Indianapolis Times, Volume 44, Number 281, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 April 1933 — Page 1

AKRON WRECKED II STORM: PLUNGES FLAMING INTO SEA

REPEAL WINS BY LANDSLIDE IN MICHIGAN Huge Majority Is Rolled Up by Wets in Wolverine State Ballot. DETROIT VOTES 10 TO 1 75 of 100 Districts Favor End of Prohibition: Others Close. fit! I mW Press DETROIT. April 4. Michigan led Ihe nation today in voting to ratify repeal of the eighteenth amendment. Swept to victory by an overwhelming popular vote, wet candidates to the constitutional convention defeated their dry opponents in at least 75 of the 100 districts in the state. Candidates pledged to reject the repeal amendments held definite leads in only three districts, The other districts remained in doubt, with the vote too close to determine the winning candidates. The convention will be held in Lansing April 15, to record formally the decision of the voters. Thirtyfive other states must follow Michigan’s example to erase the prohibition amendment from the Constitution. Defeat Is Rout Michigan was one of the first states to ratify the prohibition amendment. The state voted 353,000 to 284,000 for the eighteenth amendment in 1916. While the prohibition forces were soundly beaten for seats at the convention, their defeat in the popular vote was even more conclusive. Returns from 2,290 of the state’s 3.417 precincts were: For repeal, 598.290; against repeal, 169,641. Populous centers, without exception, gave the wets tremendous majorities, ranging from 2'- to 1 in Grand Rapids to 20 to 1 in Hamtramck. Rig Victory in Detroit The Detroit metropolitan area, sending twenty-one delegates to the convention, voted almost 10 to 1 for repeal. In a number of wards, the vote was almost unanimous. Saginaw' reported a 6 to 1 vote against prohibition; Jackson 34 to I; Kalamazoo. 19 to 1; Flint. 3 to 1; Battle Creek, 2 to 1; Pontiac, 3 to 1; Bay City, 6 to 1, and Benton Harbor. 4 to 1. With the general outstate vote averaging 3 to 1, a few' smaller towns and communities followed the cities in recording even larger majorities for ratification. One community, Eden township, near Muskegon, cast all of its votes for repeal. Across the straits of Mackinac, the upper peninsula also recorded a signal victory for the wet forces. Vote Today in Wisconsin By I niteii Press MADISON. Wis.. April 4—Wisconsin. traditional home of beer, voted today on delegates to the state convention on repeal of the eighteenth amendment, with drys conceding they had virtually no chance to win. The convention will be held in Madison, April 25. The Rev. Warren Jones. Madison, state superintendent of the AntiSaloon League, conceded victory to repealists before balloting began. In a formal statement, he predicted that "most or perhaps all the repeal delegates will win.” Fifteen delegates will be selected, all at large and with no regard for political affiliations. Each delegate was committed either for or against repeal, and a like number was indorsed by both dry and wet factions. On the basis of previous balloting, Wisconsin definitely is wet. It was one of the first states to ’■epeal its own prohibition law, voting four years ago 350,337 for repeal to 196,402 against. Today s election was in connection with balloting on numerous state and local positions, including a state supreme courtship.

Akron Figures

By f hi ltd Prct * NEW YORK. April 4.—Statistics of the dirigible Akron: Gas Volume—6.soo.ooo cubic feet. Length—7Bs feet. Maximum Diameter—l 32.9 feet. Height, Over A11—146.5 feet. Maximum Speed—B3 8 miles an hour. Cruising Range Without Refueling—lo.sß6 miles. Gross Lift—lß2.ooo pounds. Number of Engines—B. Total Horsepower—4,4 80. Cost-45,375,000.

The Indianapolis Times Increasing cloudiness tonight, followed by showers Wednesday; warmer tonight; colder Wednesday night.

