Evening Star Newspaper, April 5, 1933, Page 5

WIDOWS OF AKRON GIVE UP AT LAST Women Left Behind Cling to Hope Until They Realize Tragedy. By the Associated Press. 1 LAKEHURST, N. J, April 5.—They | found it hard to believe—those who are left behind—that the Akron is gone, that what was no more than an ordinary occurrence in the lives of their own people should have endedi so tragically. And in their sorrow they kept asking one question over and over: Why was this flight singled out from all the others to end in disaster? ‘The Akron had made numerous voy- ages, many of them seemingly more hazardous than Monday night's. long flights to the West Indies and Panama, to Bermuda and the West Coast and s0 many short ones that nobody re- members them all. Maybe during all those flights the question was hanging fire in the minds of those left behind, always ready to be asked. But if there was ever fear it was never publicly known. “In the Safest Place.” “What if an electrical storm hits you?” Mrs. Noexca Copeland said she THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, asked her husband, R. W. Copeland, radio man on the ship, before it de- parted. g “We will be in the safest place—in the air” he answered, and that was typical of the men who tock the ship aloft. | The women had hope at first, just' as the wives of fishermen and deep water sailors have hope, but it waned as the hours passed, and the meager news that came through was always the worst news. Yet few gave way to their grief. The mews was s0 unbelievable that in the beginning they were merely stunned. ‘The wives of the enlisted men waited in the recreation room at the naval air station, where they had hurried from their homes in Toms River, Lake- wood, Lakehurst and other communi- tles—waited for news. Some of thém were nearing middle age, the wives of petty officers. Some were very young. One was a recent bride. They did not cry. Some smoked cigarettes, some talked. Most were too weary with thinking. | Women Are “Soldiers.” Lieut. Comdr. William L. Steiner,, chaplain at the station, looked at them ly. Me had just read them a mes-| sage with the latest scrap of news. | “Those men,” he remarked, “were hand-picked, among the finest we have. And these women,” he said after a pause, “are solciers.” There was a little commotion on the other side of the flag-draped room where many had first met their hus- bands, where they remembered laugh- ter and gayety and the bright station dances. A woman had fainted. In another building the wives of the offi- cers waited as stoical as the others. Here Lieut. Comdr. Jesse Kenworthy, in charge of the station since his supe- rior, Comdr. Fred T. Berry, went aboard the Akron, read the m« 3 etta drive, essages. And in a house at 36 Taran Lakewood, the three children of Lieut. Comdr. Herbert V. Wiley, the only offi- cer to escape, waited for their daddy to return. David, 8; Gordon, 12, and Marie, 2!5, were thankful. Their mother died a year ago. GREEN SAYS JOBLESS | TOTAL 13 MILLIONS March Added 230,000 to Nation's Unemployed, Declares Labor Federation Head. By the Associated Press. William _Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, said in @ statement last night that 230,000 per- | sons had lost their jobs during March, bringing tle total unemploved to more than 13,000,000. | ‘The federation estimates that 12.821,- 000 were out of work in January and: 12,980,000 in February. In March, 26 per cent of the union membership was . unemployed, as compared with 26.7 in| FPebruary, the federation claims. Upper: The Navy's non-rigid dirigible J-3, sent from Lakehurst to search for survivors of the Arkon, pictured an in- stant before it fell into the sea. —Wide World Photo. Lower: Landing the Akron survivors from the destroyer Tucker at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The picture shows R. E. Deal being borne on a stretcher with Lieut. Comdr. H. V. Wiley and M. E. Erwin following closely behind. —Wide World Photo. AKRON 15 SECOND OF NAME WRECKED “Increasing unemple/ment at this| time of year, when industry usually takes on more workers, means buying power is cut still more, deflation is going still further, a larger number still are dependent on charity,” Green an- nounced. $700 TAKEN BY THIEVES | IN CASH AND MATERIALS Dental Gold, Worth $200, Stolen From Office of