Hassam, David Jayne Hill, Lorado Taft, Booth Tarkington, Henry Bacon, Charles Dana Gibson, and Joseph Pennell. The permanent secretary of the Academy is Robert Underwood Johnson, 15 West 81st Street, New York City.

ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, NATIONAL. See SCIENCES, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF.

ACCIDENTS. See AUTOMOBILES; BOILERS; RAILWAY ACCIDENTS; SAFETY AT SEA.

ADAMS, FREDERICK UPHAM, Author and inventor, died August 28. His inventions and writings in the field of mechanical engineering are well known. He was born in Boston, Mass., Dec. 10, 1859, and educated in the city schools. From 1882 to 1890 he practiced the profession of mechanical engineering, inventing during that period an electric lamp post which was generally adopted throughout the country (1886) and electric light towers (1887). From 1894 to 1897 he was chief smoke inspector in Chicago. In 1900 he constructed an experimental passenger train for the Baltimore and Ohio railway which broke all previous records for speed. Becoming interested in social questions he founded the magazine called the New Time which he edited from 1896 to 1898. He wrote among other books: Atmosphere Resistance and Its Relation to the Speed of Railway Trains (1893); President John Smith (1896); The Kidnapped Millionaires (1901); John Burt (1903); How Cities are Governed in Great Britain (1904); The Oil War in Mexico (1909); The Conquest of the Tropics (1913); The Romance of Big Business (1915); Woodrow Wilson vs. Woodrow Wilson (1919); The Open Shop (1919).

ADAMS, HENRY CARTER. Political economist and educator, died August 11. He was professor of political economy and finance in the University of Michigan, and the author of important works on taxation, finance, and railways. He was born at Davenport, Iowa, Dec. 31, 1851; graduated at Iowa College in 1874, and studied at Johns Hopkins and German universities. He was appointed to the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1880, and became professor of political economy and finance in 1887. Among positions held by him on government commissions, etc., were: Director of the division of transportation of the Eleventh Census; statistician and chief of the statistical division of the Interstate Commerce Commission; adviser to a Chinese commission in respect to standardizing railway accounts. He was assistant editor of the International Journal of Ethics, and wrote among other works: Public Debts (1887); Relation of the State to Industrial Action (1887); The Science of Finance (1898); Statistics of Railways (1888-1910); Economics and Jurisprudence (1897); Description of Industry (1918); American Railway Accounting (1918).

ADELPHI COLLEGE. A non-sectarian institution of the higher education, at Brooklyn, N. Y.; founded in 1896. In the summer school of 1921 the enrollment was 93 and for the year 1921-22 in the regular college it was 300. There were 22 members in the faculty. The library contained 17,500 volumes. President, Frank D. Blodgett, LL.D.

ADEN. A volcanic peninsula belonging to Great Britain on the Arabian coast about 100 miles east of Bab-el-Mandeb, forming part of the Presidency of Bombay; area, about 75 square miles; with the Protectorate, about 9000 square miles. The settlement includes the small penin

sula of Aden known as Little Aden, some settlements on the mainland and also the island of Perim at the entrance to the Red Sea. The population of Aden and Perim in 1911 was 46,165 and the population of the Protectorate was about 100,000. The chief industries are the manufacture of salt and cigarettes. The trade is mainly transit. In 1919-20 the imports by sea were valued at £6,580,474; by land £295,498; total including treasure £7,124,078. The chief imports were cotton piece goods, grain, hides and skins, tobacco, coal, and provisions. The exports by sea in 1919-20 were £6,292,691; by land £125,451; total including treasure £6,517,004. The chief exports were coffee, gums, hides and skins, cotton goods, tobacco, and provisions. The shipping in 1919-20 included 1066 merchant vessels of 2,736,839 tons entered of which 642 were British. The government is under a political resident with four assistants. Political resident, 1921, MajorGeneral T. E. Scott.

ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE. An organization based on the principle that science can only be supported by the organization of scientific men in a democracy where no dependence can be had upon a leisure class; founded in 1848. Important work has been done in encouraging scientific research and promoting interest in its results. With the association are affiliated national societies which either meet regularly on their own account or during the annual convention week at the close of each year. Meetings have been held so far in Baltimore, Boston, Minneapolis, Washington, Cleveland, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Columbus, New York, Pittsburg, St. Louis, and Chicago. A Pacific Coast Division exists separately and holds its meetings independently in the summer. The official organ of the association is a journal, Science, published weekly. Membership is estimated at 15,000.

