The Daily Alaska empire., 1935-02-28
(By The Associated Press,

WASHINGTON, Feb. lS.-With controversy over the value of air ships revived by the recent Macon disaster, a proposal to spend ST. 0co,Oc0 to start a transatlantic air. ship line lies before the House Naval Affairs committee.
 The proposal was made by Presi- lent Roosevelt's Special Aviation Commission, which recommended that the money be used to provide two commercial airShips, one com mercial air-terminal in eastern United States, one "metal-clad'r air ship for South American service and a fund for airship research.
 The Commission urged the gov ernment to start construction on these ships immediately, declaring that they could carry most of our first-class transatlantic mail and substantial fraction of the first class passengers and express now paying high rates to travel on the fastest foreign linera"
 Graf Zeppelin Cited
 Proponents or airship develop nent usually point to the record of Gernany's Graf Zeppelin, which can cross the Atlantic in GO hours. The fastest crossing by steamship from New York to C'nerbourg, re- quires four days, IT hours and 40 minutes.
 On it's first trip to the. United States, in October, 1928, the Graf Zeppelin carried 60 passengers and sovered the 6,100 miles in 112 hours. Rough weather damaged a fin and cut down it's speed, but it was repaired at Lakehurst, IN. J., and made the return trip in II hours. It is now in it's seventh year Of constant service.
 In the same month the Graf Zeppelin arrived in America, con- tracts for the construction of the Akron and the Macon were award ed to the Goodyear Zeppelin Cor poration, at a cost of $7,825 ,000. The Akron fell into the Atlantic off the New Jersey coast in April, 1883, the Macon into the Pacific off the California coast on Febru- ary 12.
 pr. Hugo Eckener, commander of the Graf Zeppelin, has been seek ing the cooperation of the United States government in establishing an airship line between here and Europe. He told the Commission, however, that it would take three years to prepare crew for such an undertaking.
 Pan American Airways has been planning flying boat service over the Pacific. But the largest air. plane put into transport service so far has. only one-fifth the gross carrying capacity of the Graf zep- pelin and less than half it's com mercial range, the Aviation Com mission has pointed out These huge planes, however, have twice the cruising speed of the Graf Zeppelin, which attains only 78I miles an hour at full throttle.
 The first rigid American airship was the Shenandoah which was finished at Lakehurst and went into commission on October 10, 1923. It was the first airship of the Zeppelin type to be filled with helium gas, and though successful in the first two years of it's trials, 1t was completely demolished in a Windstorm in Noble County, Ohio, on September 3, 1925.
 Even before the Shenandoah dis aster, the United States had trou- ble with it's airships. It purchased from Italy in 1921 large semi rigid airship named the Roma, which burst into flames on Febru- ary 21, 1922, when it's metal nose came into contact with high ten sion wires near Hampton Roads, Va.
 The Los Angeles, built for the United States government in Ger many and flown here in 1924, has successfully stood the test of the past decade, but is now used rarely.