The Washington times., 1928-10-15
Continued From First Pags)

been going at full speed, he added,
and no doubt will reach here with
plenty of fuel on hand.
Several thousand persons were on
| tn efield near the hangar at IL
constantly augmented. News of the
approach OF the Zeppelin spread like
wildfire and automobile began to
wend their way up the highways in
drvoes. The New Jersey State
police and special marine officers
were uot In force to maintain order.
An air of tenseness began to per-
wade hte hangar where 1istnessness
had prevailed for hours.
Word Records Broken
The scarcity of direct news from
the ZepneIin caused no end of
fretting on the part of the 200
newspapermen at the hangar. many
of whom were filing thousands of
words of copy to Germany.
Never before in this country have
the American press and the German
press worked together in such num-
bers as on this assignment. Tele-
graph company officials estima tied
that the outgoing cable report will
smash all records for the number
of words sent to Germany.
AS dawn broke this morning the
roads in the vicinity of the hangar
were revealed as still clogged with
marked automobiles. the occupants
sleeping i'm cramped positions. They
were what was left of the great
multitude of upwards of $4,000 per-
sons. perhaps 100000, that gathered
Sunday from radius of a hundred
miles in the expectation of being
eye-witnesses to the successful ter.
mination of the first commercial
air liners epochal flight across the
Atlantic.
Great indeed was the disappoint-
ment of these many thousa nds
when after their day-long vigil,
news came of the dirigible's delay.
A somber pail of gloom swept over
the vast human beehive as the.
news spread.
1t seemed incredible to most of
them. They had come from afar
to show their faith in the Graf
Zeppelin and rigid airships in gen
eral. They had denied themselves
good Sunday dinner for the
chance OF just one glimpse of the
monster of the air and it's valiant
crew and when this privilege was
denied them they slowly started to
leave the environs of the hangar.
Worst Traffic SnaFI
And as night fell the New Jersey
police found themselves in the midst
of one of the worst traffic snarls
they had ever experienced. Auto
mobiles emerged from the vast
parking spaces in the nearby fields
with the greatest difficulty. And
when the jam was somewhat
Strengthened out the cars just bare.
ly crawled over the congested roads.
1t required almost three hours to
traverse the distance from the han
gar to the town of Lakewood. nine
miles away.
AS IL by magic, 900 ears had
been cast upon the highways in a
seemingly interminable phalanx, ex.
tending for miles In all directions
Weary from their long vigil and
weak In body from lack of food
the town of Lakehurst had run
out of food completely and not one
hot dog was left unsold at the re-
freshment stands near the hangar
the homeward bound motorists
were subjected to further discom-
fort by long waits. As far as the
eye could see there was an un-
broken chain of lights along the
roads leading away from the hangar.
1t was nearing midnight before
the traffic congestion showed signs
of relief
Meantime marooned motorists, UNI
able to move cars descended upon
hot dog and soft drink stands along
the roads in and near I.akehurst
in quest of food. Quickly the al
ready depleted food supplies were
exhausted.
Not Even Hot Dog
Not a single slice OF bread or
lone hot dog were to be had either
for love or money within a radius
of 10 miles from Lakehurst. The
last few dozens of hot dogs are
known to have found purchasers
at % cents a piece.
One fatality resulted from the
tremendous crush and excitement
incident to the day. Mrs. Mary