Dr. Carlton Vaughan. More than $700 in cash and materials were obtained in housebreakings and a ! pocket picking reported to police last | night. Welby L. Ashley, Clarendon, Va., had | his pocket picked of between $45 and | $50 in cash and a Government check for more than $70 while in a downtown theater, he told to police. i Some $200 worth of dental gold was reported stolen from the office of Dr. Cariton Vaughan, 900 block of F street, by some one who gained entrance by Jimmying the front door. Bathing suit samples, valued at $175, | were reported taken from the automo- | bile of Roy W. Craft of Winston-Salem, | N. C., while the machine was parked at | Fourteenth and K streets. | George E. Miller of the Miller-Dudley , 1700 block of Fourteenth street, | @ealers in automobile and electrical sup- Plies, reported a box containing $187 in eash had been taken from the company’s | offices by some one who entered by breaking glass in a side window. i MILK BILL PASSED | New York Assembly Acts on Measure Providing Price Fixing. | ALBANY, N. Y, April 5 (#).—While Central New York dairy farmers stood ready to renew their milk strike unless aid from the State was sighted at once, the Assembly yesterday passed the Pitcher bill for State control of milk prices and sent it back to the Senate for concurrence in minor amendments. A provision permitting the proposed State Price Control Board to fix a mini- mum price for the milk producers, which the producers call “the heart of the Original Akron, 258 Feet Long, Exploded Off Jersey Coast in 1912. By the Associated Press. ATLANTIC CITY, N. ., April 5— The Navy dirigible Akron, which dropped into the Atlantic Ocean early yesterday, was the second airship of that name to meet disaster off the New Jersey Coast. In 1912 the forerunner of the modern queen of the skies was destroyed a short distance out from this city, carrying to death five men. Although the 1912 Akron would have been just a pygmy aiongside the mam- moth ship which was wrecked today, in its day it was a giant. It was 258 feet lorg, with an extreme diameter of 45 Teet. The framework with four engines, gasoline tank and cabin, weighed about 14,000 pounds. The fuel tanks carried 8,000 pounds of gasoline and the four engines developed 277 horsepower. With the 1912 edition, Melvin Vani- man and a crew of four had hopes of crossing the Atlantic. On.July 2 of that year the ship left its mooring place here. A magazine article of what followed described the tragedy in this fashion: “When at an altitude of 1,000 feet and only a short distance out to sea, a sudden puff of smoke was seen at one end of the bag. In a minute the bag exploded; a mass of flames hid the ship from the view of those watching on the velope and plunged downward. In the descent _something which appeared to be the body of a man shot out to the left of the wreckage and struck the water before the rest of the burning mass.” The cause of the accident was never determined. TRANSFERS SAVE MANY FROM AKRON DISASTER Several Former Officers and Men of Tll-Fated Dirigible Were Re- cently Assigned to Macon. Many of the former officers and men shore; the car broke away from the en- | Part of the wreckage of the Akron picked up by the Coast Guard cutter McDougall. officials could not immediately identify its particular use. D. C. WE' be a pipe, but It appears to . —A. P. Photo. Personnel of Akron 22 States, the Philippines and the District of Colum- bia Represented in Crew of Ill-Fated Dirigible. By the Associated Press. Twenty-two States, the Philippines and the District, of Columbia were Tepresented in the Akron crew and its tragic end. Some were from families with rec- ords of long Navy'service, others from States far removed from sea water. Many had one thing in common, said associates—a fatalistic attitude. Brief sketches of some crew members and guests included Guest Officers. Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, Washington, was the first and only aeronautics chief and a noted champion of lighter-than-air craft. Next Novem- ber he was to have been retired from active service after 43 years of duty. He had sailed on wooden ships, later on modern steel ships, and in recent years favored aircraft. He was born in Charleston, S. C., in 1869, and served in the Spanish and World Wars. Comdr. Fred T. Berry, Lakehurst, was born in Iowa in 1887, and entered the Navy in 1904, He spent exactly of the Akron's crew were saved by their | 15 years on duty at sea. He held the transfer within the past month to bill,” was kept in the measure. WOMAN ASKS $10,000 Bues as Result of Automobile Ac- ecident in March, 1932. Suit for damages totaling $10,000 was filed in District Supreme Court today by Mrs. Fannie Poms, 400 block of M street, as the result of an sutomobile accident in March, 1932, The plaintiff says she and her hus- band were seriously injured when a ma- chine in which they were riding col- lided with an automobile of Alex Cas- m,mhh‘e{dmmnnzmm- represen torneys “lu—. Akron, Ohio, to take over the U. 8. 8. Macon. The last of these transfers were made less than & month ago. The Macon’s commander, Comdr, Al- ger H. Dresel, a native of Annapolis, Md., was “skipper” of the Akron up to about six weeks ago, when he left for Akron. He served in Washington several years ago. Lieut. Anthony L. Danls, transferred to Akron to serve as aerological officer of the Macon, is a Washingtonian, his home being at 1540 Forty-fourth street. The Macon's executive officer, Lieut. Comdr. Joseph C. Arnold, is a survivor of the Shenandoah crash eight years ago. Seventy-five enlisted men, 28 of whom | were members of the Akron’s crew, were assigned to the Macon. e of the Macon' aboard CTew wer dosh when ghe was | Navy Cross, Comdr. Henry B. Cecil, Washington, was under orders to go to sea in June, slated to head the Air Department aboard the aircraft carrier, U. 8. S. Lexington. Cecil was born in Tennes- see and his permanent residence was at_Knoxville. Lieut. Joseph Severyns, Lakehurst, was born in California, and later lived entered the Navy. After seven years of for instruction and his trip on the Akron’s last flight was taken in his course of study. Lieut. Robert Sayre, also assigned for air study at Lakehurst, born in Ohio 30 years ago, later lived in Illinois and was appointed a naval cadet from that ite. He had more than six years' ses duty. Bdent. Chastes in Washington State, from which he | sea duty, he was assigned to Lakehurst | 129, was born in Georgia and entered | the Naval Academy from there in 1920. | He spent nearly six years at sea before | being assigned to the Lakehurgt sta- | tion for dirigible study. Survivers. Lieut, Comdr. Herbert V. Wiley, Lake- wood, N. J., formerly commanded the | dirigible, the Los Angeles, and was re- | garded as an authority on lighter-than- air craft. Richard Deal, Lakehurst, N. J, who | now will twice rate the nickname used {by many of his friends—"Lucky” Deal —because of his survival of the Shenan- doah disaster. Mrs. Deal, whom he re- cently married, was the widow of Ralph Joffre, who lost his life when that dirigible crashed in Ohio several years ago. Deal is an enlisted man. Mocdy E. Erwin, an enlisted member, 26, is a native of Hickman County, Tenn. He entered the Navy at 18. Officers in Charge—Dead or Missing. Lieut. Comdr. Frank C. McCord, Lakehurst, 43, married, spent 13 years aboard Navy boats. Born in Colorado | and later lived in Indiana. | coolness under pressure. Lieut. Comdr. was born in Delaware and lived at Westerly, R. I His body was found many hours after the wreck. He was chief navigator of the Akron. He was graduated from the Annapolis Naval Academy in 1917. Lieut. George Calman, Toms River, N. J.. a graduate of the Naval Academy in 1919, a famous fencer, participating in _four Olympic games. Lieut. Richard Cross, jr, Lakewood, |N. J., 34, a skilled mariner both of'the skies and sea, | training during the World War and served aboard submarines in the Philip- pine area and at San Diego, Calif. Lieut. Herbert M. Wescoat, Lakehurst, ‘was born in Ohio, spent three and one- ‘haif pears on scs duty- before being as- Famous for Harold E. Maclellan | He completed his naval | signed to the Lakehurst Naval Air Station. Lieut. Hammond J. Dugan, Lakehurst, 30, was born in Maryland and entered the Navy from Oklahoma. He spent nearly four years on sea duty belore training for air service at Lakehurst. Lieut. Charles F. Miller, Toms River, N. J, 30, a native of New York, more than four years on Navy boats. Lieut. Morgan Redfield, Lakewood, another native of New York, after three and a half years at sea was assigned to instruction at Lakehurst. He was 32. Lieut. Wilfred