The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-08-07


sembled before daybreak at Mum
zell, opposite the floating balloon
shed. In this shed, throughout
Monday night workmen had been
busy making everything ready for
the journey. At 6 o'clock that morn
ing, everything was in readiness for
the exit Of the air ship.
Count Zeppelin could not have
chosen more delightful weather for
a start. A glorious sunrise inau-
gurated the day, and there was not
a cloud in the sky The lake was
as smooth as mirror.
Meets With Disaster.
Count Zeppelin's airship, which
descended on a plateau near .he vii
lage Of Echterdingen, five miles
south of Stuttgart, shortly before s
o'clock Wednesday morning, owing
to a defect in one of the motors,
broke away from it's moorings during
a storm at o'clock that afternoon
burst into flames and exploded.
Four persons were injured by the
flying debris. Count Zeppelin es-
capped uninjured. The airship was
completely wrecked.
The storm blew up Unexpectedly.
A fierce gust Of wind tore the balloon
from its anchorage and drove it In
a southwesterly direction for some
so yards. Here the rear end of the
great fabric dropped and smoke and
flames were seen to burst out from
one end to the other Then in few
seconds came the explosion and a
great column of flames shot upward
into the air. This was followed by
the crashing down to the earth OF
the motors and frames that had
been attached to the under side of
the airship. Several bystanders were
knocked down.
1t was necessary to land the air.
ship at Echterdingen owing to the
overheating of the piston box Of the
forward motor and the escape of
considerable gas, owing to the fact
that Count Zeppelin tok the airship
to a height of about 5000 feet.
The Zeppelin airship completed
the most remarkable voyage in the
history of aerial navigation. 1t left
the Lake of Constance Tuesday
morning for trip to Mayence and
return. The flight was successful
in great many ways. The machine
responded absolutely to the control
of it's pilots and was navigated over
the Lake of Constance, down the
valley of the Rhine, over Strassburg
and several. other cities and was ex-
pected at Friedrichshafen, its start
ing point
Count Zeppelin has devoted his
lifetime and his personal fortune to
the development of his airshlp. Inc
vessel that was lost Wednesday was
tue fourth he has constructed. When
his own money had become ex-
bausted the German reicnstag voted
experiments. Inc so'e' hiiie'''
agreed to purchase this ship on con-
dition that it fulfilled certain re-
auirements, the principal one being
that it remain in the air "a hours
and land on terra firma. mis- stlpu-
lation had not yet been fulfilled.
The airship was 443 feet long
with a diameter of about 40 feet'
It tapered to a blunt point at the
how. while at the stern were various
rudders and frames used In steer
ing. 1t was fitted underneath with
a motor capable of developing l4o
horse mower. AS many as l6 pas
sengers had been taken aloft al
one tine. Sleeping accommoaa-
tions wre provided for the
crew and apparatus was lnstalleo
for the dispatch and receipt OF wire
less telegraph messages. The intiat-
ing gas was distributed among lo
generate interior compartments
which we're contained within the out
er rigid envelop of aluminium.
The accident to the Zeppelin air
shin recalls the end of the Frencf
military airship Patrie, in Decem
ber, 1907, which was then consider
cred the finest dirigible balloon l
existence. The Patre was uncergo