Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1910-07-01
AERIAL TRAIN
MEETSD|sASTER
COUNT ZEPPELIN'S GIANT CRAFT
DASHED TO PIECES IN
GERMAN FOREST.
WITH PARTY OF NEWSPAPERMEN
Thirty.three People on Board Airship
in Wild Scramble to Safety
Gallo Bullets Ship in Clouds
Trees Tear Bag.

Inns passenger airship Deutschland,
the highest developed of all the fam
Gus aeronaut's models. lies on top OF
the Teutoburgain forest, pierced with
pine tree stems, mass of debated SILK
and twisted aluminium. The 33 per.
sons aboard, after wild contest with
storm, escaped uninjured, descend.
ing a rope ladder from the wreck OF
the pine tops.
Herr Colesmann, general manager
of the new airship company; Chief En-
gineer Duerr of the Zeppelin company,
and Captain Kannenberg, of the crew
of ten, and 20 newspaper men sailed
from Dusseldorf at $50 a. M, Tuesday
for a three-hour excursion. The OBJ
jective point was Dortmund, about 35
miles from Dusseldorf, but high
head wind prevailed and an effort was
made to reach Munster, garrison
town, so that landing might be made
on the parade ground by the aid Of
the soldiers.
It was dangerous to attempt lane.
ing in an open field because of the
storm, as the metal was likely to
pound to pieces. In the high wind one
of the motors refused to work and the
other two were not powerful enough
to make any progress in the gale. The
airship drifted, swaying in the violent
gusts and sometimes leaning to an
angle of 40 degrees, while all the en-
gnemen were at work repairing the
disabled motor When this was done
all four screws were driven at their
full power. under which in normal
conditions the airship was capable Of
attaining a speed of 40 miles an hour.
keep his course and the great craft
was swung about at the mercy of the
winds.
Colesman did not dare to turn the
ship around for fear of overturning
and he decided to drift in the gale,
which was blowing so miles an hour
toward Osnabruck, which is also a
garrison station. Suddenly he per-
ceived whirlwind coming and as
cended to height of nearly 1000 feet
to avoid the worst of it. With the
whirlwind came an avalanche of rain.
After half an hour the Deutschland
came down to permit of observations
and it was seen that the Teutoburgain
forest lay below. The forward motor
again stopped, and Colesmann sent
five of the correspondents to the aft
gondola to ballast the vessel.
The Deutschland sank rapidly, hav-
ing lost much gas in the high altitude,
and dragged along the top of the
dense forest A heavy branch of 4
tree broke through the floor Of the
cabin amidships, throwing two of the
guests to the floor. Other branches
ripped through the gas compartment
and the whole great structure settled
down 30 or 40 feet from the ground.
The airship, for which Herr Coles
manns company had just paid $137,-
500, looked like wreck. The frames
were broken, but the motors were not
damaged. The silk was ripped and
had fallen in a torn mass on the tops
of the trees.
Passengers Escape Injury.
A rope ladder was swung down and
every one was mustered below. unin-
tured, except for a bruise or two.
Two natives identified the spot as near
to Wallendorf, east of Osnabruck.
Many persons of the countryside
must have seen the descent and re-
ports of disaster, explosion and death
were widely spread. A party of Off
GERS and surgeons came by automobile
from Iburg. The district governor and
his wife, with first aid to the injured
material, arrived at the scene within
half an hour by special train. A COM
pany of infantry was sent from Osna-
bruck and picketed the wreckage.
The disaster occurred at half past
five o'clock in the evening. The early
part of the flight was delightful much
like automobilng, without the Earring.
The airship maintained an altitude Of
500 feet, and during the first hour or
two the passengers felt quite full of
contempt for the trains rumbling be-
low and spoke of automobiles as out Of
date This was when the airship was
sweeping gently across the country,
but during the height of the storm the
consciences of those aboard were not