VQLr. y. NO. 30
TOKOTNA, ALASKA, SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 5, 1925.
PRICE 25 CENTS
Belle Valley, O.. S»-pt. 3.—The
.dirigible Shenandoah, pride of
the American Navy, wound up
its career today when it crashed
to earth* in two parts, killing
twelve of its crew in its fall.
Twelve officers and enlisted
men, including Lieutenant Com
mander Zachary Lansdowne and
. Lieutenant Commander Lewis
Hancock, jr., executive officer,
were killed when the Shenan
doah crashed in the storm near
here this morning. Also listed
as dead are Lieutenant A. E.
Houghton, Lieutenant L. B.
Lawrence, Chief Radio Engineer
Soait&er, and Machinists Mates
Jeffery and Moore.
The Shenandorh, which at an
early hour had circled over Cam
bridge. apparently in distress,
was struck by a windstorm at
that point, and as it drifted
-southward broke into two sec
tions. 'no section landed at a
village five miles north of here.
Some time later the second por
1 lion of the dirigible came to
earth near a village live miles
• south of Belle Valley.
■ So far as known, there was no
explosion. The ship, apparemt
J ly, was having trouble and was
unable to successfully combat
•"With the strong wind. Most of
the dead, according to informa
■ tion received here, were killed
in the controller cabin, which
was crushed when it crashed.
Washington.—The senior surviving
iJtiioar of the Shenandoah reported to
the Xavv Department that fourteen
were killed and two injured.
Features of Wrecked Airship.
The Shenandoah was desigued by
the Navy Department, fabricated by
the Naval Aircraft Factory of Phila
delphia, and assembled and erected at
the Naval Air Station, Lakeburst, N.
J., being American built throughout.
The metal framework was of dura
lumin, a composition of aluminum,
copper and manganese; had a tensile
strength of mild steel and of only one
third its weight. The gas bags. 20 in
number, were made of a special fabric
called gold-beater skio, manufactured
bv the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Com
pany. The engines were special gaso
line engines, 6-cvlinder. 30Q-h. p., made
by the Packard Motor Company. Each
car carried one engine. The [outer
cover was of cotton fabric painted
aluminum. The fuel u-.ed was gaso
line, which was carried in a number of
tanks in the inclosed keel of the ship,
with a total capacity of 8.000 gallons.
The supporting gas was helium, a non
! inflammable, nou-poisonous gas, *which
, is the next lightest gas to hydrogen.
I Outstanding features >>f the Shenan
doah were:
Length, 680 feet.
Diameter, 78 feet.
Height, 90 feet.
Gas capacity, 2,150.000 cubic feet.
Total lift (lielium), about 1110,000
! pounds.
Dead weight, about 75,000.000pounds.
Speed, about 65 miles per hour.
Horsepower, five .500-h. p. engines:
total, 1,500 h. p.
Cruising radius, without stopping,
over 4,000 miles.
Crew, 9 officers and 22 enlisted men.
Says Husband Deplored
Bureau Order to Make
Shenandoah Flight.
. I Lakehurst, Sept. 5. — Mrs.
lansdowne, widow of the com
' snander of the Shenandoah, in a
statement today, said:
“ will never be able to set
over the fact that the depart
ment ordered the flight to be
made at this season of the year,
when it is almost impossible to
cross the Ohio valley without
encountering severe storms, and
Commander Lansdowne felt that
the bureau’s order to make the
flight was a little bit too severe
at this time.”
Caldwell, O.—The body of Zachary
Lansdowne, commander of the Shenan
doah, has been ordered sent to Wash
ington for burial in Arlington national
cemetery.
Lud lliley was a Thursday arrival
- "com Victor gulch.
■ \
Would Pull Up Rails of
Alaska R.I and Make
a Highway of Bed.
__
Seattle, Aug. 31.—Upon his
return from a tour of inspection
of some sections of California,
Congressman Arthur M. Free,
of California, ranking republican
member of the House committee
on merchant manne and fisher
ies, declared the Alaska railroad
should be abandoned, asserting
that he favored “pulling up the
rails and making a highway of
the railroad bed.”
Other “mistaken policies.”
which Congressman Free be
lieves should be altered, are for
estry and mining regulations.
The regulations, he holds, are
unnecessarily stringent and are
throttling the two industries.
Cap.ain J. H. McLean was a Thurs
day passenger fur McGrath, going
down on the Sea Wolf.
Movement. Starts for
Monument for Wood- j
row Vv7 iison at Geneva |
Geneva. Sept. .—On tno evo or the;
opening of the League of Nations As-j
sembly, Monday next, naay distia-:
guished Americans are arri ving, and a j
movement has begun for a 31,000,000 1
fund for the erection of a monument
to Woodrow Wilson.
Caused by Air Rushing
Into Hob s Torn When
Cabins Gave Way.
Cald wel 1. >hio, Sept. 4. —A ir i
rushing into the holes torn into
the Shenandoah by the twisting
off of the radio and control
| cabins caused the buckling of;
the ship and its breaking up
into major parts, in the opinion
of the naval board of inquiry
that visited the wreckage of the!
ship’s prow t 'day.
Starts Work to Fix Re
sponsibility for Shen
andoah Disaster.
Caldwell, Sept. 3.—The
navy board o inquiry is today
investigating the cause of the
Shenandoah wreck in an effort
to fix responsibility for the dis
aster. Commander 7. H. Klein,
J executive officer at the Lake
j hurst, N. J., station, l he air port
! of the Shen: ndoah, with two
other officers of tie; navy, is con
ducting the Hiv -ligation.
