Zeppelin Visits America

Evening Star, Issue 20023, 14 November 1928, Page 5

Zeppelin Visits America

Graphic Details of the Great Flight

The Damaged .Fin

[From Gun Own ConuEsroMuiNT.]

SAN FRANCISCO, October IS. The voyage of tbc Graf Zeppelin to tbo United States was described by a passenger on tho dirigible as one ol sudden contrasts, of serious predicaments, and smooth, swift sailing, alternating in unexpected fashion. Tho most serious time, from tho point ol iicw of the morale of those aboard, came iato on tbo Saturday night and early on tbo Sunday, when tbo Zeppelin was battling adverse winds above the Bermudas. “We could not go very fast,” tbo passenger said. “ because of tbo damage to tbo port .stabiliser on the forenoon of Saturday. lu fact, wo wore reduced to about half speed. All through tbo curly part of Sunday wo bucked against bad winds, trying to Break through and find a iji'assago straight to tbo American coast.

senco of Dr Albert 0. Grzosinski, Prussian Minister of the Interior, who wns a passenger aboard the ship. He urged tho father to “ tell the whole story,’' and the name ami position of the son was pried from Dr Kekener by reporters. HAD RESERVE FUEL. KiniUs is twenty-four years of age, and one of the youngest inombers of the crew. Dr Kekener .said the Graf Zeppelin had Plan gas and gasoline suliioient for sixty-live Jionrs of additional cruising when he arrived at Lakchnrst. He explained that the weather “during the last week was very hard,” and so he had to make a trip across the Atlantic of a “ special kind.” Gasoline was used only during the first twelve hours of the lliglit. “As you know,” ho said. “ wo had a little misfortune, when wo were exactly in the middle of the Atlantic. A squall broke over the cover of the port (in. Such an aciddent never happened before to an airship, and might never happen again. “ Hirst, wo had to cut the speed in half because the rear of the ship, dipped after the lower cover was torn off, and there was danger of the wind tearing off the upper cover also. The ship would then bo without tho ability to make a safe voyage, you sno. “Tho fact that wo repaired the damage in the middle of tho Atlantic Ocean and came happily to America is a sign of the great salety of airships. Tho weather was very bad. Hour brave men climbed out there in terrible wind and rain and rode on the girders, with tho Atlantic under them, while they secured tho loose ends of tho lin fabric.” The mishap occurred at S a.m. on the Friday. Dr Eckener said, and the damage was repaired and tho ship increased its speed to normal by noon. After Dr Eckcucr finished speaking Lieutenant - commander Jtoscndahl, commander of the Los Angeles, who was guest on tho Graf Zeppelin, took tho improvised rostrum. Tic said that the dirigible had taken “quite a beating ” in the wind that tore tho fabric from its port lin, and had stood it well. Ho said ho thought the Graf Zeppelin a good ship, hut he did not believe it was the ultimate size that would bo eventually used in regular transatlantic service. “ They must bo bigger and bigger,” he said, “ until tho most efficient size _is achieved.” Ho expressed tho opinion that the ripping of the fabric from the port lin did not imperil tho dirigible, but only necessitated reduced speed from that time on. “ Why did you ask tbo Navy Department by wireless to have cruisers stand hy?” lie was asked. “ 1 did it at Dr Eckencr’s request,” ho said. “It was just what any captain would have asked who had the salety of his passengers at heart. “Ten minutes after my request was made Dr Eckener found that tho damage was not severe, an.*l the request was withdrawn.” Commander Rosendalil said that so far ns he knew there had boon no interference on hoard with his sending or receiving wireless messages. “1 believe 1 here was no interference,” ho said, “because I received answers to .such of my messages as rcquiren answers.” Asked how tho passengers liked the 1 rip, he said lie thought they had felt “quite satisfied.” Ho said there had been no shortages of food because of the unexpected duration of tho llight. There were still food 'supplies aboard when tho ship landed. STRAINED FACES. When the Graf Zeppelin, largest of all Hying things, nestled wearily to rest on American soil at .Lakchnrst .strained faces of .Lady Drummond Hay (tho only woman passenger aboard) and nineteen others when they felt terra iinna. beneath them once more showed plainly that almost live days of living had hcea trying indeed. The damaged port lin of the German dirigible mutely told of the buffeting Hie proud air liner to >k from stubborn winds that held it piisoner for more, than twenty-four hours around licrmuda.

