Evening star., 1924-10-14

side theirs on the land. The fish
shaped patch imposes itself on the
cows in the pastures, frightening
them and sending them scurrying in
every direction. Confused between
the shadow and the noise they hear
from above, they never know which
way to run.
Planes Rise in Welcome.
The first sizable city we reach is
Frank furt-am Main. which we circle
in recognition of the cheers of the
people who dot the housetops and
hutter handkerchiefs. Tiny they ap-
pear to US. Family we can hear the
shouts of the countless upturned
faces.
From the air a city appears no
longer as maze of streets and
houses. 1t is entirely orderly. There
are always the railroad tracks, the
station, the central square and the
streets, which radiate regularly from
it in every direction. The plan on
which it has been laid out is quite
clear. Each block of houses is dis
tinct, each block built on the prin-
ciple of a hollow square, generally
with trees in the open center, or
court
After Frankfurt comes Cassel then
Hanover. Bremen. and just before
sunset, Hamburg. n city cut to pieces
by the many -mouthed Elbe. Steam
erS everywhere whistle to us; air
planes mount to meet US. whirr un-
derneath and on each side. In the
cockpit of each man rises and
waves long arm in greeting. Far
Eelow here and there we see checker
board blocks of white Squares-cafes
The people about them wave larger
futtering white bits.
Trip Not a .Surprise."
Nowhere are we unexpected. The
long trial flight of the ZR-3, of which
the Germans are justly proud, has
been long heralded in the German
press. has been talk ed of for weeks
by the residents of every city and
town under its previously published
route.
From Hamburg We jump up to
FlenSburg. on the edge of Denmark,
the birthplace of DIR. Hugo Eckener
the airship's pilot and commander.
1t is an insignificant fishing town on
the Seacoast, but its citizens greet
us with a personal interest. On the
roof of the town hall--the rathauS-
burn red flares. The Flensburgians
were prepared; they knew DR.. Eek
ener would not forget them.
From Flensburg we fly cast. first
-
kiel itself, the formerly famous Ger
man naval base, does not appear until
after dark, when We can see only its
myriad twinkling lights. AS we pass
over it d searchlight is thrown on
us, glittering on our silver sides. Off
in the barber we see the white, green
and red lights of d warship standing
out to sea.
Below. in the Dark. Is the Sea.
Now the cabin lights are on and
the darkness outside is thoroughly
shut out. We cant see, we only know
that below US is an emptiness of
clouds and sea the cold North Sea.
Supper is served-tWo "hot dogs" and
a cup of anemc. lukewarm tea.
In the passenger cabin, which
forms the greater part of the entire
control cabin and is directly behind
the pilot house, are five StateroomS,
each built somewhat on the order of
a Pullman compartment but with four
berthS instead Of two. One of these
has been taken over by the research
department-two young technical men
who represent the theoretic end OF
Zeppelin navigation. Their compart-
ment looks like a combined chemical
and electrical laboratory. From time
to time they drop altimeter bombs.
which explode when they strike the
water with detonation that makes
each inexperienced passenger jum,
nervously. There are only four state
rooms left, with sleeping accommo-
dations for 16 persons, to house the
rest of us-about 80, German jour
nalists, American naval officers and
the airship's engineer force-for the
night. There are 73 on board in all
Construction seems Fragile.
We get through the hours, squeeze
two each into the available berths.
But it is night of fitful, interrupted
sleep. Every four hours the en-
gineers' change shifts, two men on
duty in each of the five motor gon-
dolas during every moment of the
trip. Then. too, all communication
between the pilot house and the rear
of the airship is by means of CEN
ter aisle down the passengers quar-
ters.
Each time either the forward or
rear door is opened a gale of wind
sweeps through and crashes the door
shut with a tremendous bang To the
unlnitiated it seems amazing that
such cardboard affair as this ship
is can hold together The windows
are not of glass but of isinglaSs, the
walls and doors of cloth. the floors
of cigar box wood. In the daytime
one can look out the window and see
the cloth of the great hulk quivering
between sections of framework The
wind RACES against it, but does no
harm.
Dawn Earlier Than on Land.
September 26.-We turn out of our
hunks at $50 as gray dawn appears
tri1e earlier up here than down
below. Outside we see nothing but
clouds nd
clouds that appears like disheveled
sea The altitude gauge stands at
$500 meters. We are nearly mile
and a half up in the air Soon the
bank of clouds below us breaks. and
we descend. In the distance away off
at the limits of our aerial universe,
the clouds still hide the sun, but il is
now light enough to see the land be-
low, the ragged shoreline of Pomer-
anna, in the northeastern part of Ger
many. In the leaden light it looks
bleak and inhospitabIe. We feel far
more cheerful where we are, far
above it.
member of the crew. going aft
from the pilot house, is button
hoied and asked where we were dur
ing the night. Over the southern tip
OF Sweden, he says, to Copenhagen,
and then back across a stretch of
tht DaitiI hdiiWdy " bdnZlS, IN tne
Polish corridor. We spent the night
purposely over the Baltic, just loiter-
ing over the sea. in order to fly over
the land lin daylight
Pass Over Berlin.
Eight o'clock found us flying over
the industrial city of Stettin. Now,
at 9:25, the suburbs of Berlin appear
First comes Staaken, where the Yep
pelin company had one of it's plants
during the war. The great hangar is
now used motion picture studio.
but the landing field, thickly studded