Show The Loss of the Macon rh TIlE HE astounding feat fent of the nav navy in 1 ing 81 of the 83 crew v members of or the Macon tacon almost t overshadows o everything else related re to the disaster which overtook o this tills greatest great est cst of all nIl than air craft The rhe hc heroism and discipline shown as the as-the tile the fighting dirigible crumpled in the clouds nud and plummeted into the ocean add luster to the navys navy's traditions It must be regretted that the Macon 1 gallant gallant gallant gal gal- lant radioman and the fear Filipino perished even as the nation rejoices as the rest of her personnel comes ashore Americas America's record with dirigibles has been tragic Following the loss of the thc Akron the I con has been more or less on probation Though there may be disagreement among naval na experts it seems unlikely that congress will venture further experiment at vast cost This strikes a vital ital part of the defense pro pro- gram grain Though the nation cannot take seriously seri seri- the comment offered in Washington 1 Thursday b by former Brigadier General William Wil Wil- liam liani Mitchell that with thirty such airships the na navy could sail over Japan and blast it out of existence the sense of security that would have come conic with proof of the airworthiness airworthiness airworthiness air air- worthiness of huge than air dirigible cruisers would have grown from fron day lay to day It is a remote possibility that the investigation investigation gation of this disaster may reveal remediable structural deficiencies but even so it m may be beset beset beset set down as certain that no further building programs will be undertaken doubts occasioned b by the Macons Macon's fate have haye been cleared away This is far into the future It is not only the tIle costs involved which will wilI bring this hesitancy toward further further fur fur- ther tier immediate experiment but the nation will demand convincing assurance of safet safety for those who go aloft i It is pretty much beside beside be be- side the point to compare the performance of the Graf Zeppelin with that of the navys navy's airships Even Dr Ecker will not do so The maneuvers in which the Macon has participated participated par par- have been far more demanding than any of the thc oya voyages es of the giant German craft spectacular as the they have been The Macon Macoll fell feU inlo into the Pacific just as discussions discussions dis dis- cu ions of transpacific dirigible service projected projected projected pro pro- in in the presidents president's aviation commission report was becoming a lively topic in Califor Califor- nia ia Weekly trip round-trip flights from Sunnyvale Sunny- Sunny vale ale to Honolulu were by the commission commission com coin mission in new ships to be built with P WA VA funds and leased to private shipping firms under an operating franchise That any such enterprise will ivill be l launched now becomes a matter to lo put far into the future The United States has lIas lost far mote more than a naval airship and two of her crew in the disaster which overtook the time Macon off Point |