The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1910-07-14
FIVE KILLED IN
AIR DISASTER
German Dirigible Falls Five
thousand Feet.
BODIES GROUND TO PULP

World Renowned German Scientist
and Aviator, Who Won the James
Gordon Bennett Cup at st. Louis in
1s07-Gas Expansion Due to Heat OF
Sun Probable Cause of the Disaster.
Cologne, Germany, July 14.-Herr,
Erbsloeh, the world renowned German
scientist and aviator, and four com
panions were dashed to death near
Paschied, West Germany, when the
dirigible balloon, the Erbsloeh, named
after it's inventor and constructor, fell
from height of 5000 feet. = -
Five heaps of crushed flesh and
bone, absolutely unacceptable, lay
beneath the debris of the wrecked bal
loon when those who had witnessed
the fall reached the spot.
The dirigible Erbsloeh belonged to
the Rhine Aerial club. It resembled
miniature Zeppelin dirigible, being
but one-sixth the size of the airship
OF the famous inventor.
The Erbsloeh consisted of twelve
balloon nets placed side by side in
rigid and covered frame, like the wa
ter-tight compartments of a ship. A
long aluminium car for the engines
and passengers was swung below the
gas bags.
The car contained two gasoline en-
gines of high power, which drove the
fore and after propellers that gave
Roadway to the airship.
The Erbsloeh had made several sat-
isfactorily short flights and was re-
garded as one of the best types of
modern dirigibles, being far>less cum
bersome than the monster Zeppelin.
Had Five Persons on Board.
The dirigible went aloft early in the
day from Dusseldorf, from which point
the Ill fated Zeppelin passenger liner
started her last voyage In the alumni
mum car were Erbsloeh and two COM
panions, together with the two chauf-
feurs whose duty it was to take care
VI SAS 6AooAAuC CA61ACS."
While near Patscheid one of the
balloon nets in the great balloon burst
and in twinkling all the gas bags
had been torn to bits. = The heavy car
and the fragments of. the gas bags
fell like plummet. Erbsloeh and his
companions fell 5000 feet to instant
death. ...
Physicians who examined the bodies
declare they never saw human forms
so horribly mangled. .hsy @..r. i.
The dirigible was 2 So, completely
wrecked by the mile fallctha it is i'm
possible to learn just what caused the
fatal accident. The disaster in all it's
details resembled the one which be-
fell the French army dirigible a few
weeks ago. - .....
Balloonists are divided as to the
probable cause Of the accident. Some
believe the suns rays expended the
gas in the balloon until they could no
longer stand the strain, while others
believe one of the 125 horsepower gas
oline motors exploded
well Known In United States.
Herr Oscar Erbsloeh, the aviator,
was well known in the United States,
having piloted the German balloon,
Pommern, in the international balloon
races held in st. Louis in 1907. The
Pommern rose in st. Louis and land
ed in New Jersey, coming down only
because the ocean had been reached.
In this flight Erbsloeh won the James
Gordon Bennett cup, the first prize.
In February, 1909, .Erbsloeh, with
three companions, made daring flight
across the Alps, rising from St.. Moritz
and remaining in the air thirty-three
hours, landing near Budapest. The
aeronoid in the Pommern on this trip
showed that at one time the balloon
had reached a height of 10000 feet
nearly four miles. = ~.
The Erbsloeh, in which the aviator
met death, had capacity of 1900
cubic meters of hydrogen gas. When
Erbsloeh and his companions rose be-
fore the sun had come out, it was
noted that the gas bags were COM
pletely full. 1t is therefore highly
probable that the heat of the sun, ex-
banding the gas, caused too great
strain on the bags, which exploded.