The Washington times., 1929-08-23
ALASkANS
HEAR HER
CALLS
Continued from First pase)

motors to conserve fuel, or whether
all five motors were being used to
develop full speed,
The reports from Taira and
Senohe indicated DIR. Eckener was
following the course tentatively an
nounced before the start from Kas-
uHnigaura via Hokkaido, the KuriIe
Islands, the Aleutian Islands, and
down the Pacific Coast to Los
Angeles.
Starting out on the longest sus-
tanned flight over the water ever at
tempted by aircraft, the passenger
dirigible Graf Zeppelin left the
Kasumigaura air field at S:13 p. m.
today Q:12 a. m, Washington time),
for Los Angeles on the third leg of
its flight around the world.
The ''jinx" which had held the
giant liner captive at this airport
for So hours beyond the time at
which she was scheduled to start
fled with the slackening of cross
winds which had swept the field all
during the morning, and under the
expert direction of Comdr. DR.. Hugo
Eckener, the huge craft started on
the third lap of its epochal journey
WlLnOuC QlLIlculLy.
Planes Convoy Ship -
The dirgible lost no time getting
into it's S5-mile-an.hour stride, for
IA minutes after the take.off the
Graf was reported over Mito City,
IS miles north of Tokyo and more
than 20 miles from the aerodrome.
The Zeppelin was accompanied by
a fleet Of five Japanese military air.
planes which took off from Kasumi
gaura shortly before the Graf
launched herself into the air.
AS the probable time of the hop.
off had been announced several
hours previously, a mammoth crowd
had assembled at the .aerodrome
to bid the aerial monarch farewell.
It was estimated that several thou.
sand persons, including German and
other foreign residents as well as
Japanese, were on the field when
the Zeppelin scared majectically into
the sky. ,..
Ready Since Midnight
The Graf had been ready since
midnight to take off on the long
transpacific flight. AT that time re.
pairs to the rear motor gondola,
damaged when the chip was being
walked out of its hangar for the
take.off early yesterday, had been
completed and the passengers had
assembled for the start.
Btu a cross-wind Of sharp velocity
was blowing across the field, and
DIR. Eckener decided it would be
risky to attempt to take the ship
from its hangar until the breeze
gubsided.
About noon, it was seen that the
wind was decreasing in velocity,
and DIR. Eckener again ordered all
made ready for the start. The
ground crew Of 500 Japanese sol.
diers, sailors and marines was re.
assembled, and the passengers took
their places IN the main gondola.
There was some delay while DIR.
Eckener bid farewell to a number
OF Japanese dignitaries and govern
ment officials who had come to the
airport to see the Graf start. and
shortly before o'clock DIR. Eckener
gave the order for the ship to be
removed from its hangar.
For Smaller Ships
Extreme care was used by the
ground crew to prevent a repeti-
tion of Thursdays accident, when
the gondola housing the rear motor
caught on a door jamb, bending the
struts and duralumin supports and
necessitating the first "a hours de-
lay.
The Kasumigaura hangar was
built for ships of much more modest
dimensions than the giant Graf,
and there was only Is inches Of
clearance space between the top Of
the dirigible and the roof Of the
shed.
But the ground crew. obviously
anxious to atone for the mishap
which delayed the take.off and
caused the Graf to sustain the first
setback its timetable schedule had
suffered since the start of the
round.the.world flight, eased the
ship from the hangar with ex-
Quisite care, and the dirigible came
out onto the field without SO much
as scraping her silver sides.
A few moments later, DIR. Eckener
gave the command which started
the dull throbbing of the Crafts
powerful engines and then came
the long-awaited order to cast off.
The ground crew released the moor.
ing ropes, which were Immediately
hauled UP through hatchways in
the under side of the dirigible and
as the engines pounded out a
symphony of power. the Zeppelin
slowly got under way.
Thousands Cheer
Enthusiastic cheers rose from the
throats of the thousands Of spec
tators as the Graf slowly lifted
itself from the earth. the afternoon
sun cleaning on its glistening sides.
The cheers echoed and re-echoed
as the ship drew farther away,
mounting ever higher, while in the
main gondola the 1S passengers.
their faces pressed close against
the glass, wavet hands and hard.
kerchiefs in an aerial adieu to the
Flowery Kingdom.
When half a mile from the field,
the Zeppelin turned back to describe
a majestic circle over the hangar,
and then, with it's engines roaring
in deeper pitch as the throttles We're
opened wider, the great ship headed
out toward the east, away from the
sun and toward the vast expanses OF
the Pacific.
In spite of the long delay attend
Ing the start the general indecision
as to the exact time the take-off
might be accomplished. there was
not the slightest dimunition of in
terest among the people Of Japan in
the Graf's latest venture, and they
turned out in wholesale quantities
to bid the air monarch q fitting
farewell. -
Al through the morning hours