The Washington times., 1929-08-23

thousands had milled about the
hangar, watching with interest the
final preparation for the long
awaited start.
When word was given out that
the take-off would be made the
crowd increased as If by magic,
thousands more flocking to the field
from Tokyo and from nearby towns
where q goodly portion of Japan's
population had taken up temporary
residence during the Graf's sojourn
at kasumigaura.
A few minutes before the Zeppelin
was nosed out of the hangar, there
was a brief ceremony in the main
gondola of the ship, during which
DR.. Eckener expressed his sincere
appreciation of the reception which
had been accorded the Graf and its
complement of passengers and crew
while in Japan.
Following the departure from
Kasumigaura, DR.. Eckener planned
to follow course which would take
him north along the east coast Of
Hondu, the main island of the
japanese empire: along the Curile
Island to Cape Lopatka, at the
southern end of Kamachatka, and
thence southeast and northeast along
the Aleutian Island chain following
the route of the United States Army
world flight.
For Vancouver
After reaching Unalaska, the nose
of the dirigible will be pointed to-
ward Vancouver. and from that
point the ship will follow the coast
line Of the United States. passing
over Seattle and San Francisco to
Los Angles.
This course may be varied in the
event of storms off the coast of
America, but DIR. Eckener is anxious
to pass over Seattle if possible. If
he is prevented from doing so. he
will touch land first at San Fran
cisco.
The Graf started with it's full
load of passengers, but for a while
yesterday it appeared that some
would be left behind. When the
broken motor gondola was repaired,
DR.. Eckener did not anticipate be.
ing held up any longer by winds,
and he ordered his passengers to
leave Tokyo at $40 p. m. Thursday
for Kasumigaura.
Three Were Missing
He planned to start at 10 o'clock
Thursday night, and when the
passengers were ready to board the
train, they found that Joachim
Rickard, Of Boston; William B.
Leeds, the New York millionaire,
and Lieut.. Jack Richardson, of the
United States Navy were missing.
Frantic efforts were made to locate
the trio, who were last seen heading
for Yokohama on a sightseeing
tour. Searchers sent out from the
Imperial Hotel reported they could
not locate the three missing Argo-
nauts, and it was feared they would
miss the boat"
This fear gained ground as pre-.
parations were made to walk the
Graf out of the hangar, and all the
passengers were mourning the ab-
sence of their travelling companions
when the three rushed up to the
door of the main gondola shouting:
Hold it minute"
The anti-climax arrived when DIR.
Eckener announced the take-off had
to be postponed because of unfavor-
able wind and weather reports.
To Buy Golf Clubs
No such incident occurred at this
afternoons start, however, for ali
the passengers were on hand in
plenty of time for the take.off.
Lieut.. Comdr. Ryunosuke Kusaka,
replacing Lieut.. Comdr. Fujiyoshi as
official Japanese naval observer
aboard the Zeppelin, is on one of the
strangest missions for which the
services Of such gigantic carrier
as the Graf has ever been utilized.
He has been commissioned by
Prince Kuni to purchase a set of
American golf clubs in Los Angeles.
a luxury which the japanese noble
man has always desired.
Commander Kusaka told Interna'