882 



Popular Science Monthly 



The only part of the craft which escaped undamaged is one 



of the propellers. An idea of its size may be had by comparing 



it with the spectators in the distance 



Punctured Zeppelins 

 "OOMEWHERE in England" 



lies 



in Jingiana there 

 the mangled and crushed 

 remains of what was once a bomb- 

 dropping Zeppelin. In the mass of 

 wreckage large fuel tanks, twisted net- 

 work, a propeller which escaped un- 

 scathed in its downward plunge, testify 

 mutely to its colossal size. But as to 

 the number of the craft, the identity or 

 size of its crew, and the location of the 

 spot which unwittingly proved to be its 

 grave, no one, save those in authority, 

 knows. The hand of the censor is on 

 the mouth of every eye witness. 



As far as the actual capturing or 

 enforced landing of Zeppelins over enemy 

 soil is concerned the campaign waged 

 by Germany has been a notable success. 

 With the possible exception of the 

 "L 77," which was brought down near 

 Revigny, France, the Allies have little 

 definite recent information of the con- 

 struction and features of these dread- 

 noughts of the air. The "L 77," French 

 discovered, possessed a fifth propeller 

 which was attached to the stern gondola 

 and which was driven directly from an 

 additional engine. Hence, there were 

 five engines in all, capable of developing 



a total of one thousand horsepower. 

 The crew is believed to have numbered 

 twenty-three men. About one and a 

 half tons of bombs were carried. One 

 official described the bomb-releasing de- 

 vice as consisting of a hook which was 

 opened by an electrical apparatus con- 

 trolled by a push-button in the central 

 cabin of the airship. No armament 

 heavier than machine-guns was carried. 



The most recent attempt to salvage a 

 marooned Zeppelin was made by the 

 English when the "L 15" was forced to 

 land off the Kentish Coast after it had 

 been damaged by an anti-aircraft 

 battery. After the crew had been 

 rescued a trawler attempted to tow the 

 water-logged airship to harbor, but the 

 dead weight proved too much and it 

 sank. England was thus thwarted in 

 an attempt to examine at her own time 

 and convenience the character of the 

 aircraft used against her. 



From such airships as have fallen 

 into the Allies' hands, however, comes 

 the information that Count Zeppelin is 

 breaking away from the pencil form so 

 long established by him and that he is 

 building his new destroyers in a stream- 

 line shape. 