VOLUME 44 NUMBER 281

Air Giant Crashes Off Jersey Coast

The Akron, pride of United States navy, and scene of disaster . The crash occurred 20 miles off Barnegat, marked on map

DISASTER PROBE IS CONSIDERED Rep. McClintic Prepares to Ask for Inquiry Into Akron Crash. By United Press WASHINGTON. April 4.—Assistant Navy Secretary Henry L. Roosevelt, under orders from President Roosevelt, left this morning by motor for Lakehurst to aid in investigating the Akron crash and to aid in searching activities. Representative McClintic iDem., Okla.i, said he had under consideration a resolution of inquiry into the disaster. McClintic was chairman of the congressional committee which investigated the Akron last year. The repon at that time was a vindication of methods used in constructing the dirigible. Secretary of Navy Claude A. Swanson conferred at the navy department with Admiral William V. Pratt, chief of naval operations. President Roosevelt was keeping in touch with the situation. The navy department also was keeping in communication with Admiral Moffet’s wife, herself an aviation enthusiast, who waited by a telephone at her home for the latest information from the north. Scenes of the navy department changed during the morning from intense excitement to an orderly, determined effort to discover what had happened to the Akron and to aid possible survivors in every way passible. Sleepy officers, some of them still working to get their collars and ties in place, reported early at the department. Soon they were organized into an efficient group, mustering every resource at their com- j mand. The father-in-law of Commander F. C. McCord, captain of the (Turn to Page Four)

Navy Men Here Hope and Pray That Admiral Moffett Is Safe

BY ARCH STEINEL Timrs Staff Writer EXTRAS of the Akron disaster at sea can’t race fast enough from the presses for a group of men in the Occidental building and a man who waits in a home at 1240 North Oakland avenue for word from his brother. On the second floor of the Occidental building, at the navy re-

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Admiral W. A. Moffett

77 Aboard Ship of Doom

By United Press LAKEHURST, K. J., April 4. —The following roster of the men aboard the Akron was given out today at the naval air station at Lakehurst: Enlisted Men Carl C. Deans, Lakewood, N. J, Arthur Carlson, Moscow'. Idaho. Oliver E. Ulrich, South Gate, Cal. Richard E. Deal. Lakewood, N. J. Harold Lamkin, Egg Harbor, N. J. Benny Barnhart, Lakehurst, N. J. Ralph Stejn, Belmar. N. J. Ralph Engler, Manheim, Pa. Wilton Austin, Trenton, N. J. Moody Erwin, Memphis, Tenn. Edw'ard Hennessy, Pensacola. Fla. Fred W. Starr, Peekskill. N. Y. Henry Boswell, Wachapreague, Pa. Lewis Hulting, Lakehurst, N. J. John Weeks, North Plainfield, N. J. Henry Ballard, Gordon, Ala. Joseph K. Zikus, Stamford. Conn. Leonard Rader, Clintonville, Wis. Wilbur Laphan. Toms River. N. J. Rufus Johnson, Lakehurst, N. J. William Russell, Beachwood, N. J. Tony Swidersky, Akron, O. Elmer Fink. Lakehurst, N. J. Benjamin McClellan, Asbury Park, N. J. Law'rence Fahey, Laurel Hill, Long Island. Lester Duncan, Blackwell. Okla. Fred Cooper, Lakehurst, N. J. Gerald Tomes, Milroy, Ind. Lucius Rutan, Lakehurst, N. J. Benjamin Thigpen, Greensboro, N. C. Arthur Wellington, Waltham, Mass. Donald Lipke, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. John J. Rytell. Glens FalLs, N. Y. Stanley L. Crid, Parkersburg, W. Va. Lewis C. Walck. Lakehurst. N. J. Joseph Zanetti, Ballston Lake, N. Y. Joseph Shevlowitz. Brooklyn. N. Y. Peter Boelsen, South Toms River, N. J.

I cruiting station, the enlisted men ! offer a he-man's prayer for Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, chief of the navy's bureau of aeronautics and one of the missing men aboard the Akron. “Moffett was a man's man. What do you hear about him? It's tough. The navy can't afford to lose him.'' runs the praise of the gobs at the recruiting station. In the North Oakland avenue home, J. .R. Cecil stays near the telephone for word of his brother, Commander Henry B. Cecil, who went aboard the Akron with Admiral Moffett for the cruise. “Call me if you get any word. He visited me last summer. His wife lives in Washington, D. C. They have no children," the brother says. xr a a A T the recruiting station* while gobs and petty officers worry and wonder about Moffett and the crew, their commander, Lieutenant R, J. Townsend, is creased by the death plunge of the blimp with wondering "how Calnan is.” Lieutenant Townsend and Lieutenant G. C. Calnan, one of the Akron's officers, were buddies at the United States Naval Academy. They were in the graduating class of 1919.

