New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-04-12

pelins during this war have demon
strated that when peace comes they
VIII be the greatest and most important
means Of international communication.
The Zeppelin engineers know that un-
der any conditions except war Ieppe-
Inns cannot be destroyed as easily as
people imagine. One time in Temesvar
i met an Austrian captain of Zeppelin
which had raided Salonica. He told me
it took ten hours TO fly from Temesvar
to Salonica. a distance Of about 200
miles. He told me that Zeppelins could
fly. and he'd gone from Namur, Bel
GUM, where there is a base, to Con-
stantinople. zeppelins had gone from
Constantinople to Bagdad, and near
Bsgdad the Germans were building a
Zeppelin base for an attack on the Suez
Canal. The success of the English
operations in Mesopotamia have, of
course, temporarily put an end to these
aspirations.
The German people are very easily
deceived. One time saw a confidential
report Of the General staff to the Ger
man newspapers.
Damage in London
The report began by saying that the
East India docks near London were
burned and great storehouses of am
munition destroyed. The docks ana
storehouses on the London docks were
burned and many ships hit. large
cotton warehouse on Victoria docks
was burned. St. George and L mon
Streets were badly damaged. The city
itself and the newspaper quarter was
badly damaged. And the following
ek, ntotl
zone tower Of the Tower Bridge,
which was defended by snti-aircraft
machinery.
"Chancery Lane;
liverpool Street;
"Morgate Street;
"Bshopsgate and Altgate and large
number OF streets. including whole
blocks OF houses, were destroyed"
have not been in London since Feb
ruary and March, 1915, so I must leave
these statements TO those who have
been there, to correct. | have been
told by English correspondents that
the report was "greatly exaggerated"
Zeppelin construction has developed
a great deal during the war. The three
types have been wonderfully changed.
The largest are the so-called as. l..
the next are the regular Zeppelins, and
the third are the marine airships. The
new Schuette- LAM ships are over six
hundred feet long and have a carrying
capacity equal to seven normal freight
cars. All are equipped with wireless
telegraphy and the second officer is
usually the wireless operator. These
are the machines which Germany plans
to use in resstablishing her commerce
with the United States. Under normal
air conditions. flying at an altitude OF
one thousand feet. | was informed the
Zeppeins would be able to fly from
Hamburg to New York in less than two
days. The great possibilities of Yep
pelin communication cannot be fore
seen to-day. For carrying important
mail and express they can revolution
ize after the war the means of COM
munication. Passenger service, too,
will be established as soon as the first
trips have proved practical. Germany
did not send Zeppelins to New York
during the war because they would
have to cross England and because
there are no German ships on the ocean
to be of assistance in case Of emergen-
cy. When Germany begins her Yep
pelin communication with the United
States she will have to depend upon
her ships at sea for aid in case the air
currents change or in case Of an accl-
dent.
In Air IL Hours
But. for communication with China
and the Far East the time is not far
away when Germany will have plans
made for revc 'Jtionizing intercourse
between Europe and those powers.
have been told often by Zeppelin eX-
perts that all they need is peace time
conditions to perfect the Zeppelins for
this work. At present all Zeppelin
construction is for war purposes. Air
raids have taught the constructors i'm
portant lessons. The first raid over
Salonica was one of the most en-
tightening in this way. On that raid
the Zeppelin was shot almost to pieces,
so that il barely remained in the air.
But it returned safely to it's base, after
being in the air forty-one hours. And
en- route to Hungary the Zeppelin en-
countered storm. Some of Count
Zeppelin's most capable assistants
made the trip, and they received point
ers during this voyage which taught
them how TO make important changes
in the construction Of the Zeppelin air
cases.
Until his death Count Zeppelin was
one of the most daring aviators In
Germany. He made flights under all
conditions and to all points. a few
months ago. shortly before his death,
he went 10 England on a raid TO study
the effects OF the gun fire and 70 see
if he could not get at the secret OF
tie English anti-aircraft system. A
wireless operator on one of the ships
which took part in this raid told ne
one of the things which impressed the
old count more than anything was the
white-eyed searchlights which looked
I'D into the sky from the City of Lon
don. He counted at one time sixty
two searchlights on his Zeppelin.
Count Zeppelin, however. died before
he learned how to protect his great
inventions against the English and
French anti-aircraft artillery.
The Zeppelins, of course, have not
been successful in air raids. They
have not been able to greatly assist
the army, but they did save CONSTANT
nople, and they are preparing daily
for the next great North Sea battle.
At nights. shortly before diplomatic
relations were broken, Zeppelns could
be seen maneuvering above Berlin.
Even on dark nights one could see
these giant ships, with their red and
green port and starboard lights, cruis-
ing about in the heavens. The war is
not ended, and the possibilities Of the
Zeppelins are not over. Il is almost
too early to judge whether Zeppelins
arc failure or success. They GER
tanly have as much to their credit as