Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-03-09
COUNT ZEPPELIN DEAD,
SAYS BERLIN DISPATCH
Recently Proclaimed by Kaiser &c
BE "Grcatest German Of the
Twentieth Century"
BECOMES FAMOUS IN 10TH YEAR
His First Balloon Ascension Made in
United States During Civil War.
Sacrificed brilliant Career as Cav
airy Leader in CoDqucring Air.
in. A..nc!at.d rrcs,

TBS Associated Press.
LONDON. March S.-Coant Zeppelin
Is dead. according to a dispatch from
Berlin. received b. Reuters Telegram
Company. According to 4 Berlin tcle-
gram transmitted by Reuters hmstcr-
dam correspondent. Count Zeppelin died
this forenoon At Charloitcnburg. near
Berlin, from Inflammation OF tho lungs
Count Ferdinand Zeppelin became
builder or tho worlds first practical
dirigible balloon. ON his scventy-fifth
birthday he navigatcd hia twentieth
airship TO celebrate the occasion, But
before he had achieved fame. he had
devoted a half-ccntury of his life ex-
haustcd his personal fortune OF $3.50. 600
and sacrificed brilliant career as a
German cavalry leader. in conaucring
the air.
Emperor William recently proclaime ed
Count Zeppelin 0 be the greatest Ger
man Of tho twentieth century" As a
token OF appreciation. he conferred
upon him tho exalted order OF the
Black Eagle. the highest honor in the
l.mpcrors power.
II was in the United States that
Count Zeppelin made his first balloon
ascension. l, occurred while he was
following General Car! Schurz In the
civil War aa a military observer for
the German army A captive balloon
In use for military observations by
Union troops greatly Interested tho
young German officer. and lie was
taken M in il in 1863.
FIRST GERMAN SOLDIER
TO CROSS INTO FRANCE
Scion Of wealthy family of ancient
lineage. Count Zeppelin was horn in
Constance. Baden, in 1888. AS a youth
he was trained for a soldiers career.
He fought through the cAustro-Prussian n
and the Franco -Prnssian Wars and is
said TO have been tho first German sol :
dier 10 cross the frontier into France
in the last-named conflict. Serving in
the German cavalry for three decades.
he rose to n rank of general at the
age OF forty-two. He retired ten years
ater. distinguished officer, to devote
all his time 10 the problem OF aero
nautics.
lie began to study and experiment
soon after arriving in Germany from
the American Civil War Except for
the time demanded in routine military
duties. for the time spent in fighting
two wars, and for year spent in
honeymoonins with his bride. who was
girl OF the German nobility. he spent
the remainder OF his life in building
Aging contrivanccs that for tho most
part. refused TO NY
From "a wealthy nobleman owning
vast estates Count Zeppelin was grad
ually 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 overlook
his airships These became SO frequent
that pert paragraphs began to appear
in the German press in ridicule OF his
efforts.
Then in a day the tide turned. He
electrified a skeptical world in 1908
by staying aloft for thirty hours
in the fifth airship he had built. and
by sailing il in a straight course for
a distance OF nearly 900 miles En-
peror william, and all Germany in fact.
hailed him as "the conaueror OF the
air"
DISASTERS PROVE AFFECTION
IN WHICH HE Is HELD
This monster balloon. 465 feet long
and of the rigid type and resembling
a huge cigar, soon met with disaster.
as had its predecessors. Each wreck
was a great financial loss, for Yep
pelin's balloons were valued as high
as 100000 each. These disasters. how
ever. also proved the affection in which
the German people held the aristocratic
aviator. When one OF his airships was
. torn s'om it's moorings BY gale and
wrecked. the public subscribed 81 l,000,-
900 to fund, Of which the crown
prince was president. for the inventor.
The German Emperor frequently helped
him out of financial difficulties, and the
German Reichstag appropriated several
hundred thousand marks for the pur-
chase OF his airships for the German
army.
At the close OF his remarkable
| career. Count Zeppelin had retrieved
a large part Of his fortune he spent
in his conquest OF the air. He trained
his son, also an army officer, in the
science of 'aeronautics and especially in
his methods of building dirigible bal
looms. He also made an accomplished
aeronaut of his daughter, who has made
more than a hundred flights in the air.
ships her father fashioned.
In commemoration of Count Zeppelin.
Friedrichshafen, the city from which
most OF his voyages began. has de-
cidcd 10 establish a Zeppelin Museum.