At the Toronto meeting of the association in 1921, held, December 27 to 31, by the invitation of the University of Toronto and the Royal Canadian Institute, the treasurer's report showed the total endowment funds of the association to amount to $121,414.77 and the income for the fiscal year to be $56,463.20. Among other measures, resolutions were adopted urging legislation requiring the use of the metric system in the United States, under government regulation. An address was delivered by Sir Adam Beck, chairman of the Hydro-Electric Commission of Ontario on "Hydro-Electric Developments in Ontario." He pointed out how these developments have been due to the electric and hydraulic engineers, and traced briefly the history of the hydro-electric enterprises of Ontario, showing how the commission is able to deliver electric power from Niagara Falls in Windsow (254 miles away) at a price only about one-third as great as that of steam-generated electricity in Detroit across the river. A series of moving pictures illustrated the various projects in Ontario. Under the social and economic sciences section a symposium was arranged on "An International Auxiliary Language." In this connection a paper was read by Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman, of the Prudential Life Insurance Co. of America, on "The Organization of Knowledge." The need for better methods in the classification of knowledge was emphasized, so

that what science has accomplished may become much more easily available. He presented an improved scheme of classification which has valuable possibilities in the fundamental field of scientific endeavor.

ADVENT CHRISTIANS. See ADVENTISTS. ADVENTISTS. The largest branch of this denomination is the Seventh-Day Adventists. Figures for 1920 (latest available) show the following statistics for the North American Union: 2217 churches with membership of 95,877; 708 ordained ministers; 396 licensed ministers; 719 licensed missionaries, and other laborers bringing the total number of workers to 2694. The tithe receipts for the year amounted to $3,918,515.14, or $40.87 per capita. The total offerings to foreign missions was $1,072,143.32; contributions for Home Mission Work, $252,057.79. Sabbath schools numbered 2903, of total membership, 97,861. The 1308 church buildings were estimated to be valued at $3,747,639.85. The church schools were 716 in number with total enrollment of 17,510; young people's societies numbered 1278 and had a total membership of 25,988. Contributions for young people's work totaled $154,070.92. Six publishing houses were maintained and denominational literature was published in 99 different languages. There were 3155 publications issued during the year. Evangelistic work was conducted in 108 countries. Educational institutions in North America and elsewhere number 97, 16 of those in the former carrying full college courses. Loma Linda College, Pacific Union College, and Walla Walla College are the most famous.

Other branches of the Adventists are the Adventists Christian Church, which in 1916 (later figures not available) had 30,316 members, 640 churches, and 626 ministers; the Adventists Church of God, which in 1920 had 10,000 members, 100 churches, and 80 ministers. Exact statistics for 1921 are not available, but it is reported the denomination had the most prosperous year of its existence in the way of spiritual growth. Receipts in endowments, offerings, and gifts as well as membership more than doubled those of the previous year. During the year a new paper was launched, known as The Field Messenger and published monthly at Stanberry, Mo. Other branches of the Adventists are Life and Advent Union, which in 1920 had 700 members, 20 churches, and 15 ministers; and the Church of God and Jesus Christ, with about 4000 members, 90 churches, and 50 ministers.

AERONAUTICS. Notwithstanding the uncertain political and economic conditions prevailing in 1921, it may be said that during the year there was a distinct advance in many fields of aeronautics, though hardly to the extent that the more enthusiastic desired, and thought would come with greater government support and encouragement. The application of the airplane and the dirigible had lagged behind the development of these machines, except for military purposes, and with the curtailment of military needs and expenditures and the tendency toward reduced armaments, there was naturally less activity in army and navy air offices, though much important work was done. The development of the aërial post continued and air mail routes were extended and developed, though in some cases, as in the United States, there was involved a read

justment of services. Here again both in America and Europe the demands of an enforced economy restricted developments, but there were distinct advances made, and many routes reported efficient and economical as well as regular and reliable air service. Certain government activities previously inaugurated, such as the Forest Fire Patrol by army aviators in the western part of United States, and various reconnoissance and other survey and mapping projects in the United States and Canada, were continued and extended. This mapping and survey work was being adjusted on a permanent and systematic basis for hydrographic, reclamation, development, planning, location, and other surveys, and already was quite beyond the experimental stage.

