A DESERT SHIP.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20611, 9 January 1929, Page 14

A DESERT SHIP.

Dr Christopher Bischoff, a German, is building a giant motor , desert “ liner,” which is intended „to transport ■ passengers and goods across the Sahara,, just as a modern liner does. on. the seven seas. The vessel is to be 130 feet long;, standing 42 feet'high, with' a breadth of .26 feet, and the general arrangement of the machine closely resembles that of a passenger, steamship with the exception that it runs on wheels. These wheels (says-a contributor to the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle) are of a tremendous size. They measure 39 feet, across. Though n6t of the caterpillar type, such ns those employed on small cars which have recently braved desert journeys, their construction includes an ingenious compensating mechanism. which will enable them to stick closely to the loose, ground which they will traverse. ..In. this "way the vessel itsejf will always be-kept at a comfort-' able level,., and, the passengers will experience no greater-, inconvenience than' if they were in an ordinary! motor .car on ah average road. Inside the desert ship- are four decks. The first comprises the control cabin—the ship s “ bridge’’—the wireless cabin, cabins for the captain and the mates, and four cabins de luxe, as well as an office, luggage rooms, washrooms, and a sheltered, promenade, aft, The ..second 1 and third decks are occupied, by the reading rooin, smoking room, dining room, kitchen, cabins, and more luggage rooms. The engine room, the helmsman’s cabin, and a repair- room accompany the stores for merchandise l -the ship’s hold on the fourth or lowest .deck. Here are also kept , the water .reservoirs and the fuel- tanks! - A novel and useful feature of - the ship will be a “ cooling room,” in which a lo\V temperature will always be maintained by artificial means for the convenience of passengers overcome by the heat of the burning desert sun. In all 150 persons, including passengers and crew, and 200 tons of . merchandise will be the capacity of the new ship, while enough fuel can be earned in addition which will be suffi«ent for a journey of from 10,000 to 12,0000 miles without replenishing. The vessel is to be driven by two Diesel ship engmes_ of 450 horse-power, each, one of which is to be kept in reserve. Electrical power and light are supplied by two dynamos, and the steering , is-effected by meaps of an hydraulic apparatus. -