The Washington herald., 1907-12-02

Paris. Dec 1.-The French have been
touched on a very tender spot by the ac-
cident 10 their favorite airship, La Patrie.
which, they fear, may be irrevocably lost.
The dispatches yesterday told how the
airship had broken lose from the soldiers
holding il at Verdum and drifted away.
Already more than tweuty-four hours
have elapsed since La Patrie put earthly
things below her and SCARED. since when
nothing has been heard Of her At a time
when misfortune after misfortune has
overtazen their navy. both on the surface
Of the sea and below IT, and in the midst
OF reiterated charges that the army was
disintegrated by corruption and antimiIi-
tarism. Freuchmen turned with love and
pride 10 ~ne French pre-eminence in aerial
navigation and soIaced themselves with
the thought that these new achievements
gave them place above the terrestrial
warriors Of their sordid neighbors
Growing her series of successful ex-
periTents. La Parties recent exploit n
travelling 20 Verdun. near the German
frontier filed the popular imagination
with q new conception Of French might
ana grandeur. Tonight thousands fear
La Patrie has aIighted beyond the Rhine.
where the Germans may be enabled 10
get ideas from her which viii bring them
abreast OF French aerostatics-
Pulled soldiers on Their Feet.
Although some OF the early reports said
the car remained on earth and only the
gas cylinder ascended. your correspond
. t.r- is ezrr---rfT - --rrr.- ~r....
ship took flight following a gust Of wind.
which waited La Patria until al It's
ballast feu out of the car. With ths
ballast gone her buoyaucy vas too great
for the 299 soldiers holding her. some OF
them only released their grasps when
their feet were lifted from the ground
II being already $ O'Clock and quite
dark the eve could not follow the flight OF
the La Patrie. bat the wind being from
the east. three officers jumped into an
/ automobile and followed the probable
/ course Of the airship ic 'he 5pe ~ secllr-
/ Ing IL should IL descend The win which
was blowing NJ the rate Of nifty miles au
hour. made their quest almost homeless
from the start Moreover. the buoyancy
Of the .sirship made IL likely that sine
would Tse 10 an altitude Of nearly q mile.
The kip currents aIoft being variable
and a zen moving iu "a direction opposite
70 thuf nearer the surface Of the earth.
rle section taken by tho airship is a
matter OF absolute sueSsWork. some fear
that So was carried into Germany. while
others think she viii reach England be-
fore the vile de Paris has a chance 10 try
.
ago announced she would presently do.
Nay Have Burst in Air.
4 There are stiu others who fear the
Patrie exploded In the air. or has been
( lost al sea- declaring that her valves
would only open very slowly. and in the
raridcd atmosphere the interior pressure
would burst the skin. or. iC she fell into
the sea the water pressure would force
the valves and the balloon would sink.
in an interview tonight. NJ Lebaudy.
I one of The brothers who built the Patrie.
said he considered she was lost. He added
that be- was unable 10 understand how.
mere squaH could have upset the airship
when she was on the ground. He believes
that something besides the wind is ac-
coUntable for the misfortune.
Dispatches Of inquiry have been sent IN
every direction by the ministry of wax.
but UP 90 the present no response has
been receivcd.
The accident is The second o. the kind
that mas happened TO a Lebaudy dirigible
balloon. on September I. 1895. an airship
Of the same model as Ia Payrie broke
from its moOriDEs az the edge OF tile
MouseauN Forest. It started al 10 O'Clock
in the morning and landed at O'Clock In
the evening near SerQgigny having sus-
tanned ltle damage except TO the car.