The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-03-10
NEW KIND Of
A BALLOON IS
BIG SUCCESS
GERMAN INVENTOR HAS ONE
WITH THE BASKET ATTACHED
DIRECTLY TO THE GAS BAG.
BY Associated Press.

Berlin, March "a balloon with the
basket attached directly to the gas bag
without the use of the customary net
work, which recently made a success
full ascent here. marks the first intrin-
sic Improvement in the construction
of balloons, If the ripcord and the
dragltne be excepted, since the days
of Montgolfier.
Dirigiblemakers found some time
ago that they could attach the car. ma
chinery and all, directly to the envel-
ope. Only two thiclSnesses of silk are
used in constructing ordinary balloons
against three for dirigibles, but the
lighter weight of the basket encour-
aged DR.. Elias, German aeropaut. TO
order a netless balloon of 1900 cubic
meters capacity, with the car sus-
pended from a cloth girdle sewcd
about the lower part of the gas bag.
In this he, his wife and two passengers
made a highly successful ascent
Owing to the sparing of the weight of
the net, more ballast could be carried
and the bag retained it's shape at all
heights, ordinary balloons sometimes
tending to fiatten out Of shape at high
elevations from the weight Of the net.
Other advantages were ouickness of
def1at1on on landing and ease of pack
ing the balloon for transports ton but
its greatest recommendation, In the
eyes of the tirnid, will be it's superb
GRITTY in "parachuting." or the auto
matte conversion OF the envelope into
sort of parachute in case Of it's
bursting high in air, as happened to
an American balloon carrying MessrS.
Forbes and Post in u competition at
Berlin few years ago. The ability
OF the netless balloon to carry more
ballast and consequently to traverse
longer distances without landing will
he "a ia pff m be> 4
ture balloon races.
Not All Facts.
Tales Of idyllic conditions In Ger
many as compared with American
cities, which often form the subject
of articles in American magazines
and newspapers, We're not altogether
borne out by facts shown at q meet
Ing held in the Reichstag building to
discuss the overCrowding Of the tene-
ment population in Germany. AT this
meeting the surprising statement Yves
made that fully 100000 of the 5000, 900
inhabitants of Greater Berlin live in
apartments with five or more persons
in each room. A high proportion Of
the working families in Berlin live IN
one-room apartments, letting out, too
81 portion of the floor space for sleep
ing accommodation to single men to
exc out their income. It was also
mentioned that 353, 900 school children
in Greater Berlin have no playground.
DR.. Kirschner, the venerable senior
mayor of Berlin, attempted to dispute
these figures, but was COMPOUNDED by
the official statistics. Two ex-minis-
ters, Count Posadowsky and Bernhard
Dernburg, are taking the lead in the
agitation for q reform of the over
crowding evil, Herr Dernburg pre-
siding at the meeting. Much is hoped
for in Berlin from the formation OF
the new Greater Berlin organization.
While the municipalities and not
Berlin alone are having their difficult
ties in coping with the housing prob
lem for the working classes, the CEN
trail government has put a damper on
their enthusiasm for saddling the ex-
pense of social and municipal reform
upon future generations by piling up
heavy bonded debts for municipal i'm
provements. The Prussian ministry
of the interior has just issued an edict
to the provincial authorities calling
attention to the tendency of the mu-
inequalities, from those of 10000 popu-
lation upward to reckless contraction
of debts and directing them to refuse
their sanction to the issue of bonds for
| purposes not urgent and we'll justified
and in which adequate provision was
not made for rapid redemption.
The projected visit to Germany next
4
Teachers Association is already being
looked forward to with great interest
| in the cities that will be visited. The
| city authorities OF Berlin have already
worked out some of the details for the
reception of the American visitors here
| A part of the program provides for an
| official reception in the new city hall
/ A mass chorus of children from the
| city's common schools will sing for the
| occasion.
Recognizes Progress.
A pleasing recognition of the prog
| ress Of architecture in the United
| States may be inferred from the fact
| that the German Museum for Natura,
| Science and Technic at Munich viii
! send three representatives to America
| at the end of March TO study Arneri.
can museum and library buildings
| These three men will be Government
| Counsel Oskar Won Miller and DR.. Ru.
| dolf Diesel, both doctors of engineer.
| ing, and Privy Counselor Walther vor
| Dyck. The Munich institution is abou
to erect library building and desire.
| to study the manner in which thes,
| buildings are planned in the United
States. The museums representative,
| intend not only to study America.
museum and library buildings. bu
also to get into touch generally will
| university and other educational cir
cles.
The German museum at Munich. al
| though less than nine years old. ha!
already taken a prominent place amons
the country's museums. Historic orr 2
inal apparatus and machines of ever
kind, with the successive steps in thei
| development. famous ideas ant