The Washington herald., 1911-07-02
WASHINGTON TO BOSTON BY AIR, SAYS

Of New Jersey. Once he crosses the con-
tinent, he feels certain that ne can cross
the ocean"
What Is a dirigible balloon in
quired. .
"One that can be steered and con-
trolled. Its shape is like a cigar. Besides
a propeller and a rudder, II carries a
a regular passenger business in different
parts Of Europe, notably between Strass-
burg and Dusseldorf, and Mannheim and
Baden-Baden in Germany, and between
Lucerne and Zug in Switzerland. The
Deutschland /, out OF Dusseldorf, has
carried thirty-two passengers for 16O
miles. Count Ferdinand Won Zeppelin,
inventor Of the large dirigible balloon. Is
at the head Of an airship construction
company, the capital of which is S,ooo-
! 900. The latest OF his ships Is 80 feet
long, 46 feet in diameter, and its building
cost was $4,000. Its crew consists or
captain, two pilots, and five engineers.
Count Zeppelin, now seventy-three years
old, has remained in the air for twenty
four hours and has covered about 800
miles.
Brothers Watched the Clouds.
THE dirigible of course. Is a develop
ment OF the old spherical balloon. and
is kept afioat by gas and not by ma
chInery, as is the case with the modern
flying machine, or aeropIane. The Wright
brothers watched the wing motions of
birds, and then made a glider. which
was later equipped with an engine and
a steering apparatus. Two other broth
ers, Stephen and Joseph Montgolfer, sons
OF French papermaker, studying the
clouds drifting in the air. believed they
could I'LL bag with vapor OF some kind
and beat the law of gravitation. They
tried smoke. Having built fire under
a bag. the bag assembled. They did not
know that hot air Is lighter than cold
air.
In the summer of 17S3. they made a
huge linen globe and filed 1t. as they
thought with smoke from a fire made Of
fine straw. The balloon shot upward, and
remained above the earth for ten min
utes, coming down a mile and a nalf
from the starting place. In time. the
Montgolfer brothers discovered that 1t
wasn't smoke or a mysterious vapor that
caused the linen bag TO float away ike
a cloud Later. hydrogen, gas, made Of
sulphuric acid and iron filings, was used
instead Of heated air. The second as
cension OF the French inventors was made
12s years ago this autumn. Louis, XVI
and Marie Antionette, his Queen. were
present. The balloon rose to an esu-
mated height OF 1.50e feet In a basket
attached to the balloon were a duck,
rooster, and sheep. all Of which es-
capped without injury. So began the
fascinating sport Of ballooning.
The third and latest OF all the ships
that navigate the air Is the flying ma
chine or aeroplane. It requires four
balances. riehtward. leftward, forward.
and backward 1t keeps going because of
the force created by its machinery, the
same as with, an arrow that leaves
bow. or with bullet that leaves gun.
II the energy behind bullet continued.
the bullet would keep on. perhaps tn
definitely. The flight OF an aeropiane.
however, largely depends on the skill Of
the operator Force Is present, but the
machine must be nicely balanced. other
wise 1t fails to the ground
Costs $40 TO Leave the Ground.
'Is balloonfng an expensive form Of
entertainment l asked.
-It costs me $3.50 TO leave the ground.
| To return the balloon to It's station. after
coming down. Increases the outlay to
| 80 The wear and tear can be estimated