In commercial aviation, that is regular passenger and express service, progress was comparatively slow, though somewhat more marked in Europe than in America as regards the number of regular lines operated and projected but not in the actual number or mileage of flights. Safety and regularity of operation were generally secured and operating costs were being reduced. Probably with less stringent financial conditions more capital for development and organization would have been available, and it was the universal opinion that for some years civil and commercial aviation must be encouraged by government sympathy, interest and coöperation. However, there was an increase of air traffic on important routes such as across the Channel and between several continental cities.

On the technical and scientific side the advances though not spectacular were important. In all fields careful computation, design, and research were in progress, for airplane engineering long since had progressed beyond rule of thumb methods. In no field of mechanical engineering was there better and sounder design and precision of construction than in the development of planes and engines and the extraordinary long distance and duration, not to mention high speed records, flights, were eloquent testimony in this direction. Obviously the military and naval side of aëronautics cannot be dismissed as summarily as above, and the reader is referred to the articles on MILITARY and NAVAL PROGRESS for this side of the discussion, but it is pertinent to call attention to such work as the destruction of obsolete or surrendered vessels of war and the dropping of heavy weights of high explosive bombs, weighing in one case as much as 4300 lbs. from airplanes and dirigibles, not to mention ease of penetrating the interior of a country, which matters figured to an important degree in the discussion of the Disarmament Conference (q. v.) at Washington in November and December, 1921. In this connection, an event fraught with great possibility as extending the range and usefulness of the swift airplane carrier or the battleship was when the U. S. Navy launched a seaplane from its first catapult at League Island Navy Yard, Philadelphia, preparatory to equipping surface craft with fighting and scout planes.

Returning to commercial and civilian flying in the United States, a review compiled by the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce for the U. S. Department of Commerce stated that this had increased in 1921 20 per cent over the previous year. In 1921 twelve hundred aircraft were being operated by civilians with a flying record amount

ing to more than 6,500,000 miles and carrying approximately 275,000 passengers. These figures were based on authenticated reports to the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce from all sections of the country, and demonstrated that America was maintaining a place in the air as far as individual effort and accomplishment were concerned. Late in the year the so-called WadsworthHicks Bill providing for a Bureau of Civil Aviation in the Department of Commerce to regulate and develop navigation of the air, came before the Congress of the United States. This proposed bureau, among other duties, was to have supervision over the licensing and registration of all commercial aircraft and pilots and the enforcement of the laws. This measure sought to embody the recommendations of President Harding contained in his special message on the subject of aviation, sent to Congress soon after the opening of the session in December, 1921, when he transmitted the annual report of the National Advisory Committee for Aëronautics.

The bill as introduced was perfected and agreed upon by all agencies directly concerned with aeronautics. There was provided the appointment by the President of a Commissioner of Civil Aviation, to prepare rules and regulations for air navigation, including the issuance of licenses for aircraft, aviators, and air stations, who was authorized to designate and lay out air routes and to study the possibilities for the development of civil aviation in all parts of the United States.

The bill in the form as introduced was the result of conferences between the representatives of the Aero Club of America, the aircraft industry, and heads of the Army and Navy Air Services, the Weather Bureau, and the National Advisory Committee for Aëronautics. It dealt in considerable detail with the various phases of the air problem and sought to supply much needed legislation and harmony in this field.

As typical of the increased attention paid to practical aviation, mention may be made of the first American National Airway which was opened by the Army Air Service between Bolling Field, Washington, D. C., and Dayton, Ohio. In an attempt to popularize flying as well as to dispose of surplus stock during the year the U. S. Navy Department released four million dollars worth of flying boat equipment for the civilian market at greatly reduced figures.

NEW AIRPLANES. In 1921 there was successfully put in service the Larsen all-metal armored monoplane carrying machine guns, an American type, which later in the year, as related below, was able to secure the World's Endurance record. Two other important developments were the torpedo-carrying plane and the Navy Scout. Another important American development of great mechanical advantage was the geared propeller and multiple drive system tested successfully by the Gallaudet Aircraft Corporation at East Greenwich, R. I. It permitted the harnessing of three motors to one propeller and gave greater power, flexibility, and safety. A number of different types of small sport machines were produced in the United States in 1921. The Sperry "Messenger" with Lawrence motor, the sport Farman, the Thomas-Morse racing monoplane, the Laird Swallow, the Longren folded wing sport plane, and others were introduced during the year in the United States.

