New-York tribune., 1900-07-15
Won ZEPPELIN'S AIR SHIP.
FRESH DETAILS REGARDING ITS PER-
FORMANCE.
sPEECHEs AND PRAYER BEFORE THE START
HOPES NOT FULLY REALIZED

Count Won Zeppelin brought by the foreign
papers that arrived day or two ago. A pre-
liminary fight was made in the airship at Fried
richshafen Con the German side Of Lake Con-
stance) on Sunday evening, July l, but the
principal voyage occurred twenty-four hours
later. 1t is intimated that the lateness of the
hour was dictated by a wish avoid the heat
OF the sun, but it is possible that the wind
iocity. which is usually greater in the afternoon
than in the evening. may also have been consid-
cred. On Saturday. June 30 the wind blow
ing nearly thirty miles an hour, and this was
deemed rather too strong for preliminary test.
Count Won Zeppelin and his advisers have pro-
ceeded cautiously. and have evidently felt that
they could not he too careful about the first
tempt. On Sunday, July 1. the breeze was
lighter, although account puts it at eight
metres a second eighteen miles an hour.
The airship was towed out of the shed in
which it is kept at about 7:30 o'clock, and the
ballast adjusted to give the suspended boats an
even balance. Count Won Zeppelin and four
other men were in the boats The craft
released at o'clock and rose slowly to alti-
tude Of four hundred metres. or about quarter
of mile. At first it drifted with the wind, but
after few minutes it made some headway
The ship steered perfectly. and maintained it
self in upright position. neither fitting
sideways nor departing from a horizontal line
fore and aft Various reasons are assigned for
not continuing the experiment. one is that the
wind was too stiff. and another is that of the
ropes fouled some of the gear and made the
operation Of the latter inconvenient. At any
rate, the ship descended, keeping itself right
side up and rested lightly the water of Lake
Constance, where the start made. The bal
loon made fast to the pontoon float and
then toyved 10 its shed again Those who ac-
companed the protector Of this enterprise were
Baron Conrad Bassus, Herr Eugene Wolf, Burr
an engineer. and Groes mechanical engineer
The longer journey made on Monday was not
decided upon until short time before the start.
A council held at p m. showed a lack of agree
ment on the expedency Of going ahead But ar
: o'clock Won Zeppelin gave orders to proceed.
and at 40 the ship and pontoon were dragged
out into the lake. When the preparations were
complete Won Zeppelin made brief speech.
thanking every who had assisted in any
manner. A short prayer followed, and then the
five participants in the expedition stepped into
their places in the two suspended gondolas. The
ship rose slowly and directed into the wind,
of which however. the velocity is reported.
When an elevation of two hundred metres had
been attained it apparent that the ship
drifted slightly 10 the northward, owing to the
strength of the air current which it had reached.
IT then rose little higher and described two
beautiful circles, show how perfectly it could
he manPuvred.
There is yet much uncertainty about the dis
tance actually travelled. Reuters telegram,
sent the evening of the occurrence said that
the airship landed at Immenstadt thirty-five /
miles from Friedrichshafen. Inspection of the /
maps shows that there is "a town of that name /
in Bavaria almost due east of the starting /
place and upward Of thirty miles away. But it /
is possible, not TO say probable, that there is
another Immenstadt not well known. and
situated on the shores of Lake Constance. The /
account sent to the "Berliner Tageblatt" by its
correspondent in Friedrichshafen says: Tow
ard o'clock (only half hour after the start, /
it viii be observed the balloon was at a height
of $50 metres, and approached a neck of land
Immenstadt. One could see that the bal
loon made efforts to rise still further pro-
ceed but in vain Suddenly could notice 1t
descending rather rapidly. Every one feared
that accident about TO happen. Cries
went up from a thousand throats. Meantime
the ship continued to descend, with its bow in
clined slightly downward. In this manner it
sank to the surface of the water, and rested !
there quietly. Count Won Zeppelin and his COM
panions kept their places
The forward part Of the balloon came in con- .
tact with ID projecting tree stump and was rent
open. The inner balloon unhurt. however 4.
This the only accident BY o'clock the
pontoon was brought to the scene and the air
ship was made fast TO il After two hours Of
hard work-the harder because Of the darkness
the airship was back again in its house. The .
Duke Of Urach extended congratulations in the 1
name of the King of Wurtemberg and Count
Won Zeppelin responded At 3 m. the
bly, met in the DeutsChes House, a hotel at
which many visitors were staying. for dinner"
From this language, and from the lack of any
reference TO land transportation for either the .
aeronauts or their craft. il seems probable that +
the Immenstadt at which the landing eff I
fected is only short distance from Friedrichs- /
hafen, and is on the shores Of the lake. The !
"Tageblatts' report contains specific men !
tion of the distance travelled. and it is possible
that some agent Of Reuter- in Berlin or London |
hafen" on his own responsibility.
II is conceded that the machinery did not work !
altogether had been expected. The screws |
were TO make twelve hundred revolutions a |
minute. but actually rotated only half as rapidly |
It is feared that their diameter too small. |
also The side wings, screws. to which fur
ther reference will he made presently did not /
function perfectly. And il is now considered a !
mistake 80 have waited until so late in the day |
before ascending. The suns warmth might /
have kept the gas from cooling. and the ship |
from sinking prematurely. Before another at
tempt is made to fly, several alterations will be
necessary. Weeks, not TO say months. will prob /
ably elapse in the mean time. However, the ex- |
pertinent far from being failure. A much /
bigger steerable airship than ever before has |
made a successful ascent and descent. il I
rnaneuvred admirably while aloft, and the ship /
both rose from and descended to water
In few particulars the descriptions of this /
craft. given by the German press. differ from /
those hitherto printed. The length Of the air
ship is only I22 metres, 400 feet and its /
diameter 81 feet. The length Of the s;eerable .
balloon tried by Giffard was II metres. that of /
Tissander 2S Dupuy de LONE Sc Hauien 4O.5 !
Renard and krebs 10 and Schwartz "a. 1t has [
already been mentioned by The Tribune that /
Won Zeppelin'S gas bag is divided into seventeen /
compartments that injury to part Of the /
reservoir would not release all the gas. The |
outer inclosure is covered by a network of alu-
Tnnum and hempen cord. From this /
suspended two aluminium boats or gondoas. - .
metres shorter at each end than the airship. or