Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1929-09-17
EXPERT OBSERVERS IMPRESSED WITH
GRAF ZEPPELINS ABILITY TO KEEP
= SO CLOSE TO FIXED SCHEDULE TIME
BIZ A r p. STEWART

WASHINGTON. Sept. 17.-Aside
from the fact that surface ships are
slower from shore to shore, their
great disadvantage. In comparison
with aerial craft. lies in their inabil-
ity to travel from an inland starting
point to an inland destination-per-
uniting a passenger to make one IN
interrupted trip Of a journey from
St. Louis to Berlin. for instance. in
stead OF being forced to transfer, bag
and baggage. two or three times on
the way.
Rehandling freight. al efficiency
experts at the commerce department
point Gus. is even worse than trans
ferring passengers.
After all, though the passenger
may be Inconvenience when he has
to change from train to boat and
from boat TO train, IL does not cost
much. Unloading a carload OF goods,
trucking it across town. slowing 1t IN
the hold of a ship. digging 1t out
again, hauling It through the streets
Of another town and loading IT onto
q second freight train-all this runs
into money.
In fact, 1t frequently IS more ex-
pensive than the actual cost OF
transportation.
Transpolar trips. too - trans
north-polar. anyway commerce
department folk look 70 see them
become speedily popular, now that
the Graf Zeppelin has demonstrate
ed the d~ependabilty Of dirigible
travel.
1t was not so much the Crafts
ability to keep the air that i'm
pressed expert observers; that they
had expected.
It was her ability to keep 81 close
to schedule.
AS for the transpolar voyage-it
will make terminals like the Twin
Cities and Moscow quite near neigh
bors when it becomes a regular two-
three-times-a-week event - OF
which anyone who will take the
trouble to listen can begin to over
hear predictions in any Of the Of
fices On the sixth floor-"aviation's
floorT-at the commerce department
building.
The departments airmen lost no
time in proclaiming the definite ar
rival Of the dirigible's day" before
news was fairly at hand of the
Crafts safe presence in her hangar
near Toxic.
This cincaes t." was the verdict
when she berthed at Lakel1urst.
Col. Charles A. Lindbergh was
quoted recently 10 the effect that the
dirigible and plane are compile
mentary-each has its particular
field of usefulness-they will not
be rivals-but the colonel did not
clearly define their respective
spheres.
Commerce department aviation"
Is quite agreed ON this point
The plane viii reign supreme on
land and for one-hop trips over
water.
The dirigible will be the favorite
for nter-continental journeys-not
mere seaport-to-seaport journeys.
but journeys from the interior Of
one continent to the interior OF
some other continent.
That dirigibles ever will carry
z Of very great bulk-like
coal. grain or even automobiles and
agricultural machinery - is not
prophesied.
These will move by water.
Surface vessels are also recog-
nized as possessing advantages for
what will henceforth class as short
runs from New York TO Liverpool o
San Francisco TO Honolulu-more
comfortable and quick enough for
most practical purposes.
But from American corn belt
centers TO middle Europe. Or the
long jump from the United States
over the vast South American
jungle-as bad a place as the
ocean for a la~nding--to Buenos
Aires?-the dirigible.
Col. Lindbergh - naturally q
heayier-than-air enthusiast may
say what he likes. but the fact re-
mains that the dirigible appears 70
have clipped the planes wings
somewhat.
Talk Of overseas airplaning has
stopped abruptly.
Where 1t Is safe, the planes
p~eriority in speed is conceded; the
consensus Of the most experienced
opinion Is EVIDENT that the safety
factor is in the dirigible's favor
where there Is nothing more stable
underneath than tossing water or
ice pinnacles o. tossing-tree-topped
s.~~-f~