In Europe, as shown at the various aviation shows and in flight, there were also a number of developments during the year, but mostly in the direction of refinement and increased efficiency. New planes were developed and older ones improved as in the case of the Nieuport monoplane, whose record of speed has figured many times in this annual review. In 1921 the latest model (Nieuport-Delage) made a notable record, being flown at 206 miles per hour with a 300 h. p. Hispano-Suiza motor. By some engineers this new model was considered a biplane, although the lower plane, only one metre square and placed between the two landing wheels was so small as to be quite insignificant. In the upper plane there was a span of 8 metres and a breadth of 1 metre and 50 centimetres, while the fuselage measured 6 metres, 50 centimetres. The whole machine ready for flight weighed 950 kilogrammes (2094 lbs.). In England a new type of monoplane brought out during the year was originally called the "Handalula," ," and represented a radical departure from current practice, the wing being shaped like that of a bird. This machine, when flown by Commander Kenworthy at Northold Airdrome attained a speed of 187 miles an hour and reached a height of 3000 feet on almost its first flight. This performance was early made with only a 300 horsepower Hispano-Suiza engine, but a larger machine of modified design was built to be engined by a 1000 horsepower Napier "Cub," motor, and a much greater rate of speed was expected. The wing of this monoplane was designed specially for high lift by a Mr. Holle, who had been studying bird flight and the subject of high lift wings. The new plane became known as the "Alula," and inasmuch as it was typical of the later monoplanes with a large and powerful engine mounted in the fuselage below the wings it was of interest to determine just how much advantage would be secured with improved wing design.

AIRPLANE ENGINES. In the 18 years elapsing from the flight of the first airplane at Kittyhawk, N. C., in December, 1903, no feature stood out more strongly than the development of the airplane engine. Just as artificial flight largely was made possible by the small internal combustion engine, so its development had depended in no less measure on the improvement of the engine as suggested in the table below. The original engine of the Wright Brothers gave only 12 horsepower with a weight of 12.7 pounds per horsepower. This efficiency was so increased that the Liberty motor, used in 1918 and in a measure typical of modern engines up to 1921, stands out conspicuously in the table below.

The figures, except for the first and last columns (Wright and Liberty motors) are average values of principal engines for each year:

h.'p. Napier aëro engine, had a passenger carrying capacity of eight and a total loading capacity of 18,000 lbs. It was the practice to run these Napier engines the remarkable distance of 10,000 miles before they were taken down for careful inspection, which was done solely by way of precaution. After examination these engines were reassembled for immediate service. Some of the Napier engines on the London to Paris aëro mail had actually covered a distance of 25,000 miles up to the end of 1921 and were in regular and daily service on the cross channel journey.

During the year in the United States many improvements were made and tested not only in airplane design and construction but in the internal combustion engine. Motors were made more reliable, more economical as far as fuel consumption was concerned, and more efficient. New types of motors were developed and were constructed, including the Wright, Lawrence, Packard, etc., radial, air-cooled, and steam. One of the important developments of the year was an internal combustion engine of 700 horsepower which was under test at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, and promised to be one of the most powerful in the world.

NOTABLE AMERICAN PERFORMANCES. The year 1921 was replete with notable and spectacular performances by American aviators and airplanes. These were noteworthy as marking distinct practical advances in the art of aviation which would soon become or indicate standard practice rather than as mere sensational or isolated feats of men or machines. Such for example was the transcontinental flight of Lt. W. D. Coney from San Diego, Cal., to Jacksonville, Fla., 2180 miles in 22 hours and 27 minutes. The flight of the aëromarine "President Zayas" from New York to Havana in 19 hours flying time, the 4842 mile flight of the two U. S. Marine Corps planes in charge of Lt. Col. T. C. Turner, from Quantico, Va., to Santo Domingo and return, the 3200 mile flight of the twelve Navy seaplanes from San Diego, Calif., to Panama were also notable achievements. On the purely military side, though showing excellent functioning and operation on the part of machines and pilot were the repeated performances in connection with manoeuvres of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps planes which flew 100 miles out at sea and dropped tons of explosives on the surrendered German craft in the course of the aërial warfare demonstrations off the Virginia Capes in June and July, which proved conclusively the effectiveness of airplanes in coast defense against surface vessels. See MILITARY PROGRESS and NAVAL PROGRESS.

