The Fatal Voyage of Zeppelin No. IV.

Progress, Volume IV, Issue 2, 1 December 1908, Page 52

The Fatal Voyage of Zeppelin No. IV.

An account of the sensational flight of Count Zeppelin's big "dirigible," from the pen of a journalist who sailed with him, is deeply interesting and suggestive. Emil Sandt writes in a German paper : — "To the north I could see the Hohentwiel. B-hind us lay the Swabian See glistening 'vu the morning's sun. In the south-west I saw Thurgau wrapped in violet light. On the horizon the lofty peak of the Saentis rose broad and jagged, capped with ice and snow. Below us writhed the Rhine. I looked across at the propellers. Count yon Zeppelin had signalled full speed ahead. The giant airship trembled. The propellers seemed like disks, revolving with furious speed, ancj yet as transparent as locust's wings. They gave out a note like that of a deep organ, so loud that the human voice even when lifted to a shriek, could hardly be heard. "I walked down to the rear car to obtain a better view. Here the gigantic craft could be seen in a wonderful perspective. The sensation was strange. The giant ship obediently sank and rose. Obediently moved to the right or to the left, slavishly following the slightest pressure of thp human hand. Sometimes its angle was such that the entire fabric seemed inclined like a kite. At times the forward car lay beneath us; at times we had to look up at it. "<Vs "•<■• noiuocl the <jr>l<?ndul falls of the Rhine at Schaffhausen, the Count bi ought the an ship down, in order to ascertain whether the eddies occasioned by the waterfall would have any effect. "We turned into the Reusstal, but were buffeted by the wind all the way up the valley. To the south the sharp jutting peak of Mt. Pilatus hove in sight. Soon Lucerne appeared, a jewel among cities. The lake itself shimmered brightly where it was struck by the sun; its darker portions lay hke an emerald, held in a setting of heliotrope. It was like a melody in colours. Below us in Lucerne itself there was a hubbub and a great jubilation. The streets were crowded with gayly-clad people. The roofs were a-swarm. Zeppelin guided his airship down and allowed it to glide full speed ove? the city at the height of the church steeples

"We travelled over the Vierwaldstaetter See, and crossed to Kuessnacht, to Zug Lake, and up northward to Zug itself. Then came the most difficult task which Prof. Hergesell had assigned to the airship. The craft was to carry us straight acrossto Lake Zurich, through a narrow pass, where it would be caught in a veritable cyclone. The motors groaned and rattled. The propellers howled a deep droning song. The airship did all that it could. The