SUPER-ZEPPELIN BUILDING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 194, 25 January 1915, Page 8

SUPER-ZEPPELIN BUILDING.

ARTILLERY MOUNTED ON AIK MONSTER. HOW THE KAISER HOPES TO ATTACK LONDON.

(By Alan Bott in the Daily Chronicle.) I Something extraordinary is happening at Friedrichshafen. From my window I can Bee the little white and red town I nestling at the foot of a low hill that slopes down to the lake. It looks pretty and peaceful enough, but I know that in the long floating hall, whose sides are now gilded by t\e sun's rays as it stands out on' the grey waters of the lake, some hundreds of yards in front of the tiny harbour, scores of skilled mechanics are working night and day to

! build an air monster unparalleled for its powers of destruction. ( It is to he ready early in Novcm-' l her, and the constructors have boasted that its lrst serious work will be a raid on London. When this happens, they! say, Londoners will have to reckon with more than a few bombs such as those dropped by the Taubes over Paris and other French towns When —and if—the raid happens, their prophecy will probably prove true. The new Zeppelin is to have special platforms round the sides for machine guns and light pieces of artillery.

DETAILS OF THE SUPERZEPPELIN. All the plans of the designers are] apparently based on calculations of the! much-talked-of dash on London. Onel of the greatest difficulties for an air captain in charge of such a venture would be the length of time it would be necessary for the vessel to remain aloft. To lessen the risk of attacks

a circuitous route would have to be taken both from and back to Antwerp or whatever base was being used. It is claimed that the m.« super-Zeppelin will meet this obstacle by being able to remain in the air "indefinitely" owing to the, large number of balloons in the huge envelope. B" means of a special apparatus the crew will be able to re-fill these one by one, without descending. Another advantage of having many balloons is that if one suction only of the] airship is struck there is enough gas in I the other bags to keep it afloat. j

SPECIAL WEAPONS. I There are all sorts of rumours cir-l dilating in the neighbourhood regarding; other details of the air monster. Ona is that it is to be, fitted with a newlyinvented "silencer," which will enable it to travel unnoticed if it remains sufficiently high, Another is that the envelope is being painted very (lark

grey, so that it will be difficult to detect at 'night time. There is talk of a special light gun for firing special shells containing special explosives. It is even said that one of the mechanics lias invented a "projector" consisting of an iron tube, through winch, by means of a complex sighting apparatus that allows for wind and velocity, projectiles can be dropped accurately from high alti.tudos

(WARDED BY SOLDIERS. It is impossible to verify all these rumours, unless one is German. This much, however, is certain—something extraordinary is happening at Friedrichshafen. Besides the super-Zeppe-lin in the famous floating shed another one is being built in the hangar on shore. This is always surrounded by a large detachment of soldiers, and the entrance to the harbour from the town is also strongly guarded. On the lake, motor boat patrols are ready to see that steamers and fishermen's boats keep away. All foreigners, including even dwellers on the Swiss side of the lake, whose sentiments are very pro-German, are arrested if they go near either sheds. I went as near as possible to-day in a small rowing boat. Waiting until the sun's rays entered the shed from one r,f of the ends, which are left open, I saw a mass of girders, curved at the ends nearest me. where they met and formed what looked like a huge cone when seen from where I was watching. Towards the centre the girders were covered. There was a scaffolding on either sido of the vessel, with three platforms, on which were many workmen. Near by a small steamer was unloading something into a large boat.

I COUNT ZEPPELIN'S VISITS. ' I On my way back there was a strong adverse wind, and the captain of one! of the passenger steamers plying beI tween Constance and , seeing that I X was in difficulties, invited me on board and took my boat in tow. I About twice a week Count Zeppelin himself—still a fine-looking old man, despite the fact that he is midway between 70 and 80—pays a flying visit to Fnedriclishafen and superintends the construction. The "Herr Graff" is very popular among the soldiers, and sometimes he takes groups of wounded over the works. He is one of the busiest men in Europe at the present moment, for besides the two Zeppelins being built at Friedrichshafen there are three iu course of construction at Dusseldorf, Potsdam, and Hamburg. | Up to the present the Zeppelins have done nothing brilliant in the war. The more manageable and less expensive aeroplanes have proved themselves of greater use for scouting purposes, while airships are much more easily destroyed. It is believed that at least'five of the Zeppelins forming part of Germany's aerial fleet before the war are no more, including two destroyed by British aviators in their raid o'n Dusseldorf. One of the remarkable things in the war has been the failure of aircraft for destructive purposes. The Germans hope that the improved Zeppelins now being completed will turn the tables.