“Wo were somewhat concerned about tbo weather, when .suddenly Captain Eckoncr came down olf tbc bridge, incut aft to bis pet canary, saw that tbo bird was fed, and then went to bis own quarters. Wo breathed more/ easily then, for wo knew tbc minute the captain left tbc bridge that wo wero through tbo worst of the bud weather. And so it turned out.”

Previous to the light with tho storm above tho Bermudas, the most dangerous part of the voyage was this sido of the Azores. That was on the Saturday. “We had just pointed ior Bermuda when wo ran into squalls ot bad weather,” the passenger said. “ Suddenly the airship’s nose went up and then dropped with a bal'd thump. 1 think the man working tho elevator controls made some sort of mistake, which, coupled with the hard wind, ripped the linen on the port rrn. “The pressure was very great, and the covering simply gave way. After that wc could not go more Than half speed, and tho sou of Commodore Fckcncr, Kmite Fckener, along with three others, went out and made repairs. That was a brave thing for them to do, for if tho ship had given a lurch they might have been hurled into the sea.” “ OPPORTUNIST TRIP.” The passenger said the Graf Zeppelin made an “opportunist” trip, adding; “Wo did not know what route ho would take, but we simply started out from Lake Constance ou Thursday. We learned the weather was bad over France, so wo decided to cross Switzerland. Wo received notice from the Swiss Government as to what route wc should take, and we followed the Rhine River to Lyon. Then we learned that tho weather to the north and the route taken by tho old ZK3 (now the Los Angeles) was not auspicious, so wo slid down to the Mediterranean, and tho beginning of the second day ion id ns at Gibraltar. From there, still following tho ‘opportunist’ path, wc dipped down to Madeira, thence by tho Azores. Wo had beautiful smooth sailing during this leg of the trip.” The passenger told of the tribulations of being deprived of tobacco. Most of the passengers went around with unlit menthol cigarettes, “while some of us pulled at unlightcd pipes.” Lady Drummond Hay’s change of wardrobe amused the passengers. “She was always bright ami fresh, and she wore at least lon dresses during the hundred hours in the air.” ECKENER FEEDS CANARY. The passenger was much amused by Captain Fckencr’s attitude toward the canary mascot. ‘He fed it every day himself,” he said. “It was a ’ ere good bird, and it sang all day, especially during the last twenty-four j ours, when we were able to go ahead full speed with the wind at our bade.” The crew would not talk directly to newspaper men, nor allow their names to be used. Lady Drummond Hay left Lakchurst, where the airship landed, for Now York. Frederick GiUillaa. an American living at Lucerne, refused to say anything about the voyauo. Robert Reiner, a manufacturer of Weeliawken, New Jersey, with intcrests'in Germany that require him frequently to crass the ocean, however, slated; “Tho trip was wonderful—far better than the voyage by ocean liner, and I would nut, hesitate to cross again on the Graf Zeppelin. Of course there was a good deal of excitement ami some anxiety the day the liu was damaged, but after Dr Fckener reassured us, the passengers stopped worrying. Dr Fckencr’s sou and his colleagues were magnificent in their bravery in repairing the ship. As>.a from that one day tho trip was ideal.” Another passenger described in detail how the squall wrecked the stabiliser. As we sat at breakfast,” he said, “a sudden violent squall struck the ship. Her nose was pushed down so that she seemed at an angle of about 45dog for an instant. Then, with equal violence, tho nose rose into tho air, ami 1 thought the tail must have reached the water. Every dish on the breakfast: table clattered to the Hour, and the tables and chairs would have fallen over if the passengers had not jumped to their feet and hold to thorn. There was consternation on all faces, and 1 want to say right hero that Lady Drummond Hay boro herself most admirably in the confusion that ensued. “ It all seemed like sport to her. and site showed bed tor sell-control than most, of the men. Fvcn old-1 imo flyers at tiie breakfast table looked more troubled than she. I went up to the bridge, and could sec the ship was badly hurt somewhere by the expression on the officers’ laces. “ Captain Fckcncr radioed for a destroyer, hut that gave us little consolation, for wc realised it would take fifty hours for a destroyer to reach tis. But everything turned out all right after Kmite Fckener, who shipped as n helmsman, and three other men had cut away tho loose pieces of fabric and tied what loose ends remained together.” COMMANDER INTERVIEWED. Admitting he was “ somewhat tired ” because he had only about “eight hours’ sleep the whole time,” Dr Hugo Fckener, skipper of the Graf Zeppelin, shortly after arrival at Lakchurst, told of his “ little misfortune ” which caused a delay of more than a score of hours in tho schedule of his craft. Dr Fckener smiled a broad paternal smilo at a half-hundred reporters who surrounded tho two chairs lie used as a speaking platform, while he apologised “ for the many misunderstandings ” which ho understood had caused criticism in America.

