Super

Dreadnoughts then superdread-noughts; airships, now superairships. The Shenandoah and the ZR3 with their 2,00,000 cu. ft. of gas or so, their lifting capacity of 150,000 Ib. will soon appear small and insignificant. Airships improve with size; the larger they are, the faster they can go and the greater the proportion of commercial load they can carry relative to their gross weight. Accordingly, the Good-year-Zeppelin Co. is planning on a 5,000,000 cu. ft. ship and the British are actually starting work on two ships of equal size.

The fallen Labor Government authorized the tremendous expenditures involved, and it is more than certain that the Tories will carry on. The orders were placed, one with the English Government dirigible plant at Barrow, the other with the private but all powerful firm of Vickers, Ltd., which Sir Basil Zaharoff, Europe's mystery man, is said to control. The English call one the "Socialist" ship, the other the "Capitalist." But whether Labor or Tory is in power, the British always think of Empire, and the ships will connect England with India and Australia in four stages of 2,500 mi. and four days each.

The designs call for a cruising speed of 70 m.p.h. as compared with 50 for the Shenandoah, fuel and oil for 2,500 mi. with 50% reserve, a crew of 40, 120 passengers housed in comfortable two-berth cabins along the sides of the ship, a smoking room and a lounge big enough for dancing.