The _Ville de Paris_ was followed, in 1909, by the _Clément-Bayard_, a slightly larger vessel of very similar pattern, constructed for the Russian government for $40,000. It also, like the _Ville de Paris_, was built by the Astra Society. The most striking feature of this new balloon was its curious stern with its bulblike steadying surfaces. These fin surfaces were not flat, as in the _Patrie_, nor cylindrical, as in the _Ville de Paris_, but of pear form, with the blunt ends pointing rearward and inflated like the rest of the hull. Apparently these tail bags were not economical of power, since, as is well known, a pear shape encounters greater resistance when moving sharp end forward than when moving blunt end forward. However this be, the stabilizing force proved very effective. The vessel was driven by a Clément-Bayard motor of 100 horse power actuating a wooden screw placed in front of the long car, as in the _France_. A speed of 30 miles an hour was attainable, and the ship could accommodate eight passengers. On one occasion it made a round trip from Sartrouville, traversing 125 miles at an average speed of 27 miles an hour. It was acquired by the Russian government on August 23, 1909, having on that day completed its third official test, and satisfied the requirement of rising 1,550 meters and voyaging two hours at a height of 1,200 meters. Two notable incidents of that voyage were that the air ship made a new record for altitude, and on landing was caught by a squall which tore it from the hands of thirty men, after which, owing to motor failure, it drifted freely across country, tripped on a willow, and fell into the Seine, whence it was rescued after considerable pains and labor. Other vessels presently built by the Astra Society may be listed, together with their size in cubic meters, as follows: _Ville de Bordeaux_, 3,300 m^3;[13] _Ville de Nancy_, 3,300 m^3; _Colonel Renard_, 4,000 m^3; _España_, 4,000 m^3; _Clément-Bayard II_, 6,500 m^3; _Transaerienne I_, 6,500 m^3; _Flandre_, 6,500 m^3 (228,579 cubic feet). These were among the most noted air ships produced in France toward the close of the first decade of the twentieth century. On the whole they proved to be swift and stable ships adapted either for military use, or for exhibitions and sport, and even for regular transportation of passengers. The _Ville de Nancy_ was one of the conspicuous dirigibles of the summer of 1909. It was constructed primarily for use at the Exposition at Nancy, and was owned by the Compagnie Générale Transaerienne, an aërial passenger transportation society organized at Paris, in March, 1909, with a capital of one million francs. This society planned to inaugurate an aërial line from Paris to Bordeaux, in 1910, equipped with other vessels of the Astra construction, more powerful than the _Ville de Nancy_, and capable of transporting a dozen passengers. PLATE IV. [Illustration: _LA VILLE DE PARIS._ _Photo E. Levick, N. Y._]