New-York tribune., 1910-07-14
BODIES BADLY MANGLED
penzine Tank Believed to Have
Burst Above Opladen-An
the Dead Well Known
to Aeronauts.
RECENT DIRIGIBLE FATALITIES.

7e;chIinsen. Rhenish Prussia. July IL.
Failing through space a distance OF
nearly 1000 feet. Oscar Erbsloeh'
noted aeronaut and inventor. winner OF
.he international balloon race held III
America. in 1907. one Of the most
r-onising of German experimenters IN
aerial fight. and four companions were
dashed TO death to-day in a Held near
ar,laden. whence the craft ascended-
The others killed were Herr Toelle'
manufacturer Of Barrnen, two engineers
t5oenne and Kranz, and the motorman'
spicke.
only peasants saw the tragic end
Ing OF the fight Of the dirigible balloon
Frbsloeh. which, after series OF IN
fortunate accidents since its construction
3 wear ago, had recently been refitted
for passenger service. They had OBJ
served the balloon a short time before
as it swung gracefully in the air Soon
II disappeared in the fog. loud ex-
plosion was heard. and Crumpled mass
fell like a plummet TO the earth. SO
great was the force Of the fall that the
Eondola was smashed to splinters, the
motor was buried deep in the sod, and
the five men were crushed and torn
almost beyond recognition
Fxperrs who examined the wreCkage
afterward said that the benzine tank
had burst The rubber envelope had
been torn 10 shreds and the bow col
lapsed. Near by was found a relic Of
the disastrous trip. II was leaf from
the notebook Of Hoeppe. the engineer,
containing a short record of the jour
rev. There were only a few words:
Departed hall, 900; asCended air, 9;c9;
thick fog northward. Cannot see earth;
sun breaks through: heavy fog below
Us. Elevating planes sloped downward;
altitude $50 metres C916 feeD at 9:14.
This is the sole record of the last voy-
age Of the Erbsloeh. Peasants near the
scene Of the catastrophe say that they
heard the propellers working They
Ared revolvers in order to indicate 20
the aeronauts. then hidden by the fog.
that they were in the neighborhood OF
houses Then the explosion occurred
and they saw the broken mass hurting
downward.
After the explosion the fore part OF
the vessel crumpled up and the gondola
vas twisted about until it appeared as
g il we're standing on one end AS the
gas escaped from the forward coTnpart-
,rert the prow swayed downward. For
second the airship futtered and then
-eu swiftly 70 earth.
The bursting Of the benzine tank tore
II shreds the rubber envelope directly
sh0ve il. and the destruction Of this en-
--rIope caused the bow to collapse The
stern ornpartnent was still filed with
gas when the airship struck the ground
The body Of Erbsloeh would not have
been recognized had it been found alone
one of the engineers was pierced through
the body At the breast by q piece of
the n-reckage The eyes Of the other
engineer were gouged out. The hands Of
al I've we're tightly clutched. as though
they had held desperately to the car as
i shor downward Their shoes were
torn from their feet
The victims were men we'll known TO
su Germans interested in aeronaut1cs'
ard Erbsloeh had won an international
reputation when. in 1907, at st Louis.
- took the international cup in the dis
rarc= race for balloons.
TIE balloon was constructed last year
The first time il descended il crashed
trra cIurnp Of trees and its occupants
narrowly escaped injury. A few days ago
on z trial fight q propeller was broken
The balloon. which was Of the non
rigid type. had just been made over pre-
psratory TO the establishment Of a pas
senger service between Elberfeld and
nearby points Il was inflated to-day
for final test by the crew.
The craft was l76 feet in length and
g feet in diameter The motors were
- -25 horsepower and drove the airship
q speed of taenty-eight and hail
la.les an hour. The War Department
recently purchased one Of Erbsloeh's
balloons
The Death Of Erbsloeh and his crew.
following closely on the loss OF Count
Zeppelin's Deutschland, has caused
gloom in airship circles. The public
had scarcely recovered from the shock
caused b. the accidental death of
charles Stewart Rolls