The Washington times., 1929-08-23

ts sss Df. grateful EfRl
ener and Lady Drumm"nd- HaS
Captain Lehman, who officially
accepted any blame for this
mornings contretemps, exonerat-
ing the japanese entirely.
Closer Together
If anything, the accident
brought the Graf's personnel and
the Japanese closer together in
understanding and mutual SYM
pathy than any other thing that
has happened in the last two
days.
Sharply contrasting with the
crowd of 100000 this morning
and the atmosphere of excite
ment, festivity, music, cham
pagne and the party offered DR.
Eckener and his crew in the air
dock by the minister of COM
munications in a jubilant and
somewhat noisy farewell, to-
night at 10 o'clock finds Kasu-
migaura Airfield as outwardly
calm and Unconditional as Fried
richshafen, where departures
have now become a matter Of
course.
All the same, there is some
thing suppressed in the air.
Smart, white-uniformed Jap
anese sailors are standing
rigidly at attention. Silence is
prevailing tonight instead Of
animation.
He Sniffs the Air
With Commander Rosendahl,
I just walked across the grass
end of the trolley docking rails,
and found DR.. Eckener sniff
ing the air" in his inimitab!e
way. Lightning flashing in the
distance did not disconcert him.
He said:
"Lightning's no good for the
Zeppelin we must fly sOutherly
at first to avoid the storm area.
We are hoping for a strong
southwest wind to push us along
at a great rate"
Although he would not say 50,
DIR. Eckener is undoubtedly
shifting" for a new record
ahead for the Zeppelin. 1t is
strange how quickly all idea of
risk and insecurity on the inn
pending transpacific voyage is
giving way to the sporting pros
pect of record-making on these
pioneer flights.
Sack to Tokyo
TOKYO, Aug. % Delayed
It was a mishap, not an acci-
dent to the Zeppelin, that sent
the passengers scuttling back
to Tokyo from Kasumigaura air
station early this morning.
We were disappointed. hut
not discouraged. We still ex-
pect to leave for Los Angeles
tomorrow, or Saturday at the
latest.
Our temporary disappoint-
ment pales beside that of the
immense throngs which the
japan Times estimates at 5OO,-
600, many of them residents
of distant villages who, having
read spectacular accounts OF
the great silver, airship, deter
mined to see it for themselves.
Walking two and three days
over the hills, they waited pa.
tiently for their sight of the
Zeppelin.
Roads Massed
They were the unlucky ones
this morning when the Graf
slid out full length along the
ground, only to be coaxed back
again.
The roads were 'massed with
pedestrians nd bicyclists. s.
Women were carrying children
strapped on their backs, men
carrying kiddies on their shoul-
ders, and children, IN turn, car
rying the babies. The general
stampede to the station for the
first train saw seething,
swaying ocean of good-tempered,
exemplary, polite humanity.
There is nothing to worry
about on the Zeppelin. 1t is
no graver than if a steamer
sustained minor damages in try
ing to leave a dock without re-
leasing the last mooring line.
Our Zeppelin is all right. The
mishap was due to fallibility of
the human element, not to struc-
tural weakness.
CONSERVATION is prevailing in
all quarters in Japan, provoking
general sympathy. No one real
ICES better than we do the
splendid efforts and achieve
ments Of their navy department
in raaniuinn kka V1niuhfu 2nn.