Caldwell, Sep;. 1.—Progress of the
ioQUii-v into the v : «:k of the Shenan
do&h today wae great-lv impeded be
j cause of considerable looting. The
i loss of the ship’s barograph by theft
I and the controls and some parts of the
motors were grew deplored.
The wrecked Shenandoah ran into a'
| severe storm stiortlv after midnight,
i according to a survi or of the disaster
“The treacherous air currents forced
the nose of the craft downward,” the
survivor said. ,-!n an effort to restore
an even koel, 'he strain became too
great and the tceel of tho ship
snapped,” he declared.
The Annabelle, Robert Lowrie s new
craft, has arrived at completion. Steam
was up Tuesday, when the newlv-built
boiler received i s first test
Alex Giasson, who was a Thursday
arrival from Victor gulch, departed to
day for Ophir.
The Sea Wolf arrived Thursday, re
turning to McGrath the same after
noon.
Disastrous Ending of U.
S.Navy Seaplanes Flight
From ’Frisco to Honolulu
San Francisco, Aug. 31.—The
navy seaplanes PN9 No. 1 and
PN9 No. 3 hopped off on a non
stop flight for Hawaii, a distance
of 2,416 miles, at 2:40 this after
noon. The planes headed out
through Golden Gate for the
sea, flying 80 nnles an hour.
They were loaded to fuel capac
ity weigjit, 19,000 pounds each.
San Francisco, Sept. 1.—The
seaplane PN9 No. 8 was found
this afternoon on the surface of
the Pacific 80r' nautical miles
from ’Frisco and taken in tow
by the destroyer ’/illiarn Jones.
The Mathon liner Menoa sent
the wireless report to the Navy
radio here saying the PN9 No. 1
passed the 1300-mile ship at 0:10
a. m. _
Honolulu, Sept. 2 —Five en
in a disabled seaplane, drenched
with tropical rain, adrift ia the
middle of the ‘aciiio, 150 miles
from the island of Maui—such
was the picture painted here to
day of the tmforlunate ending of
the attempted non-stop heavy
seaplane. JHgJri ..om ban Fran
cisco to ol..:lu. The plane
was forced own yesterday after
noon when i-he gasoline supply
was exhausted. This gloomy
view, the predictions of Com
mander John iodgers and his
four co-aviators, was based on
official reports received here last
night from ships in the path of
the big seaplane PN9 No. 1.
Honolulu.—The crew of the PN9 No.
f 1 comprises Commander John Rodgera
j of Washington, D. C., flight comman
der; Lieutenant Brian J. Connell, as
j sistant pilot, of Pittsburgh. Pa.; Skil*
' N. Pipe, aviation pilot, of Jackson. Pa.;
William H. Boalin, chief machinist, of
Richmond, Va ; Otis G. Slants, cbiaf
radio man, of Terre Haute, Ind.
Bahama, Island of Mani, Sept. 3.—
< Three naval .seaplanes took off today
, from the Bahama roadsteads in an ef
i fort to learn the fate of the missing
j.seaplane PN'J No. 1. The conditions
for the search have greatly improved
j over those of last night.
—
San Francisco, Sept. 3.—The PN9
| No. 3. in tow of the destroyer William
: Jones, arrived here todav, after having
been forced down late Mondev ItOC
miles out from San Francisco in her at*
* tempted flight to Honoiulu.
i Honolulu, Sept. 3.---Into the limbo of
; the PN ships lost at sea, without a
| trace, has gone the PN9 No. 1, with
5 • fommander Rodgers and his four com*
i panions. _
San Francisco. Sept. 3.—The search
for the missing naval seaplane PN8
i No. 1 and crew is still unrewarded.
*V
18 Destroyers Ordered
to Huot for PN9 No. 1
San Franc’seo, Sept. 4.—The Navy
Department has instructed Admira.
Robinson to dispatch eighteen destroy
ers, which left Samoa September 1 for
Hawaii, to search the zone and to par
ticipate in the hunt for the missing
seaplane PX9 No. 1 and its crew.
Blames Vv ar and N avy
Depart lentsfor Shen
andoah Disaster.
8; ,*■ Ar. ' ic, Kept. 5.— Pre
dicting tl- it- lie will be placed
under military arrest by Mon
day because of what he said,
Col. Willia i Mitchell, air officer
of the Eighth corps area and de
posed assistant chief of the army
air service, today issued a bitter
denunciation of the- War Depart
ment and Navy Department in
connection with the disaster
which befell the Shenandoah.
"This and those accidents are
the direct result of incompe
tency, criminal negligence and
an almost treasonable adminis
tration of national defense by
the War and Navy depart
ments,” he wrote.
Seattle.—1’ 1'. Carroll, 81, pioneer
lawyer, died at his home here., Thure
cl a y
TIE-UP IN
;5 FIELDS
158,000 Mine Workers
Suspended Work
Sept. 1st.
i "
Philadelphia, Sept. 1.—A com
! plefce tie-up cf the coal fields is
in effect today, as a result of the
. suspension of work by 158,000
i mine workers.
No indications are apparent
today that a 10 percent wage
increase, demanded by the mine
! workers, will be granted by the
operators, and there seems little
hope for an early settlement of
differences.
i Archie Higgins and Aucrust Smith
i departed from McGrath a few days ago
j in the Joe Oates launch up tbe Kusko
kwim to the Miochumina portage, oa
their way to Kenans and the Outside.
L,ansing.~ The* vord Motor Company
has assets of $044,000,000, according
,ts corporator ta?: rerBft-^lad^haw**
! day