Evening star., 1924-10-14

tune. but we guess it is the verboten
"Deutschland Ueber Allies" With a
Zeppelin above him the bandmaster
cares nothing for the prohibition of
his republic
A bundle of mail matter is let down
by parachute and we pass on over
Staaken toward the heart of the city.
The housetops are swarming. I'm
fortunately light clouds pass beneath
us. despite that were flying at an al
titude of only about 800 meters, SO
! that from time to time our view OF
the widely scattered capital of Ger
many is obliterated. Yet when We
can't see we can still hear the steam
trains whstling to US.
Fly Above $4,000 Faces.
Twice we circle over the heart of
Rerlin--the Brandenburg Gate. the
Reichstag and the Column of Victory
on the edge of the Tiergarten. Here,
because of the multitudes that stand
in every open space. we can clearly
hear the shouts. over every section
of the huge city. with it's population OF
4.000.0 we circle-Charlottenb
Schoeneberg. Halensee, and the North
End. over the Tempelhofer Field,
| where one of the Curtis brothers once
flew an airpane Git is to be developed
minals on the continent), we fly above
the upturned faces Of $4,000 persons.
From the city proper we sail out over
the suburbs, droning gracefully along
over the lakes that surround Berlin IN
the vicinity of Potsdam and Wansee.
T'heh we climb higher: the cheers die
away and the faces disappear
The next large city is Dresden, then
Nuremberg, Augsburg, and now Ulm,
l. l. r, ha H.
est church in all Germany and OF haV-
ing been the birthplace of Einstein, Of
relativity fame One after another, as
if we were the giant with seven league
boots, these cities pass under us.
Make Great Speed.
From Berlin to Friedrichshafen by
fast train is an 1S-hour trip. We cover
the distance in about six hours. From
Augsburg to Friedrichshafen is d
morning or an afternoon run by rail.
We cover the distance in trif1e more
than an hour. Train hours for us in
the airship are turned to minutes.
Yet for all our speed, We drive
smoothly along. The motion OF our
airship is like that of steamer on
reasonably calm day in mid-ocean,
merely a gentle forward and sideward
roll. Not at all the kind of roll that
is virtually unknown on airships,
which is one of the striking differ
ences between travel in lighter
than air craft and an airplane.
Wind Rctards Landing.
1t is $40 precisely. We sight the
group of hangers that stand on the
edge of Friedrichshafen. In another
moment we are directly over them.
unfortunately, however, between Ulm
and FriedrichShafen a storm overlook
us; the wind is now blowing so
strongly that the airship's commander
fears to make landing.
For more than an hour we make
several great circles over the Boden-
see, as far as Switzerland on the one
side, to Austria on the other and back
to Friedrichshafen, in Germany. The
delay doesn't matter in the slightest
to the airship. 1t has all the patience
in the world could remain up all
night If necessary. Only the pas
SengerS and crew are anxious to land,
for We've none of us had a smoke for
81 hours, and the meals didn't quite
go round. The 73 of us are about 20
more than the airship can comfor tably
carry on an overnight journey
At SundoWn, as often occurs, the
wind dies away and as we approach
the landing field for the third time
our motors are shut off, one by one,
and we glide-forward and down. We
sink gently. The ground seems to
rise to meet us. The hundreds of
people below come nearer and nearer.
Their voices grow louder and louder.
Now we can hear the commands be-
ing shouted amongst the members of
the landing crew. Their hundreds of
hands are outstretched towards US,
striving for d grip on the handrail
Land Very Gently.
SO gently do we sink, that, once the
rail is grasped, We never know the
exact moment we touch the ground.
Then we are carried, literally car
ried. into the hangar. No one may
debark until We're inside and made
fast, for the loss in weight of even a
few persons would tighten the ship
to such an extent that it would be
difficult for the landing crew to hold
it down.
We've been "a hours in the air from
9 o'clock yesterday morning. Now it
is o'clock in the evening. Thirty
four hours of steady cruising at 60
miles an hour or better, and never a
single stop of the motors: portions of
three countries have been crossed
over, 1000 miles covered, or approx
imately one-half the way between
Friedrichshafen and Lakehurst, n. J.
The IRIS needs no more trials. It's
all right.
Copyright. 1924. in United States. Canada,
Great Britain and South America by North
American Newspaper Alliance. All rights
reserved.D