LONG DISTANCE FLIGHT OF "SANTA MARIA." An important and interesting long distance passenger flight was made during the year by the American eleven-passenger flying cruiser "Santa Maria" of the Aeromarine Airways Co., which landed at New Orleans after a complete tour of the eastern section of the United States. The "Santa Maria" in 1921 was the largest passenger flying boat in the world, and had covered 18,000 miles in the air, and transported more than 2000 passengers in absolute safety. During this trip she was in the air a total of 270 hours, which was conceded to be an unprecedented feat for an airplane.

This notable flight was started at Key West when the Aeromarine Airways, with the co

operation of the United States Navy Department, planned to fly the "Santa Maria' up the Atlantic coast to Washington and New York, and thence across New York State over rivers, lakes, and canals to Montreal, and along the Great Lakes via Toronto and Detroit to Chicago. From the latter city the "Santa Maria" went to New Orleans along the valleys of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, stopping at St. Louis and Memphis. This trip was not so remarkable for its total distance, as probably not more than 5500 miles was accomplished in a bee line, but the "Santa Maria" made a large number of passenger flights at each of the cities she visited. She carried among her through passengers a representative of the U. S. Navy throughout, Admiral C. J. Peoples, and then Commander P. N. L. Bellinger of the famous NC-1. Both were specially assigned by the Navy Department. During 1921 the fleet of fifteen flying boats of the Aeromarine Airways alone flew 100,000 miles and carried 6814 passengers, 29,002 pounds of freight and mail between Key West and Havana and at various posts along the Atlantic coast.

PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEYING AND MAPPING. Photographic surveys from airplane and dirigible by 1921 had become as commonplace as they were useful and many of the military advantages developed during the war were found applicable to civil and other engineering and exploration. On the coasts of the U. S., Army, Navy, and Marine Corps aviators made many important aërial surveys, such as those of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, the Mississippi River Delta and the coastline of several islands in the West Indies. Navy aviators prepared a photographic map of the mouth of the Mississippi for the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, while a map of Guantanamo Bay was also made for the U. S. Hydrographic office.

In Canada the Reclamation Service made an airplane survey of a proposed drainage project in the region of the Carrot River, on the boundary between Northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The reclamation of 800,000 to 900,000 acres of land was involved in this large project, and a reconnoissance or rough topographical survey would have been difficult as much of the area was inaccessible on account of floods. Much valuable data was thus secured in short time so that if a ground survey later with instruments was required it could be done readily.

An interesting and useful discussion of aërial photographic mapping was published in Engineering News-Record (New York) for Oct. 13, 1921, p. 596, in which aerial photographic mapping for municipal and other engineering services was treated.

The pre

GOVERNMENT USES OF AIRPLANES. vious successful use of airplanes to detect and prevent forest fires in the western United States was continued during 1921 and the forty-one army airplanes operated on the Aerial Forest Patrol in the National Forests on the Pacific Slope made 396 patrols during the season. They discovered 832 fires and provided protection to 7,230,459 square miles of valuable timber lands. In Canada the new Dayton Wright forest patrol seaplanes were placed in service during the summer. Marine Corps planes were used in revenue service and located many illicit stills on the eastern coast. On one occasion, on September 2, an entire moonshine village was thus detected.

U. S.

The Bureau of Aeronautics was organized by the Navy Department thereby coördinating the various divisions of Naval aviation. The airplane rendered invaluable aid in flood, fire, and pestilence, one of the most notable occasions being the Pueblo, Colo., flood in June, and at the time of the threatened railway strikes, manufacturers and owners of aircraft proposed the organization of a supply and mail service for the different cities.

DIRIGIBLES

Notwithstanding the sad tragedy connected with the destruction of the huge airship intended for the U. S. Navy during a trial flight, there was considerable activity to be recorded in the development and use of dirigibles, particularly by the U. S. Navy and also in the proposed airships to be used in Europe for long distance transportation.

