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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1928-02-23, Page 6Passenger Airship Coming To Travel Atlantic Air Lines A Far Cry From the 014 Balloon Day* The British R-100, Now Nearing Completion, Will Be Used To Test Out and Demonstrate the Feasibility of Regular Trans-Atlantic Air Travel SCHEME NO DREAM British engineers are now complet-, Ing the R-1Q0, a dirigible passenger airship, which is expected to make a demonstration voyage across the At­ lantia to New York next September, Commander Burney of the British Navy, one of the designers of the R-10Q, who is now in Washington, des­ cribes the airship in the following ar­ ticle and expresses the opinion that if her tests prove successful a new era in overseas transportation will be opened. His article appeared in the New York Times, partly as follows. The illustrations give a good, idea of this air monster. Few people realize the great ad­ vance which has been made in the design and construction of dirigibles during the last few years, but the fact that plans are now being made to in­ augurate a regular transatlantic ser­ vice is an indication that big develop­ ments are Impending. As a first step toward the realization of these plans it is proposed to utilize the British dirigible R-100 as a demonstration ves­ sel and to operate her on a New York Montreal-London route beginning next Fall. Owing to the fact that dfirigible de­ velopment hitherto has been main­ ly -in the hands of British Government departments, and also because the vessels themselves have been built for war purposes, it is difficult to make people believe eithei’ the extent of* the passenger accommodation which can be provided or the lowness of the fares necessary to give a com­ mercial return. Take as an instance the R-100, as this vessel is now practically com­ plete and will be in the air in a few months' time. The passenger accom­ modation consists of the equivalent to a three-story house mounted in the vessel (see photos). On the lower floor are the crew’s quarters, consisting of a mess deck and cabins. Leading from this to the upper floors is a double staircase, similar to that in a steamship, and on the lower passenger floor one will find two promenade decks, some fourteen feet wide, specially strengthened to permit dancing; a. restaurant to seat fifty persons at one time ,and cabin accommodation for that number. These cabins are of two or four berths and may be compared with those pro­ vided in an Atlantic liner. They are fitted with bunks, electric light and stowage arrangements for the 100 pounds of passenger’s baggage which will be carried free. Balconies for the Passengers. Above this floor is yet another, on which further cabins are provided for fifty' more persons; a smoking lounge, and two balconies, enabling passengers to move their chairs from their cabins to the balcony and view the scenery below. Elaborate ar­ rangements have also been made for the comfort of the passengers, and an extensive electric equipment has been installed so that electric' cooking, heating and lighting can be provided, thus allowing normal meals to be served as in a hotel. Lavatory and washing accommoda­ tions similar to those in use on fast limited trains have been adopted and equivalent facilities installed. The dirigible has important advant­ ages over both the airplane and the steamship in that there will be no noise of the engines, no vibration and no motion equivalent to that in a liner. Therefore, it is believed, there should be no sickness. A minimum fare of $400 should be adequate to give a satisfactory' finan­ cial return. The success of dirigible transportation, like many other de velopments, will depend largely on the ability to cater to large numbers of travelers. The lower the fare that can bo successfully charged, the more stable will be the basis of this naw industry; and, just as the cheap motor car3 can only be produced if they are manufactured in large numbers, so it will be with dirigibles. A Two-Day Pasaage. There is little doubt, therefore, that we can visualize, within a compara­ tively short time, a fare between Lon­ don and Naw York Of only ($250, the time of transit to be less;-ttian forty­ eight hours. The establishment of such a Service would ^entail a verit­ able revolution in transportation, for the Atlantic service" would be follow- , ed by the establishment oL lines, radi­ ating, from NeW York and London throughout theJworld. What the Dirigible Has Done. So much attention has lately been paid to airplane transportation and so , llttlo to airship transportation that it may tie well ter recall some of the re­ sults which have been obtained in aerial transportation work by airships in the past. Before the war, various airships built in Germany carried approximate­ ly 40,000 passengers without a single accident, fatal or otherwise, to any passenger, a record which cannot be beaten by any other form of air trans­ port. Admittedly the flights on which these passengers wera carried were short, not ffirve than three or four hours in time; nevertheless, they com­ pare favorably in duration with tho cross-channel service between London and Paris by airplane. Guiding Experiences. There is, of curse, a vast difference between short flights of throo or four hours* duration and the inauguration of a regular transatlantic service, but even In this respect there is some de- ftnlte experience to show the feasi­ bility of such a service. As far back as 1919 the British airship R-34 cross­ ed the Atlantic from England to America, refueled in America and then made a successful return flight; and in 1925 the airship Los Angeles crossed the Atlantic from Friedrich­ shafen in Germany and arrived at Lakehurst in about eighty hours. We have, therefore, two sets of ex­ periences to guide us. In the first place, we have tho fact that on short flights passenegers can be carried In these vessels both safetly and surely; and, in the second, that with the pre­ war design of airship—when extra fuel is carried instead of paying load —that vessels of this type can suc­ cessfully cross the Atlantic from East to West. No doubt many who to-day think such a development but the dream of some mad inventor will become en­ thusiastic in support of the develop­ ment of dirigible travel. The pro­ posed demonstration flights across the Atlantic should prove, at any rate, that this system of transport is quite feasible; and as soon as this has been demonstrated, all that will remain to inaugurate an efficient Atlantic ser­ vice will be the provision of the neces­ sary capital. The Airship Guarantee Company, which has constructed the R-100, has already worked out the general de­ sign for the transatlantic ship for the regular service, and this vessel— called the Atlantic type—will- be as great an advance over the R-100 as the R-100 is over previous vessels. The estimated cruising speed has been increased to ninety-five miles an hour and the endurance increased from 4,000 miles to (5,000 miles. At the same time more luxurious accom­ modation has been provided for pas­ sengers and the number to be accom­ modated Increased from 100 to be­ tween 160 and 170. Let us now examine some of the adverse factors to see why so long an interval has elapsed between 1919, when this development was shown to be possible, and the present time when they are actually being made. The first big setback to airship de­ velopment was undoubtedly -the des­ truction of the British vessel R-38 when over the .Humber in 1921. This disaster was closely followed by that of the Roma in America, and that was followed by the destruction of the Dixmudo In the Mediterranean. The reason for these disasters had hardly been analyzed when that of the Shen­ andoah occurred. The inevitable re­ sult upon the public mind of this suc­ cession of disasters was to confirm the idea in most minds that these great vessels would always suffer from such inherent structural weak­ ness that it would be Impossible to build a really practical vessel. Un­ prejudiced technical examination of the position does not confirm this opinion—the causes of these disasters have been analyzed and obviated in the new designs. As a result of the use of these ves­ sels during the war, designers both In Germany and in England were com­ peting in an endeavor to lighten the structure of the vessel to a maximum degree in order to enable the vessels to reach as great a height as possible, so that they might avoid anti-aircraft gunfire. It was, no doubt, perfectly legitimate to take the great risk which such a lightening of tho struc­ ture involved during the war, but it is now known that all these vessels were structurally weak. Structure Problems. Before any part of the R-100 was constructed, about two years were spent in investigating the various problems connected with the pro­ vision of a structure sufficiently ro­ bust to withstand such aero-dynamic forces as were likely to be brought upon it during flight; and, as a result of those investigations, tho R-100 is approximately five times as strong as any airship which has hitherto been built. Iler cruising speed, further­ more, is approximately equal to the maximum speed of any vessel pre­ viously built; and it Is thought that as a result of these two major im- proveinents the R-100 should be able to, encounter successfully even abnor­ mal storms. One thing, however, is quito cer­ tain, and that is that the public con­ fidence will not bo regained by the airship until a definite proof has been given to the world that the claims put forward by the designers of these craft can be substantiated in opera­ tion. It is mainly for these reasons that the demonstration flights across the Atlantic by tho R-100 are being plan­ ned, When a considerable number of such flights have been carried out successfully, and the experience gain­ ed on these flights embodied in tho new Atlantic type of vessel, we shall bo on the eve of a new era is traaa- portation. Unless some unforsoon invention is LOOKS AS IF AIR TRAVEL WOULD SOON BE SAFE Not the interior of a factory, but the future restaurant of the new Sintic airAlner R , u ® 1 ’ tlsh Air Ministry. This is just the central deck, with the crew’s quarters one deck below and another deck above, The air liner is to be put on regular transatlantic mail service. made, the limits of performance of the airplane can to-day be assessed fairly accurately, and there is a gen­ eral consensus of opinion on the part of airplane constructors that a trans­ atlantic airplane service is not in sight; and even if developments en­ able a 400 per cent, increase in pay load for a given horse power to be ob­ tained, still it would not be possible to inaugurate an airplane service. . There are many members of the public, however, who have the idea that such a service would be feasible if seaplanes were employed, as the seaplanes could alight on the water and refuel from some vessel in mid­ Atlantic. Unprejudiced investigation into such a project will show its utter futility. Those who have crossed the Atlantic during this winter bo far must have observed that there was not a single day on which a seaplane could alight on the water without be­ ing instantly destroyed. It may be, and probably will be possible for cer­ tain spectacular flights to be made by either airplane or seaplane by care­ fully selecting a day in which meteor­ ological conditions are favorable; but there is a great difference between a spectacular flight carried out at great risk both to the pilot and machine at a selected moment and the continuous running of a service on regular sche­ dule. Airships for Long Trips. One hopes that the proposed flights of the R-100 will turn public opinion to appreciate that the airship and air­ plane are complementary and will not operate in opposition to each other. Tho airship is pre-eminently the ves- vel for the long-distance transoceanic flights and the ailplane the type of craft for short-distance operation. The British Government has appre­ ciated this situation and is laying the foundations of a great imperial air­ ship service stretching from London to Egypt, India, Australia, New Zea­ land, South Africa and Canada. Al­ ready airship bases are erected or in process of erection in Egypt, India, Canada and South Africa, while the Governments of Australia and New Zealand have signified their Intention of erecting airship bases in their own. countries as soon as the R-100 has proved successfully that it can oper­ ate with both, safety and reliability. It remains only to establish, a daily service between London .and New York to bring not only those material benefits in trade that must inevitably result to the world as a whole a great­ er stability, a more earnest wish for peace and a better understanding be­ tween the peoples of the world. --------.>--- ----- One of our youngest airwomen is a Bristol schoolgirl, who belongs to the light aeroplane club of that city. She Is only about fourteen years of age. Educating 660,000 pupils in elemen­ tary schools, 30,000 in secondary schools, 60,000 in technical institutes, and 130,000 young men and women at evening classes cost London £12,531,- 200 in 1926. Island of Sark Must Pay Taxes . In Wheat to Revive Agriculture London—Reverting to a law and custom of the days of Queen Eliza­ beth, which long has been in abey­ ance, Mrs. Dudley Beaumont, the Dame of Sark, one of the Channel lands, has Issued an edict that the habitants must pay their tithes wheat or other grain Instead of cash. Sark ranks as "an entirely indepen­ dent feudal state within the empire," being one of the numerous anomalous legacies of the Duchy of Normandy la­ in.