WRECK OF SHENANDOAH.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 21 September 1925, Page 5

WRECK OF SHENANDOAH.

IN DISTRESS BEFORE THE STORM

STATEMENTS OF OBSERVERS

BY CABLE —PEESS ASSOCIATION—COPYEIGHT

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 18, A message from Cambridge, Ohio, states that an article published in the Jeffersonian declares that the wrecked ariship Shenandoah was in distress for at least, two hours before it crashed, during which period no winds were recorded stronger than forty miles an hour, intimating that the cause was other than a storm-precipitated disasTlie disclosures are based on records recovered from s-ouvenir hunters after the crash, also statements fropi the survivors immediately after the disaster and statements from many newlydiscovered witnesses. Dr. Arnot, of Lora City, states that lie saw the Shenandoah at 3.30 a.m., when it passed over Lora City. The tail of the ship w r as upturned and it had obviously lost its buoyancy, tumbling and rolling nose down. It was apparent that the pilot v r as fighting to keep the ship from rising to a greater altitude.

George Davies saw the airship over Cambridge at 4.15 a.m. It was then travelling low, being no higher than 2500 feet and apparently in distress. The tail was upturned, and the vessel turned off on a southward course about three miles west of Cambridge. The night was then calm and clear. Davies’ statement of the altitude is corroborated by the barograph. The ship’s clock stopped at 5.35' a.m. The Shenandoah crashed 14 miles south of Cambridge. Thus the dirigible took ■.two hours five minutes to travel the last 22 miles. D. Stevens, Cambridge, states that he was sitting in the porch of his home near the scene of the crash. The storm was a mild one. He said: “It appeared to me that the ship’s distress was not caused by the storm, which I would not call severe in the least.” The article states: “Some of the crew declared immediately after the crash that one of the crew became excited and opened a valve, while the extreme pressure on the cells which blew the valve burst the cell. Another of the crew declared that the commander surveyed the weather report at midnight and remarked that there would be perfect weather for landing next day. The. nearest storms reported were slight.” The article concludes: “The evidence obtained at the preliminary inquiry showed conclusively that the velocity of the wind never reached more "than 40 miles an hour.”