Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-04-10
NEWS FROM FATHERLlND
A Brief Resume Of the Most I'M
portant Happenings In the
German Empire.

Kaiser Wilhelm left for his trip to
the south March %. Accompanied by
Prince and Princess August Wilhelm
and Princess Victoria Louise, he spent
day, with Kaiser Franz Joseph at
Sohoenbrunn castle. The party then
proceeded to Venice, where they met
King Victor Emmanuel, of Italy. The
visit was made the occasion of enthu-
siastic demonstrations before the
royal palace, on the balcony of which
the two sovereigns appeared and
bowed their thanks. Thousands Of
school children sang patriotic songs.
With aeroplane fatalities coming in
at the rate of three or four a week,
nine months have passed without
single mishap to a German dirigible.
The Parseval company, which expects
to send a dirigible to the United
States this summer, has just delivered
its latest military dirigible to the.
army, after a brilliant trial trip in
which it exceeded the contract re-
Quirements by nonstop cruise Of
sixteen hours, half of this spent at
an altitude of over a mile, averaging
over forty miles an hour in spite of
unfavorable wind and frequent rain
squalls. The hoodoo which has hung
over Count Zeppelin during his long
career seems to have disappeared.
The Schwaben, which made it's first
ascent on June 26, looks back with
pride on a continuous service of over
eight months without an accident-a
proud record for a Zeppelin. It now
has two sisters in the air-the mill
tary Zeppelin TX, the fastest dirigible
in the world, capable of a sustained
speed of almost fifty miles an hour,
and the Victoria Luise, named after
the emperor's daughter, which was
'launched' in February and attained
a speed of almost forty-five miles an
hour on it's trial trips. The Victoria
Lulse is destined for the commercial
passenger service, like a sister ship
now approaching completion, and if it
does as we'll financially as the Schwa-
ben. which has cruised widely
throughout Germany, doing a full ca
pacity business everywhere, the bal
ance sheets of the Zeppelin company
will show for the first time a profit
in commercial air transportation. The
Siemens-Shuckert, the largest non-rig-
Id dirigible, has also earned the title of
"successful'' by a long series of fights.
1t has made between forty-four and
forty-five miles an hour, and may be
taken over by the army authorities.
Everything is in readiness at the
Johannisthal aviation grounds for the
trial flights of the dirigible airship,
Suchard, which is soon to undertake
the hazardous task of making a fight
across the Atlantic ocean, from Tene.
rife to the West Indies. DR.. Paul F.
Cans, the scientific head of the un-
dertaking, who is to be in command
during the transatlantic fight; Jo-
seph Brucker, the business manager
OF the enterprise, and the members
OF the prospective crew are on the
spot, ready for the first trial fight,
The dirigible balloon Suchard has
been built especially for this trans
oceanic flight. If the trial flights dur
ing the next few days should be sue
cesstul, the balloon and it's attach
ments will be packed without delav
and shipped to the Canary islands.
The start is to be made from Tene-
rife at the earliest opportunity. The
Suchard is non-rigid dirigible of the
Parseval type, ESQ feet long and 81
feet in greatest diameter. It is
equipped with three powerful engines
OF the type used in the Parseval. Each
one is capable of developing 10 horse
power. They can be operated indie
pendently. The balloon will depend
for its propulsion almost entirely upon
the trade winds, which, at this time of
the year, blow steadily from the Co.
nary islands toward the West Indies,
DR.. Cans claims that the danger of
gas explosion will be greatly dimin-
ished by the coating of the balloon,
which will absorb moisture from the
atmosphere, thus protecting the in
closed gas from the heat of the sun
and consequent excessive expansion.
The balloon will be ballasted with sea
water, of which a sufficient supply
will be carried to sprinkle the balloon
during the hottest time of the day. Un-
der the bag is gallery for sleeping
quarters and below that will be sus-
pended a power boat that can be
quickly cut loose in case of accident
The power boat is intended as the
main living quarters of the six men
OF the crew. The motors drive two
tWo-bladed propellers of the Parseval
type which make 400 revolutions a
minute. 1t is planned to run the mo-
tors alternately during the day and
depend altogether upon the trade
wind at night. According to the pres
ent plan the voyage is to be made at
height of 500 to 900 feet. The diri-
glble will be steered by an ordinary
vertical rudder and for the purpose
OF rising, descending and balancing
large fins will be used. The steering
is to be done by compass, and to
enable the navigator of the craft to
Judge of the leeway, bright red hollow
aluminium balls will be dropped from.
time to time.
Announcement is made of the dis
coVery of paying potash field in the
grand duchy of Baden, the authori-
ties of which will grant concession
to work it on condition of receiving
IL per cent of the net profits and
$4,000 year. Two borings have been
made at cost Of $4,000 each hut