- In in i I Shipowners and Australian Trade Leeds Yorkshire Post (Cons.): At practically all the Australian ports tho shipowner’s expenses are fully three times as great as at Montreal, and it takes a vessel three times as long to load oi’ discharge her cargo. . . Very heavy losses have been sustain­ ed by shipping companies engaged in the (grain) trade, and firms which used to have upwards of a dozen ships operating on the Australian ser­ vice have now only two or three. The great developments in the shipment of grain from Vancouver and the Ar­ gentine, and the determined efforts in Canada and South America to im­ prove the facilities make it all the' more imperative that Australia should take steps to put herself on a more competltiev basis. to the English Crown, and what its Dame says is likely to go, in spite of the protests of the islanders. Her exercise of her feudal rights, however, is not purely arbitrary. Agri­ culture In Sark has reached a low ebb due to English residents occupying cultivatable land and Jetting it run to waste. The Dame's edict aims at making the Jsfland more self-support­ ing. With the object of reawakening interest In agriculture she has decid­ ed to install a milling plant on the Island, which formerly fed Itself, ............. . Turkish Language For Turkey Students Want Foreign Ton­ gues Banned in Com­ merce and Public Life he wm?” "Sure. She’s been trying shake him ever since Christmas and he’a too thick to see It.” i«• NO RULE 17 THERE Constantinople. — The students the University of Stamboul, the local institution of higher learning, have he! da mass meeting and petitioned the authorities to enforce the use of Turkish alone in the commerce and public life of this cosmopolitan city. For centuries the streets of Con­ stantinople have resounded to the tongues of Europe and Asia. Before the war the street hawkers cried their wares in Greek, while Armenian was also the language of the shoppers. But, after the establishment of the republic and the exodus of large num­ bers of Greek and Armenian middle­ men, nothing but Turkish has been cried by the Constantinople hawkers, many of whom were Turks using Greek and Armenian, In addition to this reform the Gov­ ernment demanded that all shop signs must be in Turkish as well as the Language of the owner, which, whatever his nationality, was French, the lingua franca of the business world. To-day those signs, so far as Turkish goes, are practically unintel­ ligible, for the sign painters exploit all the decorativo possibilities of the arablo script with its diacritical marks In producing a beautiful but il­ legible The dents sons, of legend. action of the university stu- may be ascribed to two rea- one patriotic and the other economic. The hundred per cent, mood of young Turkey is commend­ able enough, especially since there isCanada Leads Bloemfontein Friend: Years . Canada went much further in the ne-joL' France to purify the Turkish 1, gotiations of than South Africa has ever done. has trade commissioners foreign countries. Indeed in commer­ cial matters Canada anticipated the new status laid down at the Imperial Conference- last year. ago' talk of founding au academy like that lang­ independent treaties • uage of its Arabic and Persian words, She and to encourage a purely Turkish in many ■ literature. An Inside View LOOKING ALONG THE R-100 This view gives some idea of tho general Construction of Britain’s Leviathan of the air. the of in- so unreason- the attention conscious of from contein- they are at- The US.A?7na Latin America London Times (Ind.): Fears lest Bteady and irresistible march American business will lead to creasing political intervention and control are widely entertained, especi­ ally by people who have only encoun­ tered representatives of the less worthy side of American commerce. These same fears look able when brought to of Americans who aro their completo freedom plated aggression that tributed to enyy or malice. But they are real, and in consequence tho use of the lofty language of idealism has served the United States badly. Everybody knows that behind a fa cade of democracy and representative institutions there frequently exists a parody so grotesque that tho parodists have no real claim to ba respected, and that the case for the American interests is generally a strong case when it is stated simply on its merits. Last year saw a greater number of books issued than in any otlnr year on record. There wero 13,810; this is 608 more than in 1925, previously the record year. Lions Eat in Jungle Fearless of Auto Hatton, the British Hunter, Brings From Africa Rare Films of the Beast Taken at