Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 109, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1915 — ZEPPELIN ANGRY WITH CAPTAINS, BUT IS CONFIDENT OF SUCCESS [ARTICLE]

ZEPPELIN ANGRY WITH CAPTAINS, BUT IS CONFIDENT OF SUCCESS

Commanders of Dirigibles Must Press Their Expeditions This Summer No Matter What Wind and Weather They Encounter, Is Count’s Order—Monster New Air Dreadnaughts, Protected by Aeroplanes, Will Take Offensive Soon.

By STEVEN BURNETT.

international News Service Correspondent. Berlin.—Count Ferdinand Zeppelin, with Von Hindenburg, the idol of the German people, assembled the commanders of his giant dirigibles a few days ago and spoke a few plain words. The Fatherland depended upon them, he said, and they must press their expeditions this summer no matter what wind and weather they encountered. Such lectures of commanders in chief to their subordinates are not infrequent, as all close students of military history know. British and French critics, however, hasten to picture the count as a disappointed old man, disgruntled over the failure of his plans, and seeking to put the blame on the maladroitness or overcaution of his air captains. . Nothing could be farther from the truth. The count is as confident in his great idea as ever. The German people are behind him equally with the kaiser. Germany now has at least thirty Zeppelins in commission, most of which cast the best air dreadnaughts of even last summer in the shade. From these the count expects an offensive of the most, effective sort. It has been argued that the Zeppelins so far have done nothing of military value, have only killed civilians and a few soldiers. This overlooks the destruction of factories where the French were working night and day on munitions of war, which took place on the last Paris raid. But those close to the councils of the general staff inform me the Zeppelin activities up to the present are largely experimental. Soon the dirigibles will take up their task in earnest. Protected by flotillas of swift aeroplanes as the battleships of the sea are surrounded always by destroyers and other lesser craft the products of the Friedrichshaven factory will attack fortifications, large bodies of troops bn the march, supply depots, railroad points and staff headquarters; besides co-operating in what Germany longs for most of all, an onslaught on the British grand fleet’s line of battle.

Bigger Than a Battleship. On a recent trip to Friedrichshaven, the best known of the Zeppelin factories because so close to the Swiss border that the little neutral nation can watch the birth of the dirigibles, I found about two thousand workmen engaged, and the force increasing daily. I watched a trial trip of the latest addition to Germany’s aerial fleet. Although not allowed to Inspect operations closely, I learned that this Zeppelin had been assembled-in 12 days. From a distance of five miles the giant beat of its powerful engines could be heard. It climbed to a great height and descended quickly. It hovered, under perfect control, over the waters of beautiful Bake Constance. It steered to perfection, executing socalled “figure eights” and other evolutions.

Its speed was what astonished me most. I secured no figures concerning this, but when the monster, dwarfing the largest warship, started in a direction away from me, it disappeared frbm view entirely in a few minutes. Then it reappeared and seemed to grow like a cyclone, so rapidly did it approach. It should be mentioned here that while approaching end-on the new Zeppelin is nearly invisible. This is due largely to an ingenious color arrangement. When presenting its side, however, the Zeppelin makes a good target for artillery. Here is a weak point in the Zeppelin. With hostile

aeroplanes it does not have to reckon —these will be left to the attendant monoplanes or biplanes. British airmen have attacked the Frledrichshaven works several times, dropping bombs which did slight damage. When they come again they will find it difficult to assail the factory, for enormous defensive works of concrete have been erected. Count Zeppelin has just written his reminiscences, which are now appearing in the magazine Der Greif here. He was a military attache attached to the northern army in the American Civil war, and narrates many amusing and enlightening incidents of that great struggle. First Ascension in America. It is not generally known that Zeppelin’s first balloon ascension took place in the United States at this time. He conceived the central idea of his dirigible in 1863 and has been working on it 53 years, expending almost all his personal fortune of about three million dollars, besides much money contributed by wealthy friends.

Here is Count Zeppelin’s account of meeting President Lincoln: “Through the good offices of the Prussian ambassador I was able to obtain an audience with President Lincoln. I solemnly donned my frock coat and high hat, but found no special pomp attaching to the ceremony. “At the White House I was taken into the room where the president worked. From behind the writing table a very tall, lean form arose, with a large head, long, unkempt hair and beard, and strikingly projecting cheekbones, but shrewd, kindly eyes. During my short talk with the president his private secretary, Reed, sat on the writing table, swinging his feet rhythmically to and fro —they stuck far out of his trouser legs and were incased in a pair of shoes resembling moccasins. “President Lincoln expressed himself as much pleased at my coming and my plans, and wished me success in the studies which I proposed to make.” There was apparently no iron discipline in the federal army, such as the count had been accustomed to in Prussia. Telling of his arrival at the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, be says: “Headquarters was a gigantic cluster of tents, standing in long rows in the midst of a clearing. To find my way about in the midst of this chaos of tents —concerning which I shall have more to say later —struck me as far from easy. I felt by no means at home there, especially as my servant was not to arrive until the next day with my baggage, my horse, and a second mount furnished to me by the government I had a letter of introduction to the commander of the army, General Hooker, which I was to deliver to him in person, but, as he had gone to Washington over Sunday, I could not present my credentials, and found the greatest difficulty in getting shelter and food, especially as my English in those days was very meager. Eventually a Swede, Captain Rosencranz, who spoke good German, took me into his tent." Meets General Hooker. He later presented himself to General Hooker with a pass. “He received me very kindly and assigned a tent for my special use. From that time on he showed his friendliness toward me by asking me to take a whisky with him every time he saw me. He was, in fact, far more a genial toper than an army commander to be taken seriously, yet he ranked

with the best-trained military men who had gone through West Point “Soon I was well known about headquarters. This became especially apparent in the number of drinks offered to me, it being the general custom ftfr men to invite acquaintances into their tents to partake of one. I must confess I rarely got past a tent safely. “Among the more important officers whom I met was General Butterfield, chief of the general staff. When he was postmaster general he had organized the first post delivery system for San Francisco, and the talent for organization which he had then displayed had caused him to be looked upon as the best man for the important military position which he held when I met him. “In planning operations he attached special significance to knowledge of the probable weather conditions and for this reason he became especially fond of an excellent aneroid barometer of mine which I had obtained from London and paid good money for. “General Butterfield saw this instrument in’ my tent, borrowed it from me, and then found it impossible to separate himself from ft. Longer and longer he would keep it each time he borrowed it, until at last he failed to return It at alt When I was about to leave the army I requested him to return it again and again, and became finally so pressing that I compelled him to go into his tent to fetch it out. j “After wafting outside a long time, I followed him into the tent. It was empty. With my barometer in his hand he had crawled under the canvas and disappeared.”