THE WANDERING AIRSHIP

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 110, 1 February 1908, Page 10

THE WANDERING AIRSHIP

■ H.OW SHE ESCAPED. , Th'o'Patrie left Verdun for a short , voyage to the east, when an ; accident occurred, causing her to descend at Souhoime's.! ■ The. cause of the accident wiis as follows,:— : , : There were seven persons on iHo detjk, and it was practically impossible for so many' to move about. A quarter cu an hour nfter the airship had started its'-voyago the luechinician, who, was standing in froiit of the motor, and who was wearing a pair of; Wide blue trousers, moved, a step.or .two to oil the machinery. Tho wind 'set his-.trousers flapping, and the cloth was caught in tho machinery! causing tho ignition .'spark'to-' ho immediately cut off. ' .-' V : Tho mechanician thought ho would bo ablo to repair tho damage on tho spot, and so a]-, lowed tho airship to run before the wind in tho direction of Bar-le-Duc. As night came oil, and the motor was' still -not Working, tho officers 011 the platform decided to come down near the little railway station of Souhesmos. Tho grounding was facilitated by: two officers of Hussars who were following on horseback. These, aided" by tho local gendarmerie, •who had'.been; telegraphed to from ;Verdim to Watch tho airship, helped to pull.it down,, and during tho, night of Friday to' fjatui'day, relays of :soldiers from the fort,.Lauteroiit.' kept, it down. _ ~' ~ Work, was., immediately . begun . 011 repairing thfe.motor. The repairs lasted all day, and at tho time she escaped the airshiji was being, held with her head to tho wind by four squads,of 20.men each. Only a quarter bf an hour before three, mechanicians'; were en-' gaged in repairing tho machinery and had climbed down, having put tlio motor in order. Immediately the airship began to .drag, a hundred extra men caught hold of the ropes find tried : to hold Iter. A BIUVE OFFICER. ! " Seeing her dangerous position, Lieutenant Leiloir attempted to;pull the'.emergency cord, so aS to tear open the envelope. At the'risk of his life, lie got up on to the stepping board and tried to enter tho platform,' but-tho high winds'had mixed up the cordage in an inextricable mass. His attempts wefti hi vain, and ho had barely time to olinilj' off.' , -Ffilloiving 011 a gilst at 8 'p.m.the balloon was thrown from its upright position a few feet above tho ground 011 to its side, emptying the 'platform of its ballast and dragging-with,such force as to pull tho men holding tho ropes over tho ground for n dis-: tanco of 46 to 50 yards, and compelling all to let go for I'ear of being hauled into tho. air. The airship iimiicdiately bounded up and went'off at express speed in a westerly direction. Tho force of the wind was about 50 miles an hour. It is calculated that, the, Fatrie tnust have risen- at once to , a height, of about 6000 ft.: Tho automatic safety valves work very slowly, so that deflation t.,1 kns. a long t i«ie. It is do clarftd imprudent, not to have deflated hor previously when so strong.a wind was blow'nS- ... ... Major Boutiaux stated that, if 110 nrri« dental rent took plane in tlio envelope ho thought she would remain in the air for from 16 to 18 hours. „ j Two sister airships of the Pati-io are now 111 course of construction at Messrs. Labaudy Brothers' works, for the French Government. One of them, the Bepublique, is well advanced, and will be really for use ill February.

"!51i(1Ters nets his new car out several times a day. Matter of pride, I. suppose?" "Yep, Pried it out of a mudhole three times laso Monday." Motorist—"l sa,v. I'm awfully sorry ! You must let. me. settle for this, as it was really my fault. What shall 1 pay you'" Irate/rarmer— "What d'ye usually'pay?" "May 1 .call you Mabel?" bo \askcd at their second meeting, pretonding to be badly smitten. "If you wish "to; but my name is Gertrude." ' "How are you feeling?, I heard*.vou_ were very much run-down this spring.'' - "Not. so very much. Only "two autos struck me; I dodged all the rest."