INDIANAPOLIS, TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 1933

Hilbert M. Graves, Trenton, N. J. Victor C. L. Anderson, Norwood, Mass. August C. Querinheim, Kane, Pa. Fridolf R. Magnuson, no address. Hobart Wind. Union Hill, N. J. Robert W. Copeland, Lakehurst, N. J. Herschel L. Moreen, New Albany, Ind. Douglas G. Slayton, Searcy, Ark. Stewart S. Carr, Philadelphia. Howard T. Eschette, shauvin, La. Paul S. Hoover, Beachwood, N. J. William T. Hill, Jefferson, Ga. Leon D. Liles, Buffalo, N. Y. Mariano Ordonez, Philippine Islands. Paul R. Shauger. Lakew'ood. Earl P. Hackett, Montgomery, Ala. Officers and Passengers Rear Admiral William A. Moffett. Commander F. T. Berry. Commander H. B. Cecil. Colonel A. F. Masury, U. S A., of New' York City Commander F. C. McCord. Lieutenant-Commander H. V Wiley. Lieutenant-Commander H. E. McLelian, Westerly, R. I. Lieutenant R. F. Cross Jr. Lieutenant D. W. Harrigan. Lieutenant R. W. Larson. Lieutenant F. M. Kivett. Lieutenant F. M. Trapnell. Lieutenant H. M. Wescoat. Lieutenant H. L. Young. Lieutenant H. B. Miller, Toms River, N. J. Lieutenant H. J. Dugan. Lieutenant C. F. Miller. Lieutenant W. Bushnell, Malone, N. Y. Lieutenant C. T. Glendenning, Tome River. N. J. Lieutenant George C. Calnan, Toms River, N. J. Chief Machinist G. C. Walsh. Lieutenant Robert E. Sayre, Elgin, 111. Hourly Temperatures 6 a. m 34 10 a. m 46 7 a. m 35 11 a. m 47 8 a. m 40 12 (noon).. 50 9a. m 45 Ip. m 53 ,

Calnan, a naval constructor, and Townsend went their separate ways, Calnan to ships of the air and Townsend to ships of the sea. Townsend was in the discipline department of the academy with Commander F. T. Berry, another passenger aboard the ill-fated blimp, and during that service was disciplinary officer over George Hall Moffett, midshipman at that time, son of Admiral Moffett. “If the Akron didn’t go under, there's a chance as long as she’s afloat for men aboard her,” Towmsend believes. a a a 'T'HE endangering of the life of Admiral Moffett hits a bullseye in the sentiments of Chief Machinist Mate W. W. Jackson. “He was my commanding officer —just a commander then, not an admiral—aboard the old Chester, a cruiser. We were at the bombardment of Vera Cruz in 1914. What kind of man, Admiral Moffet? “One of the kind you could talk to. man to man. “He was a strict disciplinarian, but if you did your bit that was all he asked. The Chester was one of the cruisers that opened fire on Vera Cruz,” Jackson explained.

VIVID STORY OF CRASH RELATED Futile Battle Waged by Doomed Craft Against Violent Storm. By United Press ST. NAZAIRE, France, April 4. —The French naval dirigible E-9 crashed and was destroyed at the village of Duermande while on a trial flight from the Rochefort naval base today. Two of the crew of twelve w'ere injured. The dirigible was valued at 4,000,000 francs. By United Press NEW YORK. April 4.—The dirigible Akron, brilliantly illumined by a mighty flash of lightning, p-lunged downward to destruction through a storm that ripped her envelope and i hurled her against the waves off New Jersey with such force that she crumbled under the impact. The meager, but vivid details of the disaster which cost perhaps

seventy - four lives was relayed from the stormy w’aters off Barnegat light by ships which searched for bodies and picked up the three living survivors. The Akron was flying at an alti.tude of more than 14,000 feet W'hen the storm ! began gathering about midnight. Lieut enant-

