The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-10-18

continued from First PaSe.)
many's dirigibles lay a flaming mass
on the ground.
The fire departments of all the neigh
boring suburbs. with attachments Of
the balloon corps, the pioneers and
other troops, were soon on the spot
but there was nothing left to save.
The balloon lay in a great curve
like a letter IS" mass of glowing
wires and tangled girders. The cylin-
ders of the motors in the center gon-
dola and one of the after propellers
could be distinguished. Otherwise
there was nothing to indicate that the
debris was that OF Germany-s proudest
airship.
Pioneers armed with axes hacked at
the wreckage for two hours before they
extricated the last of the bodies.
The six inmates Of the center gon-
dola had been blown through the sides
of the car by the first explosion and
their bodies fell a quarter Of a mile
away from the wreck of the balloon,
which was travelling forty miles an
hour when the accident happened.
All the others except two were ap-
parently killed by the explosion of the
gasoline tank and were probably dead
before the wreckage reached the earth.
The commander and members of the
admiralty trial board were seated in
the officers gondola. After the fire
broke out they were Gagged inside a
network Of red hot Orders.
Two Of the crew were still alive
when rescuers reached the wreckage
One of them, however. died before he
was extricated. The other, Lieutenant
Baron Won Bluel, is desperately in
jured. Both his eyes were burned out.
He urged the rescuers to kill him.
Beside the officers alread y men,
toned, Lieutenant Trenk, who was sec
ond in command, Chief Engineer Hass-
mann, and three engieer secretaries
from the admiralty board, were killed.
The pilot, Captain Gund, was the
only civilian on board the airship.
The remainder of those on board
were officers of the German navy.
Engineers of the Zeppelin company
had expressed their confidence. when
the LII was completed, that she
would be able to cross the Atlantic.
CAUSE is UNKNOWN.
The exact cause of the accident is
unknown. The dirigible had just left
its shed and had traversed barely a
quarter of a mile in the direction Of
Berlin.
Spectators suddenly saw a pillar of
fire shoot from the middle of the bal
loon, and the next instant the craft
was a mass Of flame plunging to earth,
burying those aboard beneath its
wreckage. The names and exact num-
Der Of victims, however. could not be
obtained directly after the accident.
Coming so closely upon the disaster
of September 9 last when a similar
craft just launched for the navy as
LII, was DESTROYED in a hurricane with
the loss of Is men, the news of to-
days catastrophe has caused conster-
ma ton in aeronautical circles If not
throughout the capital
The LII was the latest and largest
of the new craft designed for the Ger
man macy. It was about 500 feet long.
It's crew was under command of
Lieutenant Freyer, of the navy, and
Captain Gluth. one OF Count Zeppelin's
veteran dirigible pilots.
The Zeppelin airships have been sin
gularly unfortunate ever since their
invention by the aged soldier count
Seven of them have been destroyed by
FIRE explosion or wreck. Zeppeiin's I,
III and VI, Deutchsland 1 and II and
now the LII and LII the first big
airships attached to the German navy,
have met with disaster in this way.
Many n3nor accidents have happened
To otSass aes vessels of the same type