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Show I 600.DD0 CATTLE TO LiNEtlf ' I Needed to Complete Huge I Dirigible Building in Eng- I land for America I I By WILLIAM L. MALLABAR. I International News Service Staff I Correspondence. I LONDON. April 20. 'lt will take I 600.000 cows or bullocks lo merely I supply the inner lining or (he gas bag I of tho ship." I This was one of the ninny astonlsh- I ( ing facts regarding the construction t ' or the "R 3S" given to a representa-I representa-I live of the International News Service H ( who visited the factory where the monster airship, purchased by the U I American government from the Biit-H Biit-H I ish, is being constructed. I The trip through the monster fac- I lory was taken in company with Com mander II. T. Dyer and Lieutenant-C Lieutenant-C mmandcr K. W. Colt, both of the United States Navy, who are over I here for the purpose of gaining information infor-mation regarding the construction or the airship, and S. Payne, the British naval -constructor rn charge of the work. B. H. .Mitchell, general mana-L mana-L ger for Short Brothers, who are build- I ing the airship, also accompanied the I party. I The airship is being built in the works at Cardngton, practically a suh- I urb or Bedford. More than 600 hands women and men are employed on the construction of the immense dirigible dirig-ible and more could be used but for the fact that it is not necessary lo hurry on the job because the hangar j I where the It 38 is to bo housed in I , America will not be ready for occu-1 occu-1 pancy for about a yean I The first call was upon the shed where the gas bag was being pre-I pre-I pared, and it was there that the re- mark quoted was made. On asking for an explanation as to why the decease de-cease of so many cows was necessary u was stated. ( Need "Gold Beater" Skin. "The only substance that will retain re-tain hydrogn gas is what is known as 'gold-beaters' skin. This is the descending colon of a cow and is not very long or wide. Consequently, we have figured that we must have at I lenst 6U0.000 skins in order lo cover the inside of the bag, and as each I I cow can only supply one descending I colon it means that that number ol animals must be slaughtered In order to meet our demand. "There is a sreat opportunity for i some inventive genius In the United I States to discover a sulable substitute L for gold betters' rkin. ' Up to now I we have not found anything that serves the snme purpose with .the same results and will continue to use this portion-of the cow until an American Ameri-can inventor gives us soniathng bet-u bet-u ler" H This vras but one' of the many mar- I vels of the airships. The next was I being requested to pick up one of. the 1 ten-foot girders which go to making I up the framework.. They looked solid I enough and were 'apparently- as I much as a man could lift. An effort I was mode and a ire-menuous '.ITi re- I suited in ihe lifter nearly being f ( thrown on his bade by his own "heave,'r ' "This Is duralumin," was the ex- i planation. "It is one-third the weight of steel and is an aluminum alloy. The total length of ten feet only weighs seven pounds at the outside and in some portions of the airship this weight is reduced to five pounds. A piece this length and weight will stand a compression load of five tons The total weight of Vac arriip with I water ballast, gasoline and engines included is but 45 tons, and the displacement dis-placement is So tons, so that the balance bal-ance can be carried In crew and passengers." pas-sengers." On long voyages the airship will carry a crew of from 28 to 32 men allowing for the various watches that will be needed. The additional weight will be made with passengers and they are figured out of fifteen persons to the ton in weight. Therefore, there will be room for twenty tons of passengers, pas-sengers, In addition to the crew. Or course, on short trips, the number or the crew can be reduced, thus allowing allow-ing for a greater number of passengers. passen-gers. Every effort apparently is being made for the conveyance or passengers passen-gers in comfort. They will be allowed to travel the length of the airship along special gangwnys; an orchestra will discourse music from an elevated platform although, as yet, there Is no. dancing floor provided and smok- ing and card rooms already are arranged ar-ranged for. ?The R 3S will be 091 feet in length so; that passengers will have sufficient suffi-cient space In which to promenade should they so desire There will be sufficient connection betwen the en-f. en-f. gfnes and the passengers' quarters It-will be possible to watch the men r- who are driving the airship forward ;( while at work and the wireless will kep the earth in touch with the air r travelers. From a gun platform over life tail It will be possible lo fire the salute deemed necessary. I i |