Evening star., 1933-04-13

The country, stunned by the destruc-
tion of the Akron, echoes the words OF
President Roosevelt: "Ships can be re-
placed, but the Nation can i'll afford to
lose such men as Rear Admiral William
A. Moffstt and his shipmates, who died
with him upholding to the end the finest
traditions Of the United States Navy"
Comment centers on the heroism of Off
GERS and crew, honor due those who
died, the length and caliber of the cas-
ualty list resulting from the greatest
question Of the usefulness or practica-
bility of these giant ships of the air.
The Nations first and profoundest
feeling In the Akron disaster is sorrow
for the loss Of heroic cons. The
lives Of such ofiicers and of the gallant
crew are above all price" Thus does
the Atlanta Journal express the uniyer-
sal sentiment, Says the Altoona Mir
ror: The most appalling feature OF
the loss Of the Akron is the untimely
snuffng out of the lives of the men of
fine type who were aboard the craft.
The most notable of those was Rear Ad-
miral william A. Moffett. He was one
of the really big men of the United
States Navy" The Fort Worth Star
Telegram declares that some valuable
uuLldH USiukS WCAt iltO ctC1 1iliby WliCii
the lightning sneered at the man-made
thing which had the temerity to invaCe
its realm"
The ProTidence Journal is impressed
by the bratery of the men on the
doomed airship. who knew. before the
great craft struck the water, what in
all probability was about to befall them
yet there was no confusion, no desper-
ate struggle. no show Of cowardice." In
similar vein, the Springfield (Mass.)
Daily Republican reports, In the heart
of the widest storm the officers and
men OF the United States Navy upheld
its finest traditions" This fact also
appeals to the Milwaukee Sentinel ana
the Omaha World-Herald.
Particularly lamentable," is the way
the Charleston IS. c. Evening Post
describes the fate of Admiral Moffett
He had such pride in this great YES
sci, for which he had contended."
records the Post. That it should have
betrayed him and almost in the last
hou. of his brilliant career as chief
of the naval Air Service should have
drama" BY his death the Buffalo
Evening News feels that "the Navy has
lost one of It's finest officers" The
Columbia Is. c. State calls him "a
devoted. signally capable ofiicer, a
high-minded, clean-hearted and gal
liant gentleman"
The Asbury Park Evening Press
voices the hope that from the tragedy
that overlook the Akron's crew scme-
thing will be learned whereby the lives
of their successors in airship transpor-
tation may be saved" The same
thought impresses the Akron Beacon
Journal, which expresses a peculiar
community grief at the loss of the
dirigible named in that city's honor.
The Macon, sister ship to the Akron
Is soon to emerge from its dock" says
the Beacon Journal. Its command
the expert knowledge derived from the
naval courts inquiry and all the pro-
tective measures which it suggests.
Let's take no more blind chances ON
the loss of precious live;."
In considering whether, as the New
Castle (Pa.) News expresses it. there
Is increasingly great doubt that ma
tlonal experimentation with the gigantic
dirigible type Of craft is justlfiable."
the Connel.sVille Courier reminds us that
the early history of railroeding was
marked by frequent loss of life" The
New York Sun, on the other hand.
holds that the analogy is not a close
one. on the grounds that the sacri-
flee of human life for the development
of useful acquisition of the race may
be defended. but what the advocates of
the dirigible have to defend is the
sacrifice of human lives. almost in
variably upon a large scale, for the
of something whoce use
fulness either in peace or war Is far
from demonstrable.
THE tremendous cost in men and
money and the growing conviction that
the Nation Is not only not getting its
worth, but Is not getting any
thing at all worth while out Of this
makes it." according to