The Washington herald., 1913-09-21
GERMAN AIRSHIP TRIPS ARE POPULAR

these craft may safely rise
This is the moment that is sometimes a
trying one for the airship commander
precisely as is the moment OF landing
for a sudden pun or gust Of wind or
squall might drive the airship against the
great harbor. or drive 1t into trees be-
fore it has really gotten under way and
been started upward to take its chances
among the clouds. 1t was while coming
down the other day that the Zeppelin
dirigibIe LII got out of control of the
soldiers. who were trying to get her into
the harbor with the result that as she
rose in haste two failed TO let go until
they got up a thousand feet and were
dashed to death.
Photos of Party.
Meanwhile. a photographer took his
stand beneath US and smilingly invited US
to look pleasant. which we tried to do
while he snapped us, and while the SOL
diers soberly stuck to their task of head
ing us into the wind. Finally, we were in
position, and by that time we had drifted
wen across the great field. Another
sharp command. and the engines began
to vibrate while the planes were tilted
for the ascent. At the command. IeI
60, the men on the ropes dropped them.
AT once the airship rose about eighty
feet by its own buoyancy. then the en-
glnes took hold, and We were on fitting
our nose upward toward the clouds, but
not at such an angle as to cause a chair
to slide, or the heart to beat any faster
IN few seconds. IL seemed, we had
reached the desired height.
The skipper brought her to an even
keel, and with a wide, graceful sweep.
we headed east for Potsdam and Berlin.
Curiously, there was no sensation of ele-
walton. The doctor, to whom a look
down from the Singer tower spells ply
sical wretchedness, ana a wild desire tn
leap on into space. felt almost nothing
Of the familiar sensations It was indeed
the poetry Of motion, easier and smooth
er than the sailing Of a ship over the
quietest Of summer seas, for thera WAS
no. rocking and no apparent motion, and
no noise save the whirring of the pro-
pellers, not as audible 10 US in the cabin
as to those below. Nor was there anv
rush of air. However. the crew in their
open gondolas might suffer from the air
like the drivers Of aeroplanes or racing
automobiles, we felt none. and did not
even put on the coats We had lugged all
the way from Berlin.
Not even was there a sense IL forward
impulse. For there We're no trees nor
telegraph poles nor houses to give such
an impression; all feeling Of speed was
gone; We could not have guessed II We
were going fifteen or sixty miles an
hour. Far below us We could see that We
were leaving behind US the streamers on
the Havel. and overtaking even the trains
racing to Potsdam and Berlin. We were
simply gliding divinely through a void
with a shifting panorama of earth below
Soon We were over Potsdam. with the
earth assuming more and more the ap-
pearance OF a map.
just High Enough.
We never went high enough for OBJ
jects to blur; everything was cIear-cut
As We passed over Vannsee. one Of the
many beautiful lakes near Berlin, the
waters were alive with schooIboys stop
ping in their mad swimming to wave
each an arm and yell at what they con-
sidered great air battleship far above
their heads Everybody waved. Crews
of ships, engine-drivers. people in the
windows of houses, the workmen in the
fields. our saloon keeper from Seattle did
nothing else but rush from side to side
and wave as if his life depended upon It
and the speed of the ship as well
Soon We approached Berlin, dipping
down until it seemed as il we were just
above the roofs, for it was the second of
the kaiser's Jubilee days, and our nayi-
gators wanted US to see the vast throngs
OF humanity which stood for hours in the
great Unter den Linden, the main street,
to greet the Emperor and the visiting
Kings OF the various component parts Of
the empire. The minute We came over
the triumphal arch, at the beginning Of
the Brandenburger Thor. the crowds be-
gan TO roar, and We sailed over a sea Of
faces turned skyward-one of the most
pictures of the whole trip
this was Soon ii seemed as il we were
the tower of the City Hall by
only a few feet
Then We were over the chimneys Of
the Emperor's palace and could plainly
distinguish in the great COURTYARD the
uniforms of the soldiers and Of the
dignitaries of the court. Just beyond, We
made great curve and soon were sailing
down over Inter den Linden again. ami
then back to Potsdam We went-the Ar
sentine students opening champagne and
drinking to each other and to Zeppelin
greeting in the distance a captive bal
loon Of the old type and realizing
every moment more clearly the wonder
ful military and observation possibili-
ties of the new aircraft. We sailed
well beyond the balloon harbor,
turned in a sweeping curve, and head
ed back for the field.
Pulse Beats Faster.
Men clambered up into the hollow
keel from the gondoIas. and dropped
rom bow and stern the guide ropes:
hen. without warning. the ship tilted
sharply toward the ground and seemed
o plunge ahead with extra speed. For
,nce our pulses did beat faster. and the
ioctor confessed afterward to formu-
ating simple little prayer express
ng the hope that the navigator might
De permitted to know his business.
That he did.
The engines were stopped Just as
he ropes reached the waiting soldiers:
he latter tailed on with a yim-and
vent down to earth to be dragged
Ilong, or let go as the case might be.
precisely as a row of child's toy SOL
iiers go down with a rush. In a min
ite more those who were down were
IN the ropes again and pulling hard,
md. behold, we were stopped with the
Sondolas just resting on the top of the
Srass. That is the dangerous moment,
With the engine stopped and the ship
gliding. 1t was at that moment in
he landing that the gust caught the
Zeppelin dirigible LII. and her captain,
o prevent his ship from being dashed
o pieces against the harbor. hastily
tarted his engine and dashed upward
nto the safety of the roaring ether,
With fatal resulF to the soldiers.
For us there wds no such excitement.
FOR one thing the ship was not taken
'ack into the harbor: below us on the
Irass stood the passengers ready for the
Iext trip. We clambered down a rope