Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-10-29
DIRICIBLE
CONTINUED from page one.)

and headed back through the moon
light skies for its home port at
Friendrichshafen. Germany. whence
il came October Is. II left al 1854
q. m.
With three score men and one
woman aboard, the greatest airship
that ever flew the skies was drag
ged tail first from the hangar not
long after midnight ard then, SEEM
ing suddenly TO acquire a life Of It's
W il lifted proudly against the
moon and strobe away on its jour
ney across the seas. 60
All day yesterday departure Of the
zeppelin on its return flight had re-
NAMED in doubt. Zero hour for the
ground crew Of sailors. who have
been in constant attendance on the
great ship since its arrival from
Europe two weeks Z today. was
first set for five o'clock in the aft
ernoon and then advanced to mid
night. But even then no one seemed
really to believe that the ship would
leave.
Departure Rapid
But midnight came and action fol-
lowed with breathless swiftness. The
passengers were bundled aboard.
chatting feverishly and Erinning
with something Of d~esperature in
their smiles.
The ground crew. more than 900
sailors trained to such rents BY fire.
quent handling Of the Los Angeles.
marched to their posts and grasped
the air monster as unceremoniously
rs n mother pushes a baby carriage.
Out OF the hangar the sailors walk
ed the 77S-foot craft as though it
were a little blimp such as the two
that have huddled under the tail OF
the navy dirigible Los Angeles Stree
the Graf Zeppelin came to crowd
them into one corner Of the hangar
At 1880 the Graf Zeppelin was
clear of the hangar. and so had pass
ed one If the most %perilous mo-
ments Of any flight. For ore OF the
greatest dangers is the possibility Of
some errant gust Of wind pushing
the ship against the hangar walls
and ripping its silver flanks against
the steel bulkheads.
Big ship Set Free
Out ir the night the zeppelin was
n great black monster with a fin OF
silver down it's back where the noon
struck. II twisted toward the north
and moved ponderously under the
sailors exnert guidance. 20 a hollow
far enough from the hangar SO that
there would be no danger OF being
flown against the towering steel
structure.
And then:
"Weigh ship" an officer beloved.
The ground crew released its
many handed hold. The Graf Zeppe-
I'M. \ giant waking from a deep
sleep. lifted its head slowly as
though shifting the relish of the
morning air, and then 2 roar ot i've
great engines split the night.
The Graf Zeppelin shot upwaT4
toward the NOON. and circled maJes-
tically overhead Once in the air
all its sluggishness seemed to have
vanished.
In a large circle it swung about
the air station and then headed
eastward toward the ocean 1t must
cross 10 return to its home station.
Eckener Sends Thanks
During he first hour Of flight
CAPTAIN Hugo Eckener. pilot of the
Graf Zeppelin. dispatched three mes
sages of thanks for the reception
given the dirigible crew while n
America.
Three United States navy officers
are aboard the zeppelin as guest OBJ
servers on her %homeward flight,
They are Commander NJ. X. Pierce,
executive officer OF the Lakehurst
naval air station; Lieut.. G. ". Set
tie. engineer officer Of the Los An
reles. and Lieut.. q. +. Bauch, watch
officer Of the Les Angeles and
flight officer Of the station.
American Woman Aboard
In addition TO these, the passen-
gers are:
Mrs. Clara Adams. Tannersville.
Pa, wife Of George H.. Adams, retired
business man.
Donald NJ. Caste, of Columbus,
Ohio.
Joseph d. Jessel, Of New York
City.
Col. Allen Miller, New York and
London f%inancier.
Paul VI. Marko. OF Brooklyn.
Richard ]. Burke, Big Bear Lake.
Cal.
The others were passengers an the
flight from Germany.
Lady Grace Drummond Hay, who
made the trip from Germany, re-
NAMED in the United States. 80
did Karl Won Wiegand, newspaper
man.
The big ship carries a crew Of 4o
officers and men.
Thirty-two bags of mail were
aboard. The letters and post cards
had been collected in New York, the
letters prepaid at the rate of Sl.05
and the cards at SO cents each.
MARSHALL, Tex, Oct. 29.-tP-
J.. ID. Jessel of New York, a passen-