Alexandra Palace, intent on a peep at the monster air-ship under
construction, were sorely disappointed, as the utmost secrecy in
the building of the craft was maintained.

The huge balloon was 43 feet in diameter and 176 feet long, with
a gas capacity of 235,000 cubic feet. To maintain the external
form of the envelope a smaller balloon, or compensator, was
placed inside the larger one. The framework was of bamboo, and
the car was attached by about eighty wire-cables. The wooden
deck was about 123 feet in length. Two 50-horse-power engines
drove four propellers, two of which were at either end.

The inventor employed a most ingenious contrivance to preserve
the horizontal balance of the air-ship. Fitted, one at each end
of the carriage, were two 50-gallon tanks. These tanks were
connected with a long pipe, in the centre of