Close Range Deny* Finch Hatton, tho big game hunter and photographer, declares In an article in The London Timos that the lions cf tho Seronget Plains, Bri­ tish East Africa, have no fear of an automobile, but rather cultivate Its presence. Mr. Hatton has just re­ turned to London from an expedition bringing with, him some remarkable film pictures of the king of beasts. "In the fourteen days we were there," ha says, "we saw no fewer than seventy lions, counting males, females and cubs, in varying groups, from singletons up to one magnificent troop of twenty, which was seen by my two companions upon a day when it was my ill-fate to be engaged In re­ pairing one of our lorries. The largest number which I saw together was a troop of eleven lionesses without a single male with them." One of the most striking episodes of stalking a group with a movie camera from the automobile Is re­ lated by Mr. Halton aa follows: “About 2 o’clock my gun bearer re­ marked that the Hons were behaving very well, and that as they looked very hungry wo ought to shoot a coon- goni for them as bakesheesh when we had finished taking their pictures. This sebmed to us an excellent sug­ gestion, and gave me the idea of try­ ing to get a picture of the lions com­ ing on the kill. “So we went off In the car and Bhot 'a congonl on the edge of ths plain hot more than 600 yards from the lions. Tying the antelope to the rear spring by a slip knot we dragged him down to where the lions were lying, and loosed him as we passed in full sight at about thirty-five yards. "We then drove the car up under a tree about forty yards from the kill, and got ready to take the picture. We had not waited for more than a minute before a lioness left the group and cautiously crept up to the con- gonl, finally taking possession with a little rush from six yards off, The others came up one by ono, and the feast began. “Every now and again a blood-red face was lifted to take a look at the car as we crept up by Btages to get closer pictures. Intent upon the busi­ ness in hand, they showed no appre­ hension even when we reached seven­ ty feet, the closest photographing range, which included the whole group in one six-inch lens. "After about halt an hour they seemed to be temporarily sated, and evidently felt the sun too hot for full bellies. One by one the two lionesses and the youngest lion walked slowly away and lay down under a big um­ brella thorn near by, leaving the larg­ est lion to bring the remains of the congonl to them In tho shade. “After a few minutes he picked up the half-eaten carcass of the large antelope In bls mouth and carried it to the tree as easily as a retriever carries a hare, but with a slightly straddling swagger, due to tho con- gonl’s trailing leg3'* “We had been photographing busily al this while, but unluckily the cam­ era now jammed, bo that we did not gett this very interesting closing in­ cident It was now nearly 4 o’clock, and after taking several still pictures of them under the tree we pulled out for' camp, leaving the lions aS uncon­ cerned with our movements as they had been upon our first appearance In the morning.’’ The First Transatlantic Flight Ottawa Journal (Cons.)i The episode in the Ottawa Collegiate In­ stitute, when 89 out of 40 students answered that Lindbergh was the first airman to cross the Atlantic. Illustrat­ ed something of the effect In Canada of the self-advertising of our Amer­ ican friends. . . , Several British air­ men crossed the Atlantic before Lind­ bergh did. But evidently the rest of us did not bally-boo enough about them. . . . All American geese are! swans, but perhaps that Is not as bad, nationally, as to let all our British geese be taken for ducks. Women Smoke For Their Country France Benefits By Increasing Vogue of Cigarette Among the Ladies Paris.—r-Tlie responsibility for th* fact that thousands of French women smoke was assumed recently by M, Blondeau, Dlrectoi* General of the To­ bacco Service, IIo related how lie un­ dertook a few years ago to find a way to Induce women to become general consumers of tobacco and how he had succeeded. The result of his efforts contributed materially to the finances of the nation, tho manufacture and sale of tobacco in Franca being a State monopoly. "When I became Director of tlia Tobacco Service," said M, Blondeau, "it occurred to me that if I could get the women to smoke I could bring about an important Increase in the consumption of tobacco, and hence in­ crease the profits to the State. It waa an extensive undertaking. “■I let my ambition become known an dtlie newspapers began to argue about it, ’Is it necessary to give tho women a new vice?’ asked some; while others responded, 'Why should the pleasures of smoking be reseryed for the men alone?’ "One day In the district of tho Etolle I saw a working girl wearing knickers and smoking a pipe, ‘No,’ I thought, ‘That won’t do. Wo must seek something else.’ What I wanted was to cultivate the feminine taste for light tobaccos. The cigarettes of Ori­ ental and Virginia tobacco that wo were then-making left a good deal to be desired. So wo set about trying to improve them, to make their flavor more attractive. I "For thirty years we had no her- manji—Oriental specialists who pre­ pare the mixtures. Nobody else can do it quite as they do. All the Euro­ pean tobacco factories employed thorn. The last ono we had was a Turk. He mixed the tobaccos with consummate art, then filled his mouth with water and blew it upon the mixture. Ha then asked us to smoke a sample. That was not always an amusing job. For his long service this Turk re­ ceived 3,000 francs from the State and returned to bis native land. "Having obtained no successor to him, we had to find a way to mix to­ baccos without the aid cf an Oriental expert. We succeeded, and now we have on sale a whole series of light cigarettes of a high order. We have taken especial care to put them into attractive boxes. Women cannot re­ sist a pretty box, whether it contains candy or cigarettes. They began to smoke, and they have continued. "The result of this scheme is that the consumption of cigarettes made of light tobaccos, which was 50,000 kilograms a year before the war, is now about 300,000 kilograms. These cigarettes made by the State now have as great a sale in France as Im­ ported cigarettes, and I hope that wo shall soon reach 400,000 kilograms a year. We have not overlooked the elo­ ment of salesmanship. Retailers have been encouraged to make a bet­ ter display of cigarettes; so that to­ day one may offer a pretty woman a box of cigarettes as appropriately ns a box of chocolates.” NOT A SOFT DRINK "Why don’t you think pop is a •oft drink?’’ “Ever since I waa hit with « bottle full of it I haven’t thought JW." ---------o-,-----— "Singing,” declares a doctor, "will kill influenza germs." The difficulty, of course, is to get the little devils to slug. There is an amusing story of how Sir Morel Mackenzie, the eminent doc­ tor, took a rise out of Whistler. One day Whistler called him in to attend to a Sick French poodle. Mackenzie was none too pleased, but took his fee and went away. A little while after this he sent for Whistler urgently. Whistler arrived. "Just wanted to see you,” said Mackenzie, "about having jny front door painted.”^ Golf or Gear? J Manchester Guardian (Lib.): There is sound common sense in the conten­ tion of Colonel Bristow that the game (of golf) is becoming overburdened with impediments, Tho crack tends more and moro to make his impres­ sive round attended by a "nllQ., groans mitter a pantechnicon load variegated irons. The duffer follow^ ’ the crack’s example in the hope, usually vain, that by multiplying his ‘ clubs ha will minimize his handicap. ‘ , , , Col. Bristow happily proposes to back hia convictions.| Ha offers a cup to his society for which only "five- club” players may compete. There will no doubt be some anguished va­ cillations on theli first tee before the accustomed load o fironmangery is re­ duced to meet the frugal limit. But it is all to the good of the game. Informed A young couple that had received many valuable wedding preaentB es­ tablished their home in a suburb. Ona morning they received in tho mail two tickets for a popular show in tho city, with a single line—"Guess who sent them.” The pair had much amuse­ ment in trying to identify the donor, but failed in the effort. They duly at­ tended the show, and had a delightful time. On their return homo lute &t night, still trying to guess the iden­ tity of the unknown host, they found tlm house stripped of every article of value. And on the bore table in tho dining-room was a piece of paper on which was Written in (he same hand as the enclosure with tho tickets: 'Now you know!” Machines which, in addition to dat- Ixtg and Issuing tickets, also give tho necessary change for one shilling or sixpence dropped into a slot, are the latest innovation of the London Un- gerground Railway. -—*——<------ Free passes to visit tho War graves in France and Belgium, issued to cer­ tain relatives and oilier?, have num­ bered up’to 18,000 sinco September, 1921* They permit tho nor to travel without a passport, < saving a / {of 7a. fid.