Page 4 Advertisements Column 2

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6616, 22 May 1928, Page 4

"* W ' l> ' m :VMM iw* ■ - ; :'■ MOS& tj," 'X. >-> -:A %:;■■ y***ffi&Ve v p v /ywj«y' i ; J‘iii'C' INTERIOR OF THE ATLANTIC FERRY DIRIGIBLE NOW BUILDING IN BRITAIN. NB hundred passengers a trip, soaring across the ocean in a day and a-hal£ —such is the ambitious schedule' designed for two superdirigibles now being built in England for commercial operation by an AngloAmerican company. Almost as long gs the these prodigious, silvery, cigar-shaped balloons will be ready to take the air next September; and we are told that on the first trial trip across the Atlantic it is hoped that Colonel Lindbergh will be one of the guest-passengers,- by special invitation of the British Government; also Commander Byrd and his flying colleagues; Clarence Chamberlin, Ruth Elder, and other bold pioneers of trans-oceanic flight in heavier-than-air machines. After whatever testing may be necessary, it is announced, a regular Atlantic passenger and mail service will be started. One of the monster dirigibles, the R-100, is nearing completion at the works of the Airship Guarantee Company, at Howden Airdrome, Yorkshire. Passengers will be able to take their meals in a sumptuously appointed dining room, as undisturbed and at ease as if they w'ere travelling on a sixteenth-century French river barge. Concerts and entertainments such as are given on the big ocean greyhounds will be staged in the dining saloon. And motion pictures will be thrown on a small screen while the ship is speeding through the air at S 5 or 90 miles an hour. Solid protections against the wind’s velocity will render air travellers almost unaware of the great speed at which they are travelling and the sensation will be merely one of gently floating on the ether like the legendary Thief of Bagdad on the Magic Carpet in the Arabian Nights. • The R-100 is 709 feet long and 133 feet wide. Something like 225,000 square feet of fabric have been used for her outer envelope. This envelope has been tested and has been found non-inflammable, thus eliminating one of the greatest dangers of dirigible flying. The London “Illustrated News” aerial expert announces that whereas in earlier airships, and in all Zeppelins, the framework was of duralumin girdering, in the R-100 all the main members consist of duralumin tubing. This tubing has been specially manufactured at Howden and has this remarkable and valuable peculiarity that while it is extremely light in weight, it is at the same time enormously strong. It is proposed to use the R-100 as a demonstration vessel, beginning next autumn to operate her on a New York-Montreal-London route, according to Commander C. W.‘ Burney, of the British Navy, one of the big dirigible’s designers. Writing in the New York “Times,” he tells us further: Owing to the fact that dirigible development hitherto has been mainly in the hands of Government departments, and also because the vessels themselves have been built for war purposes, it is difficult to make people believe either the extent of the passenger accommodation which can be provided or the lowness of the fares necessary to give a commercial return. Take as an instance the R-100. The passenger accommodation consists of the equivalent to a three-storey house mounted in the vessel. On the lower floor are the crew’s quarters, consisting of a mess deck and cabins. Leading from this to the upper floors is a double staircase, similar to that in a steamship, and on the lower passenger floor one will find two promenade decks, some 14 feet wide, specially strengthened to permit dancing; a restaurant to seat 50 persons at one time, and cabin accommodation for that number. These cabins are of two or four berths and may be compared with those provided in an Atlantic liner. They are fitted with bunks, electric light and stowage arrangements for the 1001 b. of passengers’ baggage which will be carried free. Above this floor is yet another, on which further cabins are provided for 50 more persons: a smoking lounge, and two balconies, enabling passengers to move their chairs from their cabins to the balcony and view the scenery below. Elaborate arrangements have also been made for the comfort of the passengers, and an •extensive electric equipment has been installed so that electric cooking, heating, and lighting can be provided, thus allowing normal meals to be served as in an hotel. The dirigible has important advantages over both the airplane and the steamship in that there will be no noise ot the engines, no vibration, and no motion equivalent to that in a liner. Therefore, it is believed, there should bo no sickness. A minimum faro of £IOO should bo adequate to give a satisfactory financial return. The success ot dirigible transportation, like many other developments, will depend largely on the ability to cater to largo numbers of travellers. The lower the fare that can be successfully charged, the more stable will