The Daytona daily news. [volume] (Daytona, Fla.) 1903-1926, 1917-03-09
EATH LAYS CLAIM
TO COUNT ZEPPELIN,
GREAT INVENTOR

LONDON. March 9-Count Ferdi.
nand Zeppelin is dead. according to a
Aspatch from Berlin received by Rem.
tGrS Telegraph company. Another
01patch adds that he died from In
onnEation OF the lungs at Charlotten-
org.
Count zeppelin suffered from dysen.
t1ry for some time prior to his death
- underwent an operation, acco&
- to the dispatch. He appeared to
y recovering when the mups set in
and later inflammation Of the lungs.
Count Ferdinand Zeppelin became
hmous at the age of 20 as the builder
4 the worlds first practical dirigihle
1allOon. On his 18th birthday he nev.
gated his twentieth airship to cele
Hate the occasion. But before he had
ocAfeved fame he had devoted a half
century OF his life. exhausted his per.
sonal fortune of $75O.OOO and sacrificed
brilliant career as a German cavalry
leader. in conquering the air.
Emperor William recently proclaim.
q Count Zeppelin to be 1.-The greatest
German of the twentieth century"
~ token of appreciation he confer
feo upon him the exalted Order of the
HACK Ia gle. the highest honor in the
emperors power.
II was IN the United States that
Count Zeppelin made his first balloon
ascenslon- 1t occurred while he was
following General Carl Shurz in the
civil war as military observer for
tne German army a captive balloon
n use Tor military observations by
Union troops greatly interested the
young German officer, and he was
taken UP in il in 1863
Scion of wealthy family of ancient
lineage. Count Zeppelin was born in
CONSTANCE, Baden. in 1888. AS youth
ne was trained for a soldiers career
He fought through the Austro- -Prussian
ana the Franco Prussian wars. and is
salH TO have been the first German
soldier 10 cross the frontier into
France in the last named conflict
Serving in the German cavalry for
Three decades, he rose to a rank OF
general N the age Of 40 He retired
ten years later a distinguished soldier.
TO devote all his time to the problem
of aeronautics
He hegan TO study and experiment
soon after arriving in Germany from
the American Civil War. Excent for
,he time demanded in routine military
duties. Tor the time spent in fighting
two wars and for year spent in
honevmOo0ing with his bride. who was
a girl of the German nobility. he spent
the remainder of his life in building
flying contrivances that. for the most
part. refused TO fly
From a wealthy nObleman owning
vast estates Count Zeppelin was grad
uallv reduced TO an aristocratic me-
chanic living in a humble cottage on
an allowance supplied by his friends
he met MANY narrow escapes from
death and disaster repeatedly over
took his airships. These became so
frequent that pert paragraphs began
TO appear in the German press in ridi-
cule of his efforts.
Then in a day the tide turned. He
electrified a sceptical world in 1908 bv
staying aloft for 81 hours in the fifth
airship he had built and by sailing
IN a straight course for a distance of
nearly 600 miles. Emperor William.
and all Germany in fact. hailed him
as the conqueror Of the air"
This monster balloon. ASS feet long
ana OF the rigid type and resembling
nuge cigar. soon met with disaster
As had its predecessors Each wreck
vas great financial loss, for Zeppe-
I'M balloons were valued as high as
SSoo.oOO each These disasters. how t
ever. also proved the affection In which I
me German peonle held the aristo- |
c!atic aviator Wien one of his air |
snips was torn from It's moorings by a |
s.ie and wrecked the public subscrfb I
q q sI.ooohh to a fund of which the /
SIo"n Prince was president. for the I
inventor The German emperor fire. I