Idaho County free press., 1924-11-13

SHENANDOAH
PRIDE Of THE.
UNITEDSTATES.
Millions Have Seen Silvery
Ship Glide Across Sky; Has
Length of $50 feet, Yet
Weighs Only 81 Tons.

Washington, ID. C.-Already Amer
ica's best known vehicle is the Shen-
andoah. says bulletin of the Nation
al Geographic society from its Wash
ington, ID. c. headquarters.
Hundreds of thousands have seen
some of the country's crack trains
and giant ocean liners; literally mil
lions have watched the silvery Shen-
andoah steal silently across the sky,
says a communication to the society.
Incidentally the Shenandoah and
the IRIS, are not, strictly speaking,
dirigibles. They are technically call
ed rigid airships.
"The Shenandoah comprises many
wonder stories of modern science. Its
length, $50 feet, is two-thirds that of
the Leviathan, yet its weight of only
81 tons is a tiny fraction of the Le-
viathan's fifty thousand tons.
Hanger Near Capitol's Size
"To house it and a bigger sister
ship to come. a hangar was built in a
cleaing of the New Jersey woods,
which building is POI feet longer than
the Emitted States capitol building,
just two feet less than the capitors
widest part, and more than two-thirds
as high. The sliding doors at one end
weigh 1900 tons.
'As the airship floats mysteriously
overhead, it looks like a magnified
cigar, wrapped with tin foil with six
baskets suspended from it. Inside the
covering are 20 great gas bags, with
a total gas capacity equal to the cubic
contents of train of 700 freight cars.
These are interspersed with from 40
to rs gasoline tanks and a compile
ment of one-ton water tanks.
"This equipment is supported by q
metal framework which is a veritable
maze of girders. struts, and beams;
there are 5000 Struts alone in the in
tricate design.
at is for this metal framework that
duralumin is used-an alloy so lighr
and strong that a girder 16 feet long
can be balanced on ones little finger,
vet if the tips are placed ON blocks
it will bear the load of eight men
sitting on it,
SIN one of its six cars is a photo
graphic laboratory, so that motion
picture reels and photographs may be
story of flight be ready when the
ship lands, or even thrown overheard
by parachutes at designed places.
Another car has a sound-proof radio
compartment with powerful send
ing apparatus and telegraphic instru-
ments.
An Astonishing Contrivance.
"The most astonishing mechanical
contrivance on the Shenandoah is the
newly installed water-recovery appar-
atus, which replaces the gasoline
burned with an equivalent weight OF
water. and thus saves the valving of
precious helium.
"You will recall from your chem
istry courses, that gasoline consists of
hydrogen and carbon. When gasoline
is burned. the carbon combines with
some of the oxygen from the air TO
form carbon dioxide, and the hydro
gen. with other oxygen. forms water.
"Automobilists notice in cold wealth
er that their eXaust pipes steam. Dc
casionally the moisture freezes and
forms frostlike ring on the vent. The
apparatus for recovering water on the
Shenandoah consists of several tiers
of long, light pipes, exposed to the
cooling air. so that the super-heated
steam condenses and fills water tanks.
This manufactured water compensates
for the weight of the gasoline con-
sumed.
Formerly. as fuel was burned, the
ship grew lighter and tended to rise.
Thereupon the gas expanded, and 1t
was necessary to release enough he'll
ium to equalize the lift of the gas to
the weight of the ship.
"Even though helium cost has been
bought from radiumlike luxury price
of SS1 for a thousand cubic feet the
amount the Shenandoah had to valve
on long trips was an expensive oper-
ating item. On its st. Louis visit, for
example, two hundred thousand
cubic feet of helium had to be Waived.
The water-recoyery device means
saving on one such trip of sixteen
thousand two hundred dollars-enough
to pay for the experimentation and
installation Of the mechanism