The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1910-07-16
BALLOON DROPS TO -.
+. EARTH A KILLING 5
PILOT AND FOUR COMPANIONS
Dig In PRusslANs DlRlel.
-, Die DIaAsTkR.
FEW WITNESSES TO ACCIDENT.
Oscar Erbsioeh, Winner Of 1907 st.
Louis Race, One Of the Victims.
Explosion of Benzine Tank Re.
sponsibIe for Accident.

SponStbie TOR Accident.
Leichlingen, July 1.-THE dirigible
balloon Erbsloeh, recently ref1tted for
passenger service, was destroyed in
mid-air through the explosion of a
benzine tank. The inventor. Oscar
Erbsloeh, and his crew Of four men,
dropped to their death.
The bodies of the aviators were
frightfully mangled The gondola was
torn to bits and the motor buried it.
self beneath the surface of the
ground
The victims we're men well-known
to all Germans interested in aerial
feats, and Erbsloeh gained an interna-
ton reputation when, in 1907, at st.
Louis, he won the international cup in
the distance race for balloons. His
companions were Herr Toelle, a manu-
facturer of Barmen; two engineers,
Herr Kranz and Herr Hoppe, and
Herr Spieke, the motorman.
Balloon Had Been in Other Mishaps.
The Erbsloeh was. constructed last
year and had dubious career. The
first time it descended it crashed into
a clump of trees and its occupants mar
rowly escaped injury. A few days
ago, during t arial flight, a propeller
was broken.
The balloon, which was Of the non,
rigid type, had just been made over
preparatory to the establishment Of q
passenger service between Elberfeld
and nearby points. Wednesday it was
inflated for final test by the crew.
The ascent was made near Opladen
and during fog.
There were few eye-witnesses Of the
accident. According to these the start
was we'll made. The Drbsloeh rose
gracefully. pushing it's way through the
fog to height estimated at several
hundred yards. At this altitude a
series Of evolutions was begun. To
the onlookers the airship appeared to
obey her helm perfectly.
Suddenly there was a loud report
and at the moment the fore part of the
vessel crumbled up and the gondola
was twisted about until it appeared as
though standing on one end.
Alrship FIutters Like Wounded Bird.
- AS the gas escaped from the forward
compartment the PROV swayed down,
ward. For flash the airship duttered
like a wounded bird and then fell
swiftly to earth.
Erbloeh and his companions were
killed the second that they struck the
ground. Their heads were battered in
and every limb was broken.
An examination of the. wreckage
showed that the benzine tank had
burst, tearing to shreds the rubber en-.
velope directly above it. The destruc.
ton Of this envelope caused the bow
to collapse. The stern compartment
was still Allied with gasFwhen it struck
the ground.
The death Of Erbsloeh and his crew
with the destruction Of the balloon for
which much had been hoped, following
closely upon the loss of Count Yep.
pelin's Deutschland, has aeused great
gloom in aviation circles. The public
scarcely had recovered from the shock
caused by the accidental death Of
Charles Stewart Rolls, the English
aviator, when they learned that Erb.
sloeh had been added to the long list
Of Germans who had lost their lives
while ballooning. The effect was de-
pressing.
ErbsIoeh Was a Daring Aviator.
Oscar Erbsloeh had made many dar.
ing and successful balloon flights. In
the St. Louis aerial races, when he
won the international cup which had
been taken the year before by Lieut..
Frank P. Lain at Paris, he covered
distance of SIC miles. Starting at
st. Louis he landed at Asbury Park,
N. j., two miles farther from the
point Of ascent than his nearest COM
petitor, M. LIE Blanc Of France, who
came down at Herbertsville, N. ].
Erbsloeh on that occasion piloted the
balloon Pommern.
In February, 1909, Erbsloeh made a
remarkable balloon trip across the
Alps. His balloon, the Berlin, remain.
ed in the air for thirty hours, reaching
a maximum altitude Of about $4,000
feet. An average temperature of about
IL degrees below zero was experienced.
Newspaper Man Falls to Death.