BY AIRSHIP TO THE POLE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 30, 29 July 1911, Page 10 (Supplement)

BY AIRSHIP TO THE POLE.

WHAT IS THE ZEPPELIN EXPEDITION. A writer in Hampton's Magazine for May gives a remarkably up-to-date summary of the progress made in building and'navigating airships of the heavier-than-air type, and incidentally explains what Count Zeppelin proposes to do by way of reaching the North Pole. It seems that the Count's object is really to establish a. trans-Atlantic service. Says the writer:

The airships already have been developed to the point where passengercarrying in Germany is not only practicable' but profitable, so Zeppelin and his associates have proceeded with preparations for a trans-Atlantic-service. They have demonstrated that the Zeppelin style of ship is capable of doing its part m crossing the ocean, but the trans-At-lantic travel cannot begin until crews have been trained to a point where it will be entirely safe for them to make the trips with passengers. - In order to avoid the danger that would attend making training trips over the open Atlantic, Count Zeppelin desired the greatest possible area where a practically flat surface could be found, where there would be no cities or forests, so landings could be made at any time and with little trouble.

Professor Ilergesell, a noted German scientist, convinced Zeppelin that the ice-covered Polar Ocean suited his purpose. A polar expedition was organised and financed under the sanction of the Kaiser, and Prince. Henry of Prussia became, its president. [n 1012 the polar expedition will establish docks and shops that will cost a quarter of a million dollars, at Spitzbergen, the point from which Walter Wellman tried to reach the North Pole. It will use two ships which are now under construction at the Zeppelin plant. The bigger ship will be fiOOft over all — nearly the length of an ocean liner. The other will be 550 ft over all.

The larger ship will be used for an attempt to reach the North Pole, a.0.1 the smaller ship will follow behind tlic polar ship at a distance that will enable the two to keep in constant wireless communication, so that it may go to the relief of the polar ship should it receive a message of distress. Before the two airships start to Spitsbergen they will be used as passenger excursion ships at Hamburg. This city is building a .10-jk for their use, and until the time arrive for them to start northward they will make trips from Hamburg to London, England, and to Christiana, Norway. These trips will serve a double object—to give the crew 3 the advantage of this much over-sea navigation and to earn enough money partly to pay for themselves. Preliminary to the North Pole trip an effort will be made to drive the bigger airship 1250 miles from Spitsbergen west across the Actio Basin to a point north of British Columbia and return. This route gives a long range over a safe area. The entire trip is expected to require four days, and the ship will use four tons of gasolene out of the seven and one-half tons she will carry. After this trip is concluded an effort will be made to go to the North Pole and return without stopping. Both airships will be equipped with the latest devices perfected at the Zeppelin plant. During the flights the German Telefunken system will maintain a wireless station in northern Norway, and news aerograms from the explorers, via the relief ship, will be relayed to the Emperor. Wind and weather news from an aerial weather station at Spitzbergen will be sent by the relief ship to the polar ship. The fact that the Pole is the objective point of the principal trip of the expedition has caused somewhat of a misunderstanding of its objects. As a matter of fact, Count von Zeppelin and his associates will be slightly, if at all, disappointed if their ship makes other trips of equal distance, but fails to reach the Pole. For, primarily, they have not the North Pole quest at heart. What they want is to train crews to navigate air-liners.