Bushnell, Malone, N. Y., & co-holder of the world balloon dis- tance record. With Lieut. T. G. W. Set- tle, he floated 952 miles in 43 hours and 20 minutes during the national balloon race in 1929, Lieut. Cyrus Clendenning, Toms River, N. J. was born in Georgia but entered | the Navy in 1973 from New York State. | . Chief Machinist George C. Walsh, Lakewood, 36, was born in Pennsyl- vania and specialized his training on the mechanics of heavier-than-air craft. He was credited with knowing “every bolt and screw” in the Akron. Enlisted Men—Missing. William T. Hill enlisted at Savannah, Ga., and won the rank of pharmacist's mate. Two brothers, one a soldier, the other a maring, have died in United States’ service. Henry Ballard, a native of Gordo, Ala., survived the Shenandoah disaster | in 1925. He was 28 years old and lived at Philadelphia. Joseph J, Zimkus, 27, whose boyhood | home was at Stamford, Conn., was| | boatswain’s mate. He entered the Navy | | at 15, was a member of the Akron’s! original crew, lived at Whitesville, N. J. | DECLARED “LUCKY” MASON HALL, Tenn., April 5 (#).— Moody Eugene Erwin, one of the sur- vivors of the Akron disaster, “was al- ways lucky,” his mother, Mrs. T. H. Erwin, said today. ‘When notified of his escape, Mrs. Er- win said she usually worried more about | another son, Herman, at Memphis, and the possibility of automobile accidents. | “I had worried about Moody so long, his being in the air so much, but I was getting used to it. When he first en- listed in aviation I kept looking for APRIL 5, 1933. | i | | COLLEGE PLANNED BARNEGAT IS HELD TO HONOR MOFFETT JERSEY ‘HATTERAS Admiral Would Have Received ‘ Destruction of Akron Adds Degree This Spring—Had | Another Black Chapter to Hoped to Enter Congress. Sea’s “Graveyard.” By the Associated Press. The destruction of the Akron has CHARLESTON, 8. C., April 5.—Rear | added another black chapter to the his- Admiral William A Moffett, who went 'O Of Barnegat, New Jersey's 'gra yard of the sea,” according to a bulletin down with the dirigible Akron, was t0 issued by the National Geographic So- Tece! he by degree of clety. The Akron is the latest of a long s Erecoten.t . m‘:::ycg”m of | list of victims of the “Hatteras” of the doctor of laws from 1o | Jersey coast, the bulletin states. Charleston this Spring it was revealed gtatistics show that the Barnegat here yesterday. Coast Guard station is one of the most The Charleston-born admiral had| gctive stations on the entire Atlantic been approved by a number of the col-| Coast,” it is said in the bulletin. “Here lege trustees for the degree for “his| the New Jersey shore bends like an el- able, far-seeing Gk m}"“fi:‘t{:}: £forts | bow from a north-south direction m in the development of a 5 southwest, and tidal currents, it was said today approval of the "-} and shifting shoals have taken toll of mainder had been assured. | thousands of boats, large and small, Admiral Moffett was a frequent gince this part of the country was first ;{hfl‘o‘l ;e{te, ;hm .’::}:fi?"h&a Mcm’;gt sighted by Gxo‘vnnm ?x: 1\Jsrzr‘rnnno, the 5 offett, an y e avigator, . man of the City Board of School Com- | * rentine navig missioners. Victims Amateur Sailors. The admiral was understod to have| «In these days of large steamers planned to make his home here fol-| which run well out at sea most of the lowing_his retirement. | vessels in disiress are amateur sailors: l;e hc;d also rt""]ed&":.; dé:irre“m rich y.cgu,&u; x.\hr;‘ td‘o not n;lowh(or enter ongress . from u olina ' drift and tidal variations, and whose after his retirement, with his principal | craft pile up on the shoals. Or from objective the interests of the Charleston | fishermen’s boats when their engines Navy Yard. | break down. However, coastwise barge He also revealed a Chicago district had sent representatives to see him, ask- ing that he make his home there and run for Congress from it. ‘The congressional aspirations were revealed here by a newspaper man, who received them in confidence during the admiral's last visit here. COMMANDED GREAT LAKES. Admiral Moffett Trained Nearly 40 Per Cent of Navy’s War Personnel. GREAT LAKES, Ill, April 5 (#).