The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-08-08
AIRSHIP DISABLED
NO ASCENT TODAY, REPAIRS
BEING MADE.
Propeller Blade, Accidentally Broken
Yesterday Afternoon, or Trip Would
Have Been Wholly Successful.

The netting covering the big inflated
bag of the airship 'Wolverine FLYER"
which made a partially successful as
cent from Olympic Park, Hilton. yes.
terdny afternoon. landing in Orange.
was so badly damaged by the wires
and trees under which the ship" was
taken on its way back to the park
through the streets Of Orange, East
Orange. Vailsburg section of this city
and 1rvington that ii viii be impossible
for Aeronaut Archie Griffin to make am
other trip this afternoon. as he exc
pected to do. A new net has been pro-
cured and will be put In place; the
great bag will be revarnished today,
and If everything can be made ready
another attempt viii be made tomor-
row afternoon.
The catching of the rudder in a tree
top on the Park grounds yesterday as
the ship arose., caused the bag from
which the frame work is suspended to
swing forward by it's own momentum,
SO that the forward netting caught in
one of the canvas and wood propeller
blades, swapping 1T. But for this acci-
oent the ascent would have been, in all
probability, entirely successful, as Crit
mn was apparently able to maneuver
at will and the engine worked per-
fectly.
Griffin came down in the rear ward
of William Cope's home in Fortv-third
street. Irvington, and then, wishing to
continue his flight. the b~alloonist LET
OUT some sand and was soon soaring
again, The accident occurred within
the park enclosure, and reaiizinr that
he was at the mercy of the winds. he
let go the anchor ropes. The balloon
dangled just a few feet above The
crowds heads and they were unable to
Grimm made efforts 70 Let
out the. gas. but as the only valve is
under the bag, the hydrogen came out
very slowly; In the meantime the
tracing the attention of thousands OF
eop It was not until he was near
the Carteret Academy. In Orange, that
ground. BY careful handling of the re-
naming sand Griffin was able to make
an easy descent on the front lawn Of
clarendon place Is near the thickly settled
section Of Orange: and the big crowd
that awaited the ships landing was soon
street was blocked and every AVAILABLE
SPACE on nearby lawns and porches was
rrf a, W XII humanity fortunately for
every consideration to him and his ma
Lloyd NJ. Driver. the manager of the
arrived in an automobile, and as it would
cost $500 to initiate the big bag should he
let all the gas escape and cart the Ship
back on n wagon, he decided to try talk
Ing II back to the park by the main thor
oughfares.
A circus was never greeted with n more
eager crowd than was the great bag as 1t
was literally held down by scores Of will
Ing hands, and in this manner was guided
back to the park. The irregular shaped
bag looked like a giant caterpillar or some
huge whale, as 1t was edged In between
trees and under wires in its four-mile
trip to the aerodrome In the park.
The ship has made twenty-five sue
cessful flights and is one year old. Mr.,
Driver built the bag and frame himself, and
the Curtis two-cylinder. four-cycle. IL
horsepower gasoline motor provides the
power that drives the twelve-foot canvas
prouellor. The bag is seventy-eight feet
long and is f~sh-shaped. Tit greatest
diameter is seventeen feet, MT the front
end, above the propeller. The rear end
is fourteen feet in diameter. The capacity
is $4,000 cubic feet of hydrogen gas, gen.
Grated from forty carboys of vitr1ol, three
tons of iron filings and much water. The
bag and net weighs 200 pounds. the rudder
only two pounds, the frame but thirty
eight pounds and the wonderful little en-
CINE, which to the surprise of local auto
lists turns up $500 revolutions a minute.
weighs but s~eventy-eight pounds, and is as
light as any engine of 17-horsepower ever
constructed. The engine has no fywheel,
but is balanced in the aluminium crank
base. The ~aeronaunt was not in danger
during the trip, and the ship did not keel
over on one end.