Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-15
zEPPELIN'S NEW
AIRSHIP WRECKED
Explosion in Rear GondoIa Injuries
Three of the Crew Near
Baden Baden
FIRE DESTROYS ITS SHED
Air Craft That Carried the Inven-
tor to Kaiser Wilhelm Meets
with Disaster
FIRE DESTROYS ITS SHED
Associate i Press1

BADEN BADEN, Germany, Sept. a.
The latest type of Count zeppelins
inventive genius met with disaster to-
day when the dirigible balloon "zep-
pelin VIZ took fire after an explosion
while being warped into her shed.
A score or more of men were engaged
in the task of housing the airship
when a benzine tank in the rear gon-
dola exploded, setting fire to an ad
jacent gas compartment. The explo-
sion of this compartment was fol-
lowed by the explosion of the sixteen
others.
There was a gush of flame and the
whole structure was destroyed in
few minutes
Nothing remained of Count Yep
pelin's latest model except a tangled
mass of aluminium frames.
The shed also caught fire, but the
blaze was put out without serious dam
age. Several workmen were burned,
but none fatally.
The igniting of the benzine occurred
while workmen were cleaning the ma
chinery, during which benzine holders
were open The cause of the fire has
not been ascertained
Zeppelin VI during the last eighteen
days has made thirty-four passenger
trips, covering about 1000 miles and
carrying more than 300 passengers.
The flights of the dirigible were made
regularly, often in unfavorable
weather.
UNDER CHARTER
The Zeppelin vi was under charter
of the Passenger Airship company,
having replaced in the passenger serv-
ice the recently wrecked Deutschland.
TT n qfarred from E'riadriCh9-
hafen to this place and after being
Afitted with improved propellers and
other new features, made a trial trip
on August 10. 1t proved to be the
speediest Of it's type, and it was an
nounced that it would maintain a
speed of thirty-eight miles an hour.
The dirigible was reconstructed to
carry ten passengers and in the last
few days had made several trips.
Many Americans were among the ex-
cursionists. Baron Rudolph Cold
schmidt -Rothschild had chartered the
airship for the use of private party
next Friday. He had agreed to pay
$500 for the first two hours of the ex-
cursion and $3.50 for each additional
hour.
VISIT To KAISER
The Zeppelin VI will be best remem-
bered by it's notable flight from Fried
richshafen to Berlin when II carried
Count Zeppelin, the inventor, on visit
to Emperor William.
When the Deutschland was wrecked
the German Airship Stock company,
which had inaugurated a passenger
service in the vicinity of Baden Baden,
chartered the Zeppelin VI and adver-
tised that it would make daily trips
of one to three hours each until Sep
tember 80, when it was expected the
Deutschland would again be in condi-
tion.
The Zeppelin vi was built in 1909,
but had since been altered and en-
larged. Her navigating and operating
machinery was contained In two gon-
dola cars situated in the bow ana
stern. It was in the stern gondola that
the explosion occurred today. Sus-
pended from the center of the airship
was a luxuriously furnished cabin. she
carried a crew of ten men. The meas
urements of the Zeppelin VI were:
Length, 472 feet; width, forty-two
feet; gas capacity, 10000 cubic yards.
Her three motors had total of 400
horsepower, expended in four propel-
lers and giving her speed of thirty
eight miles an hour.