— Rear Admiral Willlam MofTett, miss- Upper: Lieut. Comdr. H. V. Wiley, one of the three survivors shown at the Brooklyn Navy Yord hospital broadcast- ing the story of the disaster, ~—Wide World Photo. Lower: The J-3 a few seconds after it crashed into the sea. —Wide World Photo. Inset: Capt. Dalldorf, master of the German ofl tanker Phoebus which picked up the four members of the crew, one of whom later died. The survivors were transferred to the de- —Wide World Photo. MASTER OF PHOEBUS THANKED BY SWANSON Secretary of Navy Expresses Ap- preciation for Aid Given in Akron Rescue Efforts. By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, April 5.—Secretary Swanson thanked the owners and mas- ter of the German tanker Phoebus for her rescue efforts in a wireless message m-?’e Public here tonight. The message read: “Secretary of Navy desires to express to Standard Shipping Co. and master of steamship Phoebus deep appreciation of Navy Department for kind and efficient assistance rendered by Phoebus in col nection with disaster to airship Akron.’ The Phoebus is due at Tampico April 11 and is then to return to Hamburg. The Navy Department has requested ]her skipper to forward confidential re- | ports on the Akron disaster to Wash- | ington by airmalil as soon as he reaches Tampico. BELGIAN SYMPATHY 8ends Over Akron Disaster. BRUSSELS, April 5 (#).—The gov- ernment today instructed its Ambassa- dor in Washington to express the Bel- gian government's sincere condolences over the disaster to the United States Navy dirigible Akron and to express its d‘ee&) sympathy to the families of the victims. Government Condolences Relatives’ Travels Kept Two Officers From Fatal Trip, Naval Lieutenants Give Up Flight on Akron at Last Minute. A mother and a mother-in-law saved two Washington naval officers from going aboard the U. 8. 8. Akron Mon- day—and ropean trips were in- volved in each case. Lieut. Thomas Hinckley Robbins, the aide of Rear Admiral William A. Mof- fett, usually has accompanied the aero- nautics chief on his flights in the Ak- ron and other aircraft. Monday, how- ing in the Akron crash, won acclaim as war-time commander of the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. He bullt the station up from a minor peace-time establishment to one of the greatest of its kind—encompassing 950 buildings on 1,200 acres of land. During the 18 months of American participation in the World War, Ad- miral Moffett put some 250,000 sailors into training, nearly 40 per cent of the Navy's war-time personnel. MofTett, commander of the cruiser Chester, was detached from his ship a month after European hostilities broke out in 1914 and sent here. Already seasoned in the service—he saw his first fighting under Dewey during the battle of Manila Bay—Moffett rapidly cleared the decks of the training station to reach peak efficiency. He possessed the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroic service at Vera Cruz, Mexico, in 1914. TWO ANACOSTIA PLANES JOIN SEARCH FOR AKRON Amphibians From Naval Air Sta- tion Take Off Early Today for Scene of Disaster. Two planes from the Naval Air Sta- tion at Anacostia took off early today to join in the air search in an effort to | locate possible survivors from the air- | ship Akron. The two local ships—Douglas . phibians—left - Anacostia .tu's:u ::: They were plloted by Lieut. Ford N. Taylor, jr., who participated in the search yesterday, and Lieut. Thomas S. ‘Combe. {KING GEORGE EXPRESSES SYMPATHY OVER AKRON | Sends Message to President Roose- velt Conveying Condolences to Families of Victims. By the Associated Press. 3 wND?N‘ April 5—King George to- ay sent a message of sympathy to President Roosevelt over the drutzr to the United States Navy dirigible Akron, The message read: “I am greatly shocked by news of the disaster which has overtaken the airship Akron, involv- ing the loss of so many gallant lives, and I hasten to express to you, Mr. President, my deepest sympathy 'with the families of the victims of this tragic occurrence.” S5 e LA $65,000 HELIUM LOST Crash of Akron Costly in Gov- ernment’s Inflation Gas. When the U. 8. S. Akron crashed the Navy lost about $65,000 worth of valuable helilum gas, with which the craft was inflated. Navy Department authorities asserted that the nominal gas volume of the Akron was 6,500,000 cubic feet. She had a gross lift of about 180 tons, the airship herself weighing 98 tons, and ‘was capable of carrying a useful load of 82 tons. On her last fateful journey, naval aviation officials here asserted, the Akron was not fully inflated, to compensate for varying temperatures. e Song Writer Now Clerk. AKRON., Ohio (#).