AIRSHIP DRAMA

Evening Post, Issue 2, 2 July 1932, Page 8

AIRSHIP DRAMA

Two (Uihstcd men of the United

States Navy fell to their deaths, ono from 130 feet, and the second iiom 200 feet, and 10,000 persons, including many high ranking army and na\y officers and civic dignitaries, saw them die a-few weeks.agowhen three men were jerked aloft on ropes by tho giant airship'Akron, when she'abandoned an at-

tempt to moor at San Diego

The third man carricd'aloft was Seaman C. M. Cowart, aged 19. and his experience rivals any stunt the movies have been ablo to deviso, any thriller that fiction has produced (says the "San Francisco Chronicle").

Clinging to a swinging lope 200 Xeet boncath the gleaming silvci belly of the world's largest air liner, Cowart lield on while 'the Akron rose to an elevation of 2000 feet. He dangled thcro for two liours and'twenty minutes. He clung there while the ciew of the • dirigible hauled him in, and ■when ho was finally safe in the air liner's cabin his first words were — i(Gim»o somethin' to •cdl'" Commander Eosendahl, skipper of tho big ship, told about jt after tho hhip was moored next night.

"He's tie coolest cucumber I evei saw!" was Eosendahl's tribute to Cowart's tenacity. The sailor grinned and didn't appear to think ho had gone through, much cf an experience. '"The Chief Petty Officer told me to hang on to that lope," ho explained. "So I hung on. I know what tho 0.P.0. would do to me if I disobeyed orders, so I hung on. But by the timo lio'd made up his mind to tell me t« let go I took a look and decided to staj where I was.

"I tvas 'way too high up by that timo, so I went for a ride I was

whore the CP.O. couldn't get me by that time. "Sure, I saw tho other fellows fall —it. was awfuli but. I couldn't do a thing tor them." . The two men killed were Kigel Ilenton, who fell 130 feet, and Robert H Edsall, who lost his gup on tho cablo at 200 feet. "While the nugo crowd as semblod to mow the giant an ship , seieamcd, the two young sailois clashed to the ground and were killed instantly. ■ The body of 19 year-old Henton bounced fully six feet into the an when it crashed to tlie grpiind. He •was fighting all the -nay down, hi arms flailing, his legs kicking, as he grasped for something to halt luster Tiblo plunge. The drama of death, suspense, and re cue began shoitly before 9am, when tho two 'planes forming, the Akron's heavier than Mir unit took off to land in advance and supervise' mooring the great dirigible. , Tho .Akron \jas sighted it 907 am through £, broken ceiling of fog. Hoi eight motors drumming idly, the gic.it oval shape noaed tawa>d hei steel mooring mast. I'rom the top of the : mast, trailed a, cable which Was to be made fast to a cablo from tho Akion's noiC. After contact naa foimed between •these cables, a gasoline driven winch at the base of tho mooring-mast was to take m slack gradually and swing the ship to the se\cnt> foot mast

8^,200: feet.

:■. ..On the ground in tho n coring aiea f close to the ■ mast ■ were 200 l.j'sailors assigned to mooi the ship '"'They were drawn chiefly from. men. m " experienced in such duties.

Trimmed to the last pound for mooiing, her -weight finely balanced to :( equal hei lifting power, the giant ship ;.; .rioted toward the iiiast, two "finger" ' lines trailing fiom a hatchway. At : v! tlie lower ends ■ot these "finger" lines were'metal rings from which were susT"p'ended grab lines, a dozen fastened to ; each of tho two rings. The giound

"Cut us loose1"

MAN'S TWO HOURS ON A ROPE

"Give way! Gnc us slack."

men" weie to seir'e these lmesj-several men to a line, and steady the ship. At this time the wind was "not troublesome, but the-sun broke through a cloud bank. This sudden uurst of sunshine" was chiefly responsible, naval and flying men said later, -for what happened. Tho sudden wrainith. expanded the G,0U0,000 cubic feet of helium "gas, adding too greatly to the Akion's lifting power. Tho take oil oi tho two 'planes Xroia the dirigible pieviously -had removed another 4000 pounds." • i, Three times tho Akron glided low over the fiejcl in unsucessful attempts to contact .the mooung cable. On her fourth attempt ground men grabbed tho "lines.

With her noso cable attached to the mast line, the windlass at the base of the mast began to take in slack, while the ground crews guided the bag Gusts of upward air tued to unsettle the craft, and suddenly, when the prow was within 100 feet of the mast's tip, a shaip ciack was heaid, as the guiding line on the starboard side of the dirigible snapped off near the ring from ivhich tho grab lines spread

A tiemendous gasp 'arose fiom the thousands of spectators. The 'gieat ship rolled to port, listing to a piecarious angle and causing the control cabin under, her envelope to rear out ward and imperil the eighty souls aboard. A cry was hoard from, the control cabin:—

Tho windlass below whistled as its cablo snapped. 3.hen another command from tho cabin.—

In oidci to halt the perilous listing of the ship to port, the liien holding the lines-.on that v Side of the- &hip l*t go, ,and an officer neai tliOiWincli cttfc. tho- cable that 1 held tho ~Akioi>. *' ,' * The great ship shot j upward with a rush,' her lines dancing*- wildly ..below tho huge cm elope—all but' those to wlncli clung Cowait, Ldscll, Snd'Hen-

ton.* Ldsell and llcnton were clinging to'ropefe be-low Con ait. They had no knots m">the ropes Aboi c them, Cowart oould take ad\antage o- cross pieces, of lvojjd Jcnotted to the rope. The liorr-ificd thousands saw Henton look r downvfoud as the earthy rushed axv'ay' Tlfcy'saw him release Jiis hold and /jratf hed the flight of lus form downy ard. ' A scream arose as the limp form of theiad struck the giound. Ten, seconds latel, Ld«cll relaxed lus grip and m his lushing fall showed plainly by his twisting and tuining that he had not let go intentionally. As his body struck the ground many women fainted. Ho fell from 200 feet. 'All ejes in tho throng thea^wcie turned to tho dangling fouu of Cowart, I a husky boxer, whose physical htnesij enabled him tp cling to hi^s di?zv pei'th by_hooknig his legs ovei a cioss piece knotted in the Tope " " '

Gasps of horiQr and cries of encpui agemeut rose trom the crowd, and aeroplane pilots went up to n aggie theiy wmgi to him. in encouragement Oowart's peich, i\as 200 feet below the Akion's oval.

The dirigible soaied la/ily until men could be spired fiom other ti-ks aboard ship for the puipose of hauling the sailor into tht; craft. But-errough-mcn tould not bo spared fiont the \iolk ot manning tho craft', until tvrd hours had passed, a mes£>ag© fipm. the Akion stated ufteuvars. , The woi-k or-*hauhug Cowart aboard hai,to bo ipone. hf hanfl. The message ±rom Commander Eoscudahl to Camp Kearney,'stated .—

"Co^ait OK. He Suffcicd no in lury, -was cry vcoo), and considers it lust anothei experience of his seafar nig caieei."'