The construction and trial of Count Zeppelin’s first air ship proved a formidable task, requiring all his resources of money and mechanical skill. As it rivaled in size and fluid displacement a large ocean liner, it could not well be launched and landed, except on the water. It was therefore housed in a wooden shed 472 feet long, floating on 95 pontoons, and so anchored as to swing freely with the wind and assume its direction. This shed, as well as the ship, was very costly, and in an unfortunate hour was torn from its moorings by a tempest, which did other damage entailing great expense and time for repairs. The inventor’s resources were becoming strained; for, as reported, the shed cost $50,000, while the first balloon cost more than twice that sum. Finally, the first launching was officially set for June 30, 1900. The lake was thronged with people massed along the shores, and dotting its surface with every kind of craft, from the fisherman’s primitive boat to the handsomest private yacht, or launch. All day the expectant multitude waited, only to learn at dusk, that the inflation was not completed. Next day they tarried again till evening, and merely saw the raft on which the balloon rested, towed out of the floating house. On the third day, July 2d, those who waited were rewarded with an interesting spectacle. The long stiff air ship was drawn forth from its shed, like a ram rod from a gun. Count Zeppelin, with two men, occupied the front boat, while two others took the rear one. After careful adjustment the vessel was liberated, at eight o’clock, rose slowly and advanced over the water, accompanied by the droning of its propellers and the shouts of the delighted spectators, who realized that they might be witnessing the commencement of a new epoch in aërial navigation. But the voyage was not an unqualified success. The controlling mechanism became deranged, the framework was bent, and the propellers could not be worked properly. A gentle wind was blowing and the vessel drifted with it, having an independent speed of only thirteen feet per second, at best. At eight-twenty she reached Immenstadt and landed on the water, having voyaged three and one half miles, and having attained a height of thirteen hundred feet on a part of the journey.