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Show AIRSHIP DISASTER AROUSESJFFIGIALS AIRSHIP ROMA IS WRECKED IN FLIGHT BEING MADE TO TEST NEW LIBERTY MOTORS Langley Field Officer Says Cause of Wreck in Which Thirty-four Men Lost Lives Will Always Remain a Mystery Norfolk, Va. Army air service experts ex-perts Wednesday put under way their investigation to determine the cause of the disaster to the American airship Roma, In which thirty-four were killed and eleven Injured. Stark and flame seared, the twisted teel skeleton that had been the queen of American skies, lay near the Norfolk Nor-folk mud flats,' Wednesday, its charred remains concealing many of the secrets the air service experts win seek to probe. Practically every one of the thirty-four thirty-four victims was burned to death, officers of-ficers and physicians said. Most of the bodies were Identified by trinkets. Major General Patrick, chief of the army air service, Washington, was on the ground with an army court of inquiry in-quiry to determine the blame. While the court will require several days to complete Its investigation, the Indication Indica-tion was that the crew would be exonerated exon-erated and the cause of the crash reported re-ported as "unknown." The consensus of opinion Is that Captain D. L. Mabry, commander of the Eoma, In making the turn over the army base failed to allow for the increased in-creased power. The rudder broke under un-der the unusual strain, jumming Into the controls. This occurred at a height estimated at 650 feet. The Roma's nose pointed down and Lieutenant Burt, at the elevation level, tugged desperately des-perately to straighten the ship. She refused to respond and he yelled at Captain Mabry to shut off the motors. They were shut off one by one. In the meantime, the helpless giant sagged rapidly, nose pointing down at an angle of 45 degrees. Two score feet from the ground the nose passed over a half-dozen high tension wires, tearing them to fragments. A second later the dirigible thrust her nose into a mass of steel billets, machine parts and scrap iron and eollnsnpo" nn Its living freight. A few seconds more and the fire ignited by the twisting Berpents of flame from the 2500-volt electric wires, swept the wreckage. A great sheet of flame shot from the hue gas bag, leaping high into the iiir and driving away the scores of soldiers sol-diers and civilians who rushed to the rescue. Unable to approach the pyre the rescuers turned in a fire alarm and then picked up Lieutenant Rellly, who, had jumped from the machine just before be-fore she struck the wires. He had failed to open his parachute and :reashed into a mass of metal. He died on the way to the hospital. When the fire was extinguished, a dozen charred bodies were found tangled in the skeleton. The rest of the bodies were held fast under the ship and a derrick was used tl life the giant frame before these could be relased. Few of the survivors could recall the Incidents leading up to the collapse. Lieutenant Welsh and Major Rear-don Rear-don were in the forward cabin when the collapse came. They were stunned for a few seconds and while still in a daze began cutting away at the fabric. After cutting a large hole they found themselves directly over a deep depression depres-sion In the ground and this enabled them to crawl to safety. |