Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume III

DIRIGIBLE BALLOONS. 55 ment subsidy with a twenty-four hours’ flight. Following the A Fine Voyage ends in Disaster. make some trifling The course of the Rhine, the air- ship passed Basle, Mülhausen, Strassburg, Mannheim, and reached Mainz, after a voyage lasting 16 hours 40 minutes. After a descent to repairs, the homeward journey began, great envelope had, however, developed leaks, which, coupled with irregular working of the motors, compelled the count to descend at Echterdingen, near Stuttgart. While the balloons were being inflated a squall struck the ship, and bumped it violently against the ground. Some petrol ignited, and in a moment the conflagration had reached the highly in- flammable hydrogen in the balloons. A few minutes sufficed to destroy the work of months. This heavy misfortune, coming on the top of a great triumph, roused the patriotism of Germany in a manner that may serve as an object lesson to other nations. Within a few weeks £300,000 were subscribed to enable the aged Count to build yet more Zeppelins for the use of his countrymen. Zeppelin III. was taken in hand, increased as to its length and carrying power by the addition of one more balloon, renamed Zeppe- lin II., and, after some very successful tests, taken to Metz to form a unit in the aerial fleet that now has its headquarters on the frontier. Zeppelin II. (new style) is the same size as No. IV., and has to its credit the longest of all airship voyages. On May 29, at 9.42 p.m., it left Friedrichshafen, and took an almost direct line for Berlin, 360 miles distant. The huge dirigible passed over Ulm, Nuremberg, Bayreuth, Plauen, and Leipzig. At the last-named place Zeppelin threw over a telegram addressed to the em- peror, expressing his hopes that ho might be able to reach Berlin, only 125 miles away, that day. The news spread through Berlin like wildfire ; the whole population turned out A Record Journey of over 600 miles. to welcome the Count. But a northerly breeze arose and developed steadily into so high a wind that Zeppelin, on reaching Bitterfeld, decided to turn the airship about and run southwards. Late in the evening the inhabi- tants of Halle and Weimar saw Zeppelin II. pass overhead. By 4.45 next morning she reached Würzburg. Five hours later she was circling the spire of Stuttgart Cathedral. The ship then proceeded to Kirchheim, where the petrol supply began to show signs of ex- haustion. At Göppingen a descent was de- cided upon. During an attempt to land, the airship was caught by a squall and driven violently against a Colifeion with tree, which smashed in her bows and held her prisoner, her stern floating well above the ground. Thus ended a 38-hour journey, during which well over 600 miles— some calculations make the figures 950, but this is probably excessive—had been covered. Even the records of Zeppelin IV. had “ gone by the board.” Though this remarkable achieve- ment also ended in disaster, after temporary repair the airship was able to make its way, with but one rudder running, to Friedrichs- hafen, where, in the course of a few weeks, it was put into good running order again. The latest of the Zeppelins, No. III., has three motors of 150 horse-power each, but has not, up to the time of writing, performed any sensational feat. In general features the Zeppelin type has not undergone much altera- tion. Power, volume, and lifting capacity have been increased, the steering apparatus has been improved, and great accommodation for the crew provided. The rigid, subdivided gas-holder is retained, despite the criticisms of the “ non-rigid ” school. Count von Zep- pelin has boundless faith in his own invention. So far from being discouraged by the mishaps which must be expected to occur while the lessons of aeronautics are being learnt, he has propounded a scheme for running regular airship services, as a commercial venture,