The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1916-12-02
SUPER.zEPPEuN
IS BULKIER THAN
AN OCEAN Liner
Built of Aluminium. II Is $50 Feet
Long. but Weighs Only
so Tons.
FOUR GONDOLAS FOR CREW
British Experts Estimate Cost Of Con-
structon Of Giant Airshp Recent
Iy Brought Down in Essex at ST.
25o,OO0-OriVen by SIX
Engines.

Luudou.-It WAS not long after IA"
battle with ZcpprlinS last September
before the British air service experts
discovered that the air>hip brought
down in flames represented tn" latest
type of enemy ruidrrS-thr Supcr-/cp-
prin-a~ superior in size. engine pow
err. armament and bomb-carryin@ ca
pacity over the first /cppclinS aN III"
latest biz U-buatS are over the original
little submarines.
The deductions of the experts hay"
shown that GcrmuuyS SuprrI"pp"-
lin has engines aggrc@atiu- LILO horse
power. aS against 30 hor~" power in
the original Zeppelin. II j. $50 feet
long and - feet in diameter actually
larger i'm bulk than giant ocean liner
of the type of the Lu>itauia, though
of infinitely less weight. of course.
The enormous envelope, although de-
Struycd in the fire that plunged the
Zeppelin down tu wreck in Essex, has
been estimated from the aluminium and
steel and copper wire structural work
that remains To have been of a capac-
ity To store 2.OOO,OoO cubic feet of gas
three times uS much as the capacity
of the earlier XeppclinS, then supposed
to be the last word in air monsters.
Larger Than Lusitania.
What inspired admiration and won
der in the minds of all who visited
the wreck was the incredible drlicacy
of the workmanship that created some
thing larger thar the LuSitania to float
in the air. and which against the tens
of thousands of tons weight of the
LuSitauia. with engines, guns, bombs
and all, the SuperXrppclin is figured
rs weighing only 80 tons. The whole
aluminium and wire structure weighed
only, the experts report, nine tons.
An English reporter who visited the
wreck writes:
The eXternalS of the airShip. her
outer fabrics and gas bags, were de-
all the elaborate contrivanceS of at
tack, all the gear for operating the
engines, all the tackle for mancuver-
ing the ship.
THE skeleton of the monster is not
visible until you draw very close To il.
II is strange, spidery affair of deli
cate trelliS work in Silvery metal, with
no sheen and no tinkle but Sepulchral
rustic. The Orders are of almost in
conceivable lightneSS. What looks Il
prodigiouSIy bulky portion of the
framework can be lifted with one
hand. Instead of weighing IA hun
dredweight it scales Il few pounds
The whole structure seems like a de-
vice from another world and another
age"
The Four GondoIas.
Swung under the huge gas envelope
We're four g0ndola-Shaped compart-
mentS, hooded. with apcrtures for the
use of the navigatorS and gunners and
obServcrS-One gondola ut the Zcppe-
Inns nose. two depending side by side,
in the center, and the third and larg-
est gondola-about thirty feet in length
aft. Her six engines distributed
among the gondolaS are figured To have
been able To send the monster along in
calm weather ut 80 miles an hour.
The gond,laS are made of stout alumni
mum, but lhc -, rtS do not figure
that. boat-Shapr -, they are, they
could float success 70 IL unless the avi-
atorS had time h. diSmantIe the fly
ing boats of their armament in de-