As the Giaf drifted through the gathering night, looking the part of some hiihy world conio to fall on tin's one, there wore no (dicers at-'the field. Aired hy thu majesty of the .spectacle, 5.(!;)() people stood silent around the fringes of the held when; a disappointed JOO,OOO had waited anxiously throughout the Sunday. Scarcely a sound could ho heard except the laithful hum of the hig ship’s giant motors and those of the. fleet of aeroplanes acting as escort. The Graf Zeppelin nosed over the field from the northeast, the control cabin ablaze with light. Eekcuer held the great hag at an all!tude of 500 ft for a moment, and then nosed down a second before he toil the motors. One of Hi'' two Osoft hawsers shot from the hig ship and hit the ground exactly at 0.01.00 p.m. MIXED OPINIONS. Passengers were not allowed to disembark until the sltip had been second and the Customs oliieinls as well as the health authorities of the port of New York had completed their examination. Although i.ady Hay, the only woman aboard, described the trip as “delightful,” men passengers told ol icing on short rations, without water, red ’ 1 forced ” to dring champagne for three days. The craft rolled badly, ami air sickness was, snii'ered hy most of the piersons aboard, including sumo iiie/n----hers of the, crew.

Lookin'; ralher lin’d, hut being very game about it, Lady Huy told newspaper diimi 1 iiat she (bought Jiving the ocean “ simply bully.” Peeping from the window of a cabin before the passengers debarked, the voung widmv of elderly Sir .Robert brmnmond Hay was the centra of attraction for officers and sailors ns well as mere spectators. “Weren’t you air sickf” a reporter called to her. “Not a bit,—] felt wonderfully well all the way over,” she replied. “But wireless messages repelled everyone suffering from air sickness.” “Don’t you believe it,” she called back with some emphasis. “There was not an air sick person aboard during the entire voyage. I had a great, limeit was simply bully.” TRIP “VERY TROUBLESOME." Though her ladyship said nobody was air sick, an elderly passenger who spoke with a Gorman accent, bad a dili'ereia story to tell. “The trip was very troublesome.” ho said. “For three days we were short on rations, were without water, and had only champagne to drink. “The passengers been mo restive as the winds .and that brokea i : n d'L.y the trip. Thc«a com'gams ■ craft roll badly, re i • ■ which is nothing !■■■■■:■!• sea sickness, a UrA:-, ~d i s : ■ the crew. Out there was 'hale s ment except for this cnadiiimi.' POLICE fdAr’MERS FLAVCL. A scathing criticism of the l,wk ; . of the “American polite" on ilm lend mg of the Graf Zerundiu at LakeluirU

His story, told with some difficulty, and interrupted by frequent promptings by his first officer, centred upon the buffeting his ship had received between the Strait of Gibraltar and Bermuda. Ho would consent to lhe_ interview only after the Graf Zeppelin was safely moored to its mast. He told how four men—including his youngest son—worked with nothing but tho Atlantic under them in vicious squalls to repair the damage done by tho winds to the port (in of the airship. The son’s name, Knntc, a helmsman aboard tho Zeppelin, never would have been mentioned but for the pro-

was contained in an interview with Albert Grzesinski, Prussian' Minister of the Interior, made public next day alter the arrival of the airship m the United States. “Had occurrences like those I witnessed taken place in Prussia these police officials would hare been discharged the very same day,” he said. “On leaving the airship, which the passengers were permitted to do only after horns of wailing, they had to i heir .surprise to go through fcvcral unpleasant experiences. 'They were surrounded hy a cordon of police and k.d into the Customs building as though i-i.y had intended to smuggle, hi so lining ihe American poii'-e showed manners widcli amaaed t;ie pa.-e eugers. Several limes they were yanked and frei|ii'.’idly pushed; in I’ml. on ■ 11 1 ";■ > v. as <n;ck in ;! • face i-y n t . .. ■ icg I hose thus ; o;.i v: • C . r.- a'i Cnii-al-Ge i’-rri i. .'■.lit c.cui 1 1 a: : '. t ; ■ ! phe ; c.f h.