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Commander H. V. Wiley was on duty w'hen the Akron began to run into the worst part of the storm. He changed his course as the wind i and lightning became more severe, j (Turn to Page Four)

Admiration for Admiral Moffett among the enlisted men and officers swings around his genial personality, his capability as an aviator. despite his years and his courage in going on training jaunts in airships. They admire his effective work during the Woiid war as commandant of the largest inland naval training station, Great Lakes. The admiral received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his services during the occupation of Vera Cruz, Mexico, W’hile in command of the Chester. a a a npHE Akron visited Indianapolis on Oct. 19, 1931. City residents flocked to tops of buildings to see the nuge dirigible as it calmed its motors above the Soliders and Sailors’ monument, paid brief respects, and continued its 2.000-mile endurance jaunt. Don Steeg, 272 Parkview avenue, manager of the outboard motorboat division of the Kruse Radio Corporation, probably was one of the last city residents to see the Akron before her sea plunge. Steeg. while racing his Sea Gull at an outboard regatta at Miami, Fla . thirty days ago, saw the Akron moored at a Miami airport.

77 MEN ABOARD GIANT CRAFT; TWO DEAD; THREE SAVED OTHERS MISSING Rear Admiral W. A. Moffett One of Victims; F. C. McCord of Vincennes, in Command of Doomed Ship, Struck Down Off Coast of New Jersey. DISASTROUS CRASH IS LAID TO LIGHTNING Great Fleet of Vessels and Planes Searches Wide Area of Ocean for Trace of Wreckage and Survivors; German Tanker First on Scene as Rescuer. BY ROSS DOWNING United Press Staff Correspondent ATLANTIC CITY, April 4. The world’s biggest airship, U. S. S. Akron, crashed in flames in stormy darkness off the New Jersey coast early today, hurling into the water her officers and crew of seventy-seven men, of whom seventy-four are dead or still missing. The mighty aircraft—apparently a victim of lightning and a swift thunderstorm—caught fire as it fell to the water. A few hours after the Akron crashed, a gray fleet of steel-clad warships and powerful airplanes circled slowly through dense fog from Barnegat Beach to Atlantic City, searching for survivors.

They found four men who lived through the collapse of the huge framework and envelope of the craft in which Rear Admiral William A. Moffet had been a distinguished passenger on a projected New England cruise. One of the four picked up by the first vessel to flash word of the disaster—the German tanker Phoebus —was Chief Radio Man Robert W. Copeland, who had su '•r ed the crash of the U. S. S. Shenandoah in 1925. He died on the Phoebus. Lieutenant Commander H. V. Wiley, Seaman Carl C. Deans, and Seaman Moody Erwin also were picked up by the Phoebus and put aboard the destroyer Tucker, w'hich was due in New York about noon Copeland’s body also w'as aboard. Late in the morning coast guard cutter 213 reported that it had picked up the body of LieutenantCommander Harold E. MacClelland of Westerly, R. 1., near the scene of the disaster,-off the Jersey coast. The rescue fleet, feeling its way through rain, a high rolling sea, and thick fog, was almost helpless as dawn broke through the cloud banks and, later, the thick haze closed down still further to repel the searching airplanes. A dozen natal ships, headed by the new cruiser Portland, with Captain Fairfax Leary in command of the rescue fleet, steamed slowly

Wiley

“It was two days before she sailed for Panama. From looking her over and talking to her crew, it looks to me, although I'm a layman and not an aviator, that those aboard the ship could escape if it was not submerged by heavy seas. Catwalks inside the blimp and to points on top of it were plentiful, so that the crew could escape from almost any cabin,” Steeg said. a a a OUT-STATE the focal point of interest in the Akron's list of missing revolves around Commander F. C. McCord, “skipper” of the dirigible, a native of Vincennes; Gerald Tomes of Milroy, and Herschel L. Moreen of New Albany, enlisted men. Commander McCord left his boyhood home in 1913 to enter the naval academy. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles McCord, both of whom died more than ten years ago. The blimp’s commander was graduated from the Vincennes high school. He has numerous relatives living in or near Vincennes. Tomes is the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Tomes. The parents live at Milroy, south of Rushville. Tomes is 23. He joined the navy two years ago.

