajos military attache of the Span
/ ish embassy, and Glen w. Gerson, man
| ager of the Carlton Hotel, whose guest
| the German commander will be while
/ in Washington.
| The visitors passed through roped-off
lanes of cheering spectators in leaving
| the station and paused at the preSi-
| Dental entrance to satisfy the de-
| mands of score of photographers and
newsreel cameramen. They were then
| taken by automobile, with police motor
| cycle escort, through deserted streets.
to the Carlton Hotel, where a small
crowd had gathered to see the party.
DR.. Eckener held a brief press con-
ference in his rooms at the Carlton
just before leaving for the White House
as breakfast guest of President Cool
idge.
Will Leave Tomorrow.
DR.. Eckener told reporters that he
would leave washington at $3.50 o'clock
tomorrow afternoon with Capt. Leh-
mann. He plans to go by railroad to
Akron, Ohio, the home of the Goodyear
Zeppelin Corporation, where he will re-
main Sunday night, and then proceed
to Chicago.
He viii return to Lakehurst, N. j.,
Tuesday night to take over command
again of the Graf Zeppelin, which is
being repaired and refueled Il the
Navy dirigible hangar. He will take
the ship on the proposed Middle West
trip at about 5 o'clock Wednesday
morning, heading for East st. Louis,
where he will spend Wednesday night.
The Graf Zeppelin will be tied up to
a dlrlglble mooring mast at Scott Field,
Belleville, Ill.
The American tour will be resumed
Thursday morning and the Zeppelin
VIII return to Lakehurst Thursday
Tor the return flight to Germany on
Saturday, DR.. Eckener said. Asked
whether he will have any passengers
on MS Western trip, DR.. Eckener said:
No Pay Passengers.
Il will have several invited guests.
put no pay passengers. The invitations
nave been sent out from Lakehurst. but
I cannot tell you now who is on the
list or just what cities We will fly over.
l wish to say that it will be absolutely
impossible for me to accept all the in
vitations for the Graf Zeppelin to fly
over cities because it would not take
two days, but two months, and / must
get back TO Germany. I want all these
cities to know, however, that I appre-
ciate their invitations and am sorry
cannot accept them ALL"
DR.. Eckener said that he could not
elaborate at this time on his announce
ment that he is considering the estab-
l1shment of great transatlantic diri-
gible passenger and mail route with
the United States terminus in the
vicinity Of this city.
washington would be the ideal
terminus for such route he said
mot only because it is the Capital of
your Nation but because of generally
favorable weather conditions here and
because it is a natural center of traffic
on the Atlantic seaboard.'
Larger Airships Planned.
In his announcement of the proposed
route, made at New York, DR.. Eckener
said that it is planned to employ at
least four huge dirigibles even larger
than the Graf Zeppelin.
President Coolidge's breakfast guests
in addition to Dr. Eckener were Comdr.
Rosendahl, Capt. Lehman, Count
Brandenstein-Z -Zepplin, Secretary of the
Navy Wilbur, Secretary of Interior
West. j. Ruben Clark, acting Secretary
of State; Chancellor Kiep, Assistant
Secretary Dawson, Assistant Secretary
Warner and William P. MacCracken, jr.,
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Aeronautics and Col Osman Latrobe
and Capt. Wilson Brown. White House
aides.
Leaving the White House, DR.. Eek
ener and his companions were taken to
the Massachusetts, avenue headquarters
Of Herbert Hoover, where another crowd
had gathered. In receiving DR.. Eckener.
Mr.. Hoover expressed the hope that
regular transatlantic air service could
be built up, adding that every shorten
ing of communication between nations
added solidarity between the peoples Of
the earth.
Seeking Best Routes.
Dr. Eckener replied that the flight of
the Graf Zeppelin was the first of sew
eral trial flights he hopes to make, both
to establish confidence in lighter-than-