ZR-2 DISASTER. The most tragic disaster in the year's record in aëronautics was the collapse of the British designed and built dirigible R-38, constructed for the United States Navy and known on its records as ZR-2. This catastrophe occurred above Hull, England, on August 24, 1921, while the huge dirigible was on a trial trip under the command of a British officer, Lieut. A. A. Wann, and with a British crew of 49 officers and men. There were in addition six officers and eleven non-commissioned officers of the U. S. Navy aboard the craft, though it had not been turned over to the American government. The ZR-2, which had had a number of trial trips beginning as early as June 23, 1921, on this particular occasion had departed from her moorings at Howden on August 23, and had been cruising for some 30 hours in the North Sea and off shore. During this time she was in communication with her base by wireless and no mishaps or lack of control were reported. The trip was about concluded and the airship flying over the city of Hull at a height of about 1200 feet and ready to descend to her shed, when about 7.30 P. M. the huge gas envelope was seen to collapse and break in two while there was a severe explosion of the oil tanks which wrecked the steel frame and scattered fragments broadcast. The wrecked airship, which by design had been steered toward the Humber, fell into the river carrying with it those of the crew who had been unable to escape by leaping through the traps of the main car equipped with safety parachutes. The airship fell in the shallows of the river where it could not be reached on account of the smoke and flames so that all who did not escape perished. The tide rising rapidly soon submerged the wreck and but little remained of the world's greatest airship. The bodies of the victims were rescued later and the wreck of the dirigible was carefully studied. Those lost in the disaster totalled sixty-two of whom two subsequently died of injuries in the hospital.

In the YEAR BOOK for 1920, page 8, were given the dimensions and other data of this great dreadnaught of the skies, which was not only the largest but the most formidable aircraft in existence. She was designed for a flight of 5000 miles at full speed of 70 miles per hour, or for 6500 miles at a speed of 60 miles. The 690 feet of length practically rivalled the height of the Woolworth Tower in New York City and the

The

2,700,000 cubic feet of hydrogen gas would have lifted 83 tons of dead weight. The six SunbeamCossack engines of 2000 horsepower were fully capable of producing the desired speed. The armament was also of interest in that it comprised fourteen Lewis machine guns and a one-pounder automatic in addition to four bombs weighing 520 pounds each and eight bombs weighing 230 pounds each. Every effort was made to eliminate such weaknesses of the German Zeppelins as had been revealed in the war and a complete system of operating and fire control was developed. Sleeping quarters were provided for thirty officers and men, while the heating of food was accomplished by using the exhaust gases in a special arrangement. Comparison of the ZR-2 with the R-34 which made the trip from England_to America and back in 1919 was inevitable. R-34 crossed in 108 hours and 12 minutes in July, 1919, but it was necessary to watch carefully the fuel supply. The ZR-2 could carry 2900 more gallons of gasoline and was capable of from ten to twenty-five miles an hour greater speed as she had six engines of 350 horsepower each as compared with five of 250 horsepower for the older airship. The American crew which had been trained on the dirigible was ready to take over the craft and an early departure was planned, a course having been plotted from Howden westward over Ireland and direct by a great circle to Newfoundland whence it was proposed to cross New England and proceed to Lakehurst, N. J., where a huge hangar costing some $2,000,000 was in readiness to receive and house the ship. The ZR-2 had been put through a rigid series of trial trips and on one of the first of these, a "hump" was developed due to the bending under strain of the supporting girders and lattice work, which served as the foundation for the envelope and held the understructure to it. This led to a strengthening of the girders and rods, so that it was believed that the tendency to buckle had disappeared. The British constructors were not, however, entirely convinced and urged further and severe trial trips before the airship was turned over to the Americans. It was also suggested that the arranged day of departure should be postponed until further trials had been made.

Lieut. Wann, the commander, was the only one of those in the forepart of the balloon where the explosions occurred who escaped with his life, though he was severely injured. The other survivors were all in the stern. Lieut. Wann attributed the disaster to a weak structural part of the ship which broke in two pieces.

As was quite natural this tragedy was the subject of official investigation in England. A coroner's jury on October 4, turned in a verdict of accidental death, stating that nobody was to blame and finding no evidence regarding the actual cause of the dirigible's destruction. On the other hand, the Air Ministry's Board of Inquiry in a report published on October 7, blamed the disaster on a lack of proper coöperation and supervision when the designs of the dirigible were first prepared and the later failure to submit the changes in design to closer scrutiny. According to the report the airship in the course of the tests was made to turn sharply at a speed of from 45 to 50 knots and such a manoeuvre caused the breakdown between the ninth and tenth frames. The fire was produced by broken elec