The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1917-01-25
Will BUlg RS7
AMERICAf ZEPPELIN
Especial Correspondence


WASHINGTON. January 90 The
first American Zeppelin" which the
Navy Department is now planning. Is
subject of keen interest in army
and navy circles of the capital.
Rumor has it that the exact meas
urements and detail description OF
the German super-Zeppelin, recently
brought down in Essex, England, are
in the hands of American authorities
and that the first American dirigible
may show several features of Ger
many's latest model, with at least
one great American improvement.
This particular German super-Zep-
pelin was $50 feet long and 72 feet
across the beam. With its six 240
horsepower engines its crew of about
twenty-five men, guns and all, 1t
weighed only fifty tons-less than a
single 12-inch gun on an American
warship.
The secret of Count Zeppelin's sue
cess in building this warship of the
air so light, English engineers say,
lies in the wonderful construction of
its skeleton framework through its
myriad of aluminium girders and
hoops. Wonderful as this is, Ameri-
can engineers say they can go the
Germans one better. That is in the
secret processes known only to GER
tain American manufacturers for pro-
ducing finer aluminium alloys. These
proposed Improvements, which are
characterized as nothing less than
startling, will, it is said. enable Amer
lea to surpass the German Zeppelin
both in speed and carrying power
Four nations are responsible for
the aluminium airship More than a
century ago, Sir Humphrey Dayy of
England first advanced the theory
clay. Woehler, German, later was
the first to succeed in extracting the
metal. A French metallurgist, De-
vile by name, so modified and i'm
proved Woehler's process as to make
aluminium a purchasable commodity,
the price then being $50 pound.
But it remained for an American,
Charles M. Hall, student at Oberlin
college. to discover, in 1886, the pro-
cess of producing aluminium by cleo
tricity, which made possible the pro-
duction of aluminium on a CONNER
cial scale. The lead America thus
gained in the production of aluminium
has been maintained and the group
of aluminium alloys known as Ignite
is today the finest aluminium produced
anywhere.
While popularity known as "the
stuff they make cooking utensils Of"
aluminium has many and varied COM
mercial uses. The fine aluminium al
10y known as Ignite is used extern
sively in automobile motors, where,
through reduction in weight, it eff
fects an immense saving in gasoline
tires and the general pounding-to-
pieces of the car previously result
ing from heavy cast-iron construc-
ton.
The use of this construction in au-
tomobiles, one automobile engineer
has said, makes it possible to take
1000 pounds weight off car and still
give the car an equal amount of
strength and even more power. Thus
a 400-pound car is reduced to 5000
pounds. Experiments are now being
conducted to ascertain the exact saw
ing of tires and gasoline. The substi-
tuition of Ignite pistons alone prom
ises to revolutionize an important
feature of the automobile industry.
Small as the piston in the motor may
be, it makes 5000 crank-shaft revolu-
tons a minute-3000 starts and 5000
|-stops-and the substitution of this
light, strong metal has increased the
speed greatly and lessened the shock
and wear on motors.
1t is said that. owing to the adj
vance made by American manufac-
turers in aluminium construction,
Secretary Daniels has decided not 10
undertake the construction of the
Zeppelin in the Washington navy
yard, as first contemplated, but will
let the contract to private organiza-
tions.