be the basis of this new industry; and, Just as the .cheap motor-cars can only bo produced if they are manufactured in large number's, so it will be with dirigibles. At the present time the estimates show that, two-thirds ot the fare to be charged depends solely on the cost of the vessel and only one-third on the actual operating and normal overhead cost. If, therefore, the cost' of the vessel can be reduced by onehalf, the fare could be reduced by one-third, and if the price of the vessel can be reduced to one-sixin of the present cost, the fare would be reduced to one-half. There is little doubt, therefore, that wo can visualise, within a comparatively short time, a fare between London and New York of only £SO, the time of transit to be less than fortyeight hours. London will be reached in 38 hours from New York, Bombay will be but 52 hours from London, Rio de Janiero about 70 hours and South Africa SO; Australia would be brought within seven days of New York, via Bombay, and, to the westward, Saij Francisco will be connected w-ith Honolulu and from there lines will radiate to China, Japan and probably to Australia. A fortnight’s holiday will allow our prospective tourist to spend ten days of his time in Europe, and a three weeks’ holiday will enable the same amount of time to be spent in the East or in South America. The R-100 is the first vessel which has been constructed in an endeavour to combine in one vessel the necessary technical improvements to enable long flights to be undertaken, carrying, during such long flights, a satisfactory pay load. Carrying the full load qf passengers and ten tons of mail or freight, the R-100 will have a radius of action of 4,000 miles at a speed of 75 miles an hour. The R-100, however, was not built for the transatlantic service, but for the London-Egypt-India route; and even this vessel is not sufficiently powerful to undertake a service across the Atlantic to a regular schedule, carrying a full load of passengers in all -weathers and in both directions. She will, however, when a considerable portion of her pay load is carried as fuel, have sufficient endurance to carry out demonstration flights across the Atlantic; and. in view of the special meteorological conditions which are experienced on that route, be able to carry the full load of passengers from west to east, but not from east to west. Special fuel tanks are being fitted for this purpose, capable of carrying no less than 50 tons of fuel. It is unlikely that so large a fuel margin will be required; but no preventable element of risk must be allowed to enter into the demonstration flights. One can imagine the effect upon public opinion throughout the world of carrying 100 passengers from New York to London in less than 48 hours, the first time it is done. And it should be done, if all goes well, in September of this year. The Airship Guarantee Company, which has constructed the R-100, has already worked out the general design for the transatlantic ship for the regular service, and this vessel — called the Atlantic type—will be as great an advance over the R-100 as the R-100 is over previous vessels. The estimated cruising speed has been increased from 4,000 miles to 6,000 miles, and the ship will carry 170 passengers. SIAM HAS A REAL WHITE ELEPHANT TREATED AS SACRED Siam has acquired a new white elephant. He was born up-coun-try about a year ago, and has now been taken in state to the capital and installed in the gorgeous royal pavilion which Siamese custom accords him. It is, in fact, only by courtesy that he is called white. White elephants are albinos, with a pinky-grey skin and pink eyes. This particular one is copper-coloured, but is expected to grow lighter. But by the accident of his skin pigments he is sacred to the Siamese, and greatness has been thrust upon him, infant though he be. His mother, an ordinary grey elephant, works on a teak estate in the far north of Siam. She has been given leave ot absence to attend him while, he needs her, but will have to. return ultimately to her tree-carrying. In the old days, w r hen a white elephant was found up-country, it -was floated down in a decorated raft to the gilded splendour of Bangkok, but now the Journey is made by rail. Mother and child had a special wagon, comfortably padded and fitted -with electric fans and a shower-bath for coolness, with a white monkey and a white crow as travelling companions. They were met at the station by the King of Siam, three full-grown white elephants, and a band. The newcomer respectfully greeted the senior white elephant by twining trunks with him. Then he walked in procession to his new home, where priests chanted'him a soothing lullaby, praising his grace and beauty. Next day, to the sound of reed pipes, gongs, conch shells, drums, and cymbals, the king annointed him, named him Most Magnificent White Elephant Lord, and gave him pieces of sugar-cane with his name written on them. Then he was dressed in Jewelled robes of state and li gold necklace.