Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights
John Stuart Mill · en
Admiral Hugo Pohl, of the German navy, was born at Breslau in 1855. He
became a Lieutenant in the Imperial German navy when but 21 years of
age. He gained rapid promotion, and within a few years was Commodore in
charge of the scouting ships. He had charge of setting up the now famous
German naval stations from Kiel to Sonderberg in Schleswig in 1908 and
was afterwards made Vice Admiral. He wears the medal of the Order of the
Crown, bestowed upon him by the Kaiser for admirable service.
One of the men whose names will be forever linked with the war,
particularly with relation to the adoption of new methods of warfare, is
that of Count Zeppelin, who died on March 8, 1917, and who was the
father of the Zeppelin or dirigible balloon. The idea for the big
airship did not originate with Count Zeppelin, but with David Schwartz,
a young Austrian, who built his first dirigible in 1893. He tried to
arouse interest in his aircraft in Russia, but failed and finally went
to Berlin, where he interested the then Baron Zeppelin. A balloon was
made, but Schwartz fell ill and died. Zeppelin was later accused of
attempting to steal the young Austrian's patents, and the courts made an
award to Schwartz's widow of $18,000.
Count Zeppelin's first airship came out about 1898. It was 300 feet long
and had an aluminum frame. Short cruises were made in 1899 and 1900, and
the craft maintained a speed of about sixteen miles an hour. A second
airship was completed in 1905, and later a third aircraft was finished.
This dirigible made a cruise of 200 miles at an average speed of twenty
miles. The success led Count Zeppelin to make his most ambitious attempt
and he tried to cross the Alps carrying sixteen passengers.
IN THE AIR THIRTY-SEVEN HOURS.
He succeeded and passing through hailstorms, crossing eddies and
encountering cross-currents he traveled 270 miles at an average speed of
twenty-two miles an hour. Subsequently he made a flight to England,
remaining in the air thirty-seven hours. Fate played him false, however,
in many of his ventures and he returned home after making remarkable
voyages, only to have his craft destroyed at its very landing place.
The German Government and the Kaiser joined in giving him a grant of
money to carry on his work, and a plant was built at Frederichshafen.
But while Count Zeppelin's name will be forever identified with
aeronautics the successes which he attained were not enduring, for the
Zeppelins proved not entirely satisfactory in military warfare in
competition with the aeroplane.