Evening star., 1924-08-10
MAIL BY DIRICIBLE
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN

Uncle Sam may add the giant Yep
plin ZR3 to his air mail service. In
fact. IL he does not do that. and can
not find some other commercial use
to which to put his new leviathan Of
the air, he will have a white elephant
on his hands, for under the terms of
the peace treaty under which Ger
many has been building the ZR3 for
the United States the ship cannot be
used for military purposes.
She may be used in an experimental
service carrying both passengers and
mail. or she may be turned over to
the Post once Department and used
entirely for mail. At the Office Of the
Second Assistant Postmaster General
1t Is stated that no plans have been
made for taking the Zepplin over for
the air mail, but it is known that the
matter has been under consideration
One obstacle in the way Of adapt
ing the ZR3 to the mail service is
the expense of her operation and her
original cost of $1,000, 900. With a
crew Of IL officers and 80 men, with
the amount of fuel and oil that her
Ave horsepower engines will con-
sumo, and with the numerous other
items of operating cost. 1t would be
virtually impossible for the ship to
pay expenses at any rate that could
be charged for Transporting. either
passengers or frst-class mail. She
has accommodations for 20 passen-
gers and in addition can carry two
and a half tons OF mail or freight.
Without passengers her capacity I.
mean q e 'ons more 81 than ti75,ooo letters o Of
/ ounce or less, but the maximum
postage revenues would not be i'm
pressive.
However. If the commercial use
Of the great rigid dirigibles Is to be
developed, necessarily some money
will be lost or wasted in the course
of the experiment.. Private indivi-
duals or companies are not likely to
bear this burden. inasmuch as they
back even II the experiment should
prove successful. Hence 1t is argued
that the Government should finance
anything that is done In this direc-
tion. Aside from the possible COM
mercial importance Of the dirigible
gers and freight, its value In time of
war is unquestioned, and It il regarded
Is q common sense measure OF pre-
paredness for the Government to en-
courage the building and use Of the
craft
The Menace Of the Storms.
Another obstacle that must be over
come before the Zeppelin type of air.
ship can be used successfully as =
regular carrier Of mail or passengers
is its unwieldiness and the difhculty
Of handling it In rough weather.
1t will be remembered that the
Shenandoah was torn loose from its
Lakehurst mooring during \ storm
some months ago and was threatened
with complete disaster. Only the
most skillfui efforts or the ofiicers
and crew saved It, and even then 1t
suffered SonsiSsra6is sssr ans..s damage; More
ing to its hangar after q test cruise
and, 4 storm coming up, 1t was i'm
possible to make q safe landing with
IL for several hours.
present possibilities. Any carrier
that Is used In commercial tlanspor.
tation must be capable Of being
operated On a regular schedule and
as long as q gale may make landing
Impossible or delay 1t for an indefinite
strictly business proposition.
In building the Era, one long step
has. been taken toward solving this
problem, 1t Is claimed. The motors
arc reversible, said to be the first
reversible gasoline motors ever con-
structed. This means that its pro-
pellers can be reversed without slow
ing down it's speed long before it's
landing place Is reached and shifting
gears, a. In handling IN automobile.
When a dirigible loses Its headway
1t is more easily affected by the wind
and maneuvering It to its hangar or
mooring mast becomes difiicult.
With It's reversible motors II 10 said
that the ZR.3 can approach its land
ing place at practically full speed.
slow down quickly, reverse and back
and descend At practically the exact
spot the pilot has determined upon.
II the new type motors realize the
expectations Of the desiGnsrS and