Evening star., 1924-09-03
IN TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL p. COLLINS

The great dirigible airship. ZR-3,
which Germany has built for the
United States as our only "rspara-
tions" for the World War. according
to the Versailles treaty, Is now un-
dergoing test flights Early trials
having demonstrated the inadequacy
OF its engines. new ones have been
installed for another trial flight to-
morrow or Friday. When ready for
it's voyage across the Atlantic, it will
be manned by German crew Of 80
men and will be accompanied by
three American officers as inspectors.
u X X
Statistics: AS long as two Wash
ington city blocks. 656.16 feet. dame
ter. SO.7 feet. Forgetting figures,
one may conceive it's size by putting
the Washington Union Station inside
its hangar at Lakehurst, n. j., or put
ting the National Capitol therein. ex-
cept the statue at the peak of the
dome Neither OF these buildings
would crowd the hangar as much as
VIII the dirigible airship. This indi-
Gates the monster whose 1000 horse
power engines will propel 1t through
the air at a speed Of a mile and a
third minute--S0 miles an hour
and whose range (without reloading
either fuel or food) would take it
China, or to either Of the poles. 1t
Will outride a trade wind of 20 miles
an hour and still travel as fast as an
express train, and will carry as many
passengers as most Pullman cars
average.
We are obligated not to use ZR- 3
IN war Count Zeppelin. the inventor
OF the dirgibles, stated from the be-
ginning that they We're not intended
Tor active fighting. but only for
scouting. The swifter and cheaper
alrpianes excel them for scouting,
hence no one need fear that our fight
ing forces will slaughter non-fight-
ing populations with rains Of terror
from the great ship. Even Germany
demonstrated the failure of it's Zep-
peiins as fighting machines They
dared not use them to attack Paris.
and their several attacks on London
resulted In only 13l deaths Automo-
nlle street accidents in the same
period killed more than 900.
Count Zeppelin must be recognized
as one OF the great men Of the age;
not merely by his successful inyen-
ton. but by reason Of his persistence
and genius. He dared face ridicule
ana opposition. and the loss of great
prestige as an officer in the German
army, in which he had risen to the
rank or lieutenant general when he
retired at the age Of SO years. After
leaving the army, instead of settling
down as superanuated noble with
the wealth of millionaire, he took
up experiments with tn. dream con-
ceived when, as military attache with
Gen. Grant in our Civil War, he
watched the observation balloons in
the Federal army. Soon after the
war he made his first ascent in a bal
loon al Minnesota State fair.
In the early sos he began his
building of rigid dirigible airships
His first four were destroyed in their
test fiights-a loss which ruined him
financially and left him nothing but
a little cottage in which to live. Yet
he refused to give up. With his fifth
ship, built with his wife's fortune,
he was SO successful that he was
hailed as the greatest man in Ger
many, whom the people and the ma
tion were eager to finance.
The United States will possess two
of the greatest Zeppelin airships ir
the world. What will be accom-
plished with them not even the
officers of the aeronautic service will
predict. No practical use has yet
been made of the Shenandoah, though
the Navy has been enthusiastically
ieduS ~ ScHd IL SSouliHS tHS ATCtlC
to reconnoiter an area 1000 miles in
diameter which has never been ex-
plored. The ZR-3 cannot carry
mails as cheaply and swiftly as dc
airplanes. Its greatest speed CORE
spends with that of express trains
I but is less than half that of air
planes. -.-
X X +
What is the limit of the possible
in aeronautics? Within the last few
weeks the well known Washington