El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-25

ItdTSOH = nose VINO nau the SOou
fortune to be in or near Friedrich
shafen. the little town on the lake OF
Constance. on the last day of June in
the year 1900. are likely to remember
that and the two succeeding days to
the end of their lives, says Gustav
Levering in that magazine.
The initiation of the balloons was SUI
pervised by Captain Bartsch Won Sigs-
field, of the PrusSian Section of Mill
tary Ballooning. who had the assist
ance of two Prussian officers and two
officers of the Bavarian Section of
Military Ballooning- Captain Sigsfeld
is an old hand at ballooning. having
something like 160 ascents to his
credit
1t was about half-past eight when
we saw the point of the vessel make
move: then it was drawn from the
shed. and lay exposed in all its length
and breadth to the gaze of those who
had remained behind.
In appearance. Count Won Zeppelin's
air-ship resembles a huge cigar. point
ed at both ends; it is made chiefly OF
aluminium. Its length is about AS
feet. The diameter of the cyclinder is
forty feet. and the total depth of the
structure. including the gondolas in
which the passengers are to sit, is
rather more than eighty feet
The framework of this huge cyclin-
der consists of aluminium bands. TWEEN
ty-four feet in number. The interior
Of the cigar is divided by sixteen YER
teal ribs into seventee compartments.
each of which contains an independent
balloon. made of a material which the
manufacturer calls 'ballonin." The
making of these balloons has been one
of the difficulties which the inventor
and his friends have had to overcome:
the first ascent was to ave taken
place in October. 1890. but the balloons
supplied did not fill the required con-
,.itions and the trial of tLe air-ship
had to be postponed.
Count Won Zeppelin rightly insisted
that the balloons should be capable
of retaining gas without appreciable
loss for not less than two weeks; in
ordinary balIooning two days is regard
ed as sufficient. After many expert
ments. material was produced in the |
laboratory of Herr Won Duttenhofer. |
the head of the great German Powder |
Factory which had me necessary prop
critics. and il is worthy of mention that |
the balloons now used have retained |
hydrogen gas for five weeks without |
sensible loss.
The capacity of the cigar is II 900
cubic metres. The gas was brought |
to the spot compressed in steel cylin-
ders. about 2O00 of which were requir-
ed to fill the balloons.
tective surface of pegamOid and silk.
the upper portion being of the former
and the lower portion being
Of the latter. The total weight OF the
ship. including its crew. is estimated
not to exceed 10000 pounds. but it is
not expected that it will ever reach
this figure in actual work
Four screws or pTopellers attached
to- the sides of the cigar are actuated
by two Daimler motors of fifteen horse
power each. and are capable of turning
at the rate OF 1900 revolutions per
minute. These propellers are made
with blades of aluminium. The ac-
ton of such propellors on air not be-
ing sufficiently well known to the in
ventor and his friends. various exper-
iments had to he carried ont with
them One OF these was to attach them ,
to a boat resting on the water and
set them in motion against the air in
order to see whether they would drive
the boat forwards and backwards in
spite of the extra resistance of the .
water This experiment was eminently
the boat being driven in
either direction at the rate of nearly
ten miles an hour. Considering the Z
in resistance il was esti- I
mated that the air-ship would be able {
10 travel at considerably greater
speed. {
4
our rudders. connected in pairs. One Ii
pair is in the foremost part OF the r
'hip. one rudder above and one below L
working on vertical axle: the other
pair Is in position to the rear work
ng in a similar manner. These rud-
lers are composed of rectangular
pieces of aluminium. connected by
They work on air in the
anne manner as the rudder of a boat
works on water. and they can be con-
rolled by means of a winch in the !,
oremost gondola. One pair turns in u
direction opposite to that OF the
ther pair. this double system of steer L
nS enabling the air-ship TO describe 7
mall curves and increasing the navi-
ability.
Underneath the cigar is running
Ompensation-weight: il is like box r
] shape. and its object is TO balance =,
ne afr-ship when IL takes an obliuue
osition in descent. II is like the .
-eering apparatus. controlled from a
le front gOndola.
One object attained by having indie
endent balloons will be obvious to
very One-if one is damaged there
no fear OF disaster to the air-ship h
5 the remaining balloons will he more
nan sufhcient for sustaining IT An in
ther and very important object is not til
apparent; the gas is not one homo
eneous mass. but strata are formed 4
lth the highest AT the top. But for
ais division IL would he almost i'm
Dssible for the ship to assume with
ifety a stopping position in descent
nj there would. in fact be very great
anger of its topping over.
suddenly the spectators saw the end
tne alr-ship swaying TO and fro. and
lortiy afterwards il was out of its
led and the final preparations were