THE BARTON-RAWSOA AIRSHIP.

The first public ascent of the BartonRawson airship was made last month from the grounds of the Alexandra Palace. Since the early attempt the airship has been altered in various ways, and it now consists of a silk balloon 180 ft long and 40ft in diameter, with a capacity of 200,009 cubic feet. The car is made of bamboo, and is 127 ft long and 18ft high, and has a deck of varying width running from end to end. It carries at either end the two 50 horse-power Buehot motors, which are connected by belts to four propellers, which are 7ft in diameter, and revolve at the rate of about 1000 revolutions per minute. In front of the bow and tho situvii motor are placed movable aeroplanes,

| by altering the inclination of which tha I airship is intended to >-itc or fall as required. The rudder is 18ft high and 12^ft long. The most important alteration which has been made, on the advice of Mr F. L. Rawson, is that the lar^e heavy pro- ! ppllers which were originally used, and which had a comparatively slow rate of revolution, have been discarded for a smaller kind. At the time of the ascent there was a wind blowing of vary ingstrength, averaging about 10 miles an hour. The spectators were, of course, anxious to see whether the airship could be steered, and they were gratified while she was in full view, for Mr Rawson turned tho great rudder and succeeded in getting her .to make a very circling move at a good altitude. This brought the airship head to wind, and for a moment or two she almost appeared to be holding her own against it. But it soon became evident that the propellers were not powerful enough for their purpose, and for the next half-hour it appeared to be a drifting match broadside on, until the ship was finally lost in the haze that lay over Essex. It was subsequently announced that a descent was made in the Romford district, after a .voyage of three-quarters of an hour's duration.