German Dirigible Seized In France.

New York Times 100 years ago today, April 4, 1913:
Zeppelin Airship, on Trial Trip, Comes Down on Lunéville Parade Ground.
LOST ITS WAY IN CLOUDS
French Watchers Say It Was Studying Frontier Forts, but Search Reveals No Photographs.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
    PARIS, April 3.— The greatest and newest of German airships is in the hands of the French. The Z4, the last and best product of Count Zeppelin's airship works at Friedrichshafen, left its shed this morning for a trial trip with a Government commission aboard. It traveled toward the French frontier and, according to French witnesses, followed the line of French forts from south to north. It lost its way in the mist, exhausted its fuel supply, and descended among French cavalry on the parade ground of the French fortress of Lunéville. It was instantly surrounded by the French troops and formally seized.
    Replying to the request of the commander of the Lunéville garrison for an explanation, the commander of the airship is reported to have said that the cruise was a private trial trip, that he was unaware that he had crossed the frontier, having lost his way among the clouds and having been forced to land owing to a motor breakdown.
    The airship, which is 550 feet long and 30 feet in diameter, was commanded by Capt. Georg Fritz of the Berlin aeronautical section of the German Army. It carried eleven passengers, including officers in uniform. The French officer informed the visitors that in accordance with the usual procedure in such cases he was obliged to seize the airship and detain its occupants. He also informed them that they must pay the customs dues exacted of foreign aircraft entering France, but that the money would be refunded when they crossed the frontier, if they were able to satisfy the French authorities regarding the reason for their presence. Any photographs of French fortified places taken en route would also be seized.
    Four battalions of soldiers were then placed around the airship to keep back the immense crowd of curious sightseers who gathered. The attitude of the people was distinctly hostile. One hundred and fifty workmen were hired to hold down the airship during the night at $1 a head.
    The Ministry of War is conferring with the Ministry of the Interior on the incident.
    This incursion into French territory by the German airship, which had apparently traversed the entire chain of fortified works facing the German frontier, is exciting not a little irritation. During the last few weeks the inhabitants of the frontier have been disturbed by nocturnal visits from German aircraft which were apparently premeditated.
    The military authorities have already begun an investigation of the circumstances of the airship's descent in France. Gen. Hirschauer, Permanent President of the Division of Military Aeronautics, has gone to Lunéville, accompanied by his staff. If it is shown that the airship descended in French territory through unavoidable circumstances, and if the German officers have been guilty of no act calculated to prejudice French national defense, the occupants of the airship will be allowed to return to Germany. If the contrary proves to be the case, judicial proceedings will be begun against them.
    The Mayor of Lunéville entertained the German officers at dinner this evening.

    LUNÉVILLE, France, April 3.— The German military dirigible airship Zeppelin IV. made a landing on the military parade grounds here to-day and was seized by the French authorities.
    The local authorities and Brig. Gen. Aristide Léon Lescot were immediately summoned and were closely followed by a huge crowd of excited people. It required the efforts of two companies of infantry to keep the indignant populace at a distance.
    The Z4, which is of the latest and largest model, carried ten passengers, of whom four wore officers in uniform — a Prussian Captain and lieutenant and two Württemberger Lieutenants. The Captain explained to Gen. Lescot, through an interpreter, that the Zeppelin was undergoing a test prior to being taken over by the War Department.
    They left Friedrichshafen early in the morning, bound for the Grand Duchy of Baden.
    With the intention of making ascension trials, they had mounted to a height of 3,000 meters (about 9,750 feet) and had lost their course in the clouds. They were carried along by a strong east wind and had passed several times over certain points, and then, observing the cavalry, thought they had reached Saarburg. As they were short of gasoline, they decided to land. They did not know that they had crossed the French frontier.
    The chief officer of the Engineer Corps at Lunéville removed the magnetos from the engines, so that the airship could not get under way, and the cabin was searched for photographic apparatus, sketches, or similar articles. Nothing of that nature, however, was found.
    The German officers were permitted to telephone to Friedrichshafen for a supply of hydrogen and for mechanicians.
    Lunéville is about ten miles from the Franco-German boundary.

    PARIS, April 3.— While the first news of the landing of the Zeppelin airship on French soil caused a great sensation, especially in the eastern section of France, later accounts gave the incident a somewhat diminished importance, and public opinion to-night is inclined to view the plight of the German as rather ludicrous.
    The explanation that the officers lost themselves and that the airship became unmanageable is generally accepted. There is even a tendency on the part of some of the newspapers to poke fun at the unwieldy German Zeppelins, whose many mishaps are recalled. The dirigible which reached Lunéville, says one newspaper, is evidently a dirigible in name only.