Euteml a* Second Class Matter at Postoffice. Indianapolis

around the scene of disaster. But their search was difficult. Only small pieces of wreckage had been found by late morning, coast guard officials announced, and the men of the Akron had vanished save for the four plucked from the wreckage by the tossing German tanker. A fleet of land and seaplanes, roaring out from bases at Philadelphia, Lakehurst and elsewiiere hummed over the w'ater, swinging low to peer through the fog in a tireless search of the waves. Private craft, carrying newspaper men and photographers, raced past the sturdy naval aircraft, which set a slow pace as they swerved back and forth some twenty to thirty miles off the coast, w'here the Akron first w'as reported down not far from Barnegat. A strong swell w'as running and the wreckage was reported drifting rapidly toward shore, at a point probably south of Atlantic City. Rescue vessels included the Portland, the Tucker, the destroyers McDougal and Cole, the tanker Phoebus, the cutter Mojave, the naval tug Skagmore, three coast power boats, one New York patrol boat, and many smaller craft. Many airplanes participated. Four miles along the shore, emergency preparations were made to care for any survivors. Ambulance planes were held in readiness, doctors and nurses were summoned to stand by and were kept moving down the coast as closely as pos-

Tomes visited his parents last summer and told of his transfer to the Akron and the pleasure with which he looked toward one of the proposed trips of the dirigible. He formerly was a printer's apprentice on the Rushville Republican.

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Commander Frank McCord

HOME EDITION PRICE TWO CENTS Outside Marion County, 3 Cents

sible, in conformity with the meager reports of drifting wreckage. The first coast guard cutter to report was in charge of Bos’n Mate L. Cranmer. They set out at 2:30 a. m. for Barnegat and cruised slowly down the coast, but failed to find any trace of the Akron. With Captain Leary directing the search, rescue ships redoubled their efforts shortly before noon, when about thirty vessels were on the scene. Area Blocked Off On orders from Washington, the rescue leaders blocked off a thirty-square-mile area from Barnegat light to sea and south toward Atlantic City. They arranged for the fleet, aided by airplanes, to cover every part of the area in checkerboard fashion. Meanw'hile, the destroyer Tucker from New London, the McDougal from New York, the fast new cruiser Portland from Gravesend Bay, end the destroyer Mojave out of Boston, which was off the Jersey coast, en route to Washington, started on a race to the position reported by the Phoebus. A patrol boat from New York joined the race, and motor “surfboats” of the coast guard from Barnegat, Bonds and Atlantic City put out to help. The larger craft, equipped with wireless, began arriving at the rendezvous at 5 a. m., but their reports to shore at first were as meager as those from the Phoebeus. The Tucker and the McDougal apparently ran a dead heat. Almost together they messaged their arrival. The Tucker reported that the coast guard plane from Cape May had arrived safely. The navy had ordered commandants of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth naval districts to prepare to send all available aircraft to the rescue as soon as flying conditions permitted. The order embraced fields at New' York, Philadelphia, Annapolis, Washington, and Norfolk. Commanded by Indianan The Akron was commanded by Commander F. C. McCord of Vincennes, Ind. Also on board her was Commander F. T. Berry, commanding officer of the Lakehurst station. While ships and planes converged upon the place at sea where wreckage of the Akron floated, reiief workers gathered here to receive survivors who coulu be sped ashore. Jersey state police, doctors, and nurses arrived through the early hours of morning, awaiting the return of coast guard lifeboats which had put out hours before to help the tanker Phoebus in the work of rescue. From reports received here, it appeared that the Akron had met disaster in a thunderstorm and rain squall that sw'ept the Jersey coast shortly before midnight and continued for an hour or more. The airship, world’s largest lighter than air craft, took off from Lakehurst at 7:30 p. m. on a training flight to New England. Fog settled (Turn to Page Four).