Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1910-10-20
WALTER WELLMAN MAKES GOOD
START IN HIshATTEMPr TO
GROSS ATLANTIC.
IN MONSTER DIRlGIBLE AIR SHIP
Speed Reaches Twenty Knots ~
Hour Early In the Voyage.
Everything Seems
Favorable.
- + - + i
THE AMERICA.

s>>+ >%~+* s*s+* =
THE AMERICA.
Dirigible America - 228 feet \
long, 81 feet beam; passenger car,
1855 feet long. Floor of car ID .
huge fiat gasolene tank, carried :
5000 pounds Of gasolene in floor
tank and "eQuilibrator," a series
Of steel tanks. jointed and depend
ing from car as drag ropes. -
Engines-Two big motors on
propeller shaft, and one small =
donkey" engine.
Provision-Canned meats and =
vegetables, calculated to last crew
of six men month. A small oil :
stove is used for cooking.
The Crew-Walter Wellman, En- :
= gineer Melvin Vaniman, Navigat- .
ing Officer F. Murray Simons, =
Wireless Telegrapher J.tK. Irwin, =
Assistant Engineer Albert Louis :
= Loud. ,,.-
Duration Of Voyage -Wellman, :
= before starting, expected that the +
. American would land in Europe in =
from six to eight days.
- Il =
Atlantic City, N. j.. Oct. 1.-THE
airship America, which has been pre-
pairing for a fight across the Atlantic
ocean under the supervision Of Walter
Wellman, was taken out Of the huge
balloon house, and at SOL a. m. the
great cigar-shaped craft went up In
HE air and started seaward. In two
minutes it had disappeared in the
dense fog which prevailed. F.,
What little wind that was blowing
1T the time was from the west. As
the balloon went into the air part
ing cheer was given by about 1000
persons.
The aeronauts waved their Good
BY" climbed into the car of the i'm
mense gas bag, and floated of in the
dense fog that enveloped the entire
island, while the crowd kept cheering.
Thousands Watch Start.
Dense fog with no wind made the
conditions perfect, and the balloon was
out of sight almost Immediately. The
last reported sight of the America and
It's crew was secured by a volunteer
crow of the yacht Olive, belonging to
Colonel Thomas Potter of Philadel.
phia, which guided the balloon out of
the inlet.
Just before starting Chief Engineer
Vaniman informed Mrs. Vaniman and
friends that there is every reason to
believe that the weather conditions
will warrant the trip being continued,
in the effort to cross the ocean.
Twenty-six miles an Hour.
Colonel Potter's small motor yacht,
by means of a rope, towed the airship
the few hundred feet necessary to
reach the waters edge. Those gath
cred to see the start declare the sight
was a beautiful one. There are six
men on the airship, and they are pro-
vided with provisions, mostly of the
canned variety, enough to last them
month. The only means of cooking is
with a small oil stove, but this Mr.
Wellman says will do all the cooking
they require.
Each man is provided with two uni
forms, one of khaki and much.heav-
Ter one for use in case extraordinary
cold weather is encountered.
It was estimated that the two en-.
gines, which were working perfectly,
were pushing the balloon through the
air at the rate of twenty-six miles an
hour.
Wireless messages were received
from Mr.. Wellman every hour and so
far he has had no accident. 4
END OF STORY. -
The last word received from Well
man a message early Monday morn
ing: "All we'll, machinery working
well. Have turned more northerly to
reach transatlantic steamer track.
Exact position not sure; somewhere
between 300 and 800 miles of shore"
s.Airship Crosses English Channel.
London, Oct. 17.-Another chapter
was added to the history Of aviation
when the French dirigible balloon
Clemen -Bayard made the voyage from
Compiegene to London in the remark.
able time of six hours, journey re-.
squiring seven hours by the fastest
express trains and boats. Compiegene
is As miles northeast of Paris and
about 1876 miles by air route to Lon
don. This is also the first occasion on
which a dirigible balloon has crossdd
the English channel. The over-water
route occupied IS minutes.