—Max Friedman— songs and who became a radio celebrity when radio stations were in attics and cellars, keeps records in the naturaliza- tion office. A long illness interfered with his career. @be Forning Ftar Bk o ever, he did not go with Admiral Mof- fett when his chief left the Navy De- partment about 1 o'clock for Lakehurst, N. J. Lieut. Robbins’ mother, Mrs. Alice Ames Robbins, has just spent a year in Europe and is scheduled to reach New York this morning. In erder to welcome her, Lieut. Rob~ bins failed to sail on the Akron as he ordinarily would have done. He has :‘een aide to Admiral Moffett since last ay. The Navy Department's press rela- tions officer, Lieut. George F. M. Mentz, was invited by Admiral Moffett to ac- company him. The lieutenant’s moth- er-in-law, however, is scheduled to sail shortly for Europe for a year's stay. A something bad to happen. But he was think always lucky, and so I to be'd made & the nest-of the time” farewell party at'the Swiss legation to- zhl in Wi night kept ‘ashington. His \moteeeinsias @ M, Altzed Bochon, g regularly by practi around Washington. “Ukulele’ Max"—who wrote many war | traffic is heavy, and occasionally one breaks loose from its tugboat to add its | wreckage to many that have preceded it. “In a description of the Jersey coast. published in 1879, it was stated that prior to the War of 1812 Old Cranberry inlet (nearby) was one of the best anchorages on the coast, and it afforded |a safe harbor for American privateers | on the lookout for British ships dur- | ing the Revolution. It was opened one | night by the angry sea breaking across | the beach, and during the last year of lits existence as a deep-water harbor | the whole channel drifted nearly & mile to the northward. “Its closure, abdut 1812, caused so much inconvenience that, in 1821, an | attempt was made to cut a new inlet | near the head of Barnegat Bay (the present bay head). With the assist- | ance of others it was finally but the following morning, to the amaze- ment of the voluntary workers, it had closed up again. Region of Mystery. “To Jersey marshmen, baymen and old saflors the coast in the neighbor- hood of Barnegat Light is a region of legend and mystery. Here freebooters once hung a lantern arcund a hobbled mare’s neck and turned the animal loose on the beach. Ship captains seeing the bobbing light mistook it for | another ship in safe water, and were lured to destruction in the heavy surf. The freebooters then sold cargo that | washed up on the beach. | “Old Barnegat Light, a towering shaft built in 1858, no longer flashes a warning to mariners. A modern lightship a few miles off shore now in- dicates the shoal line, and the vener- able shaft, at its feet, te Museum. For the sake of sentiment a small light is kept burning at night in the tip of the tower, where once a great white beam shot its message of caution far out over the . tion with the outside world sa: small boats. Barnegat Ciy tiny cluster of 'weather- around the old light house and The broad plateau on ih the only Nati Acadia Park on Desert Island, is the highest land on the Atlantic Sea- board from the coast of Labrador to South_America. Vacating Unnecessary—Free Inspection Terminix Co. of Washington 1102 National Press Bldg. Phone Natiomal 3703 Cause $4. to Wood s 11145P% overLookine IR ‘ 7% CENTRAL PARK i i To attribute the papularity of the | Savoy-Plaza o any one feature | would be difficuit. It is the com= bination of luxurous living . . « | supreme service . . . unsurpassed cvisine and the most beautiful I outlook in New:York. 4 | 1 SINGLE ROOMS FROM $S§ Henry A. Rost, Managiag Director | Fifth Avenue, S8thete S9th Sia ADVERTISENENTS ¢ Receiven Here ! Hohberger’s Pharmacy 14th and Buchanan Sts. N.W. Is an Authorized Star Branch Office OU will get quick action from Star Classified Ads—for The Star Classified Section is read cally everybody in and Copy left at any authorized Branch Office (and there is one in most every neighborhood) will be promptly forwarded to the Main Office for insertion in the first available issue. You can locate the Branch Office by the above There are no fees in Office service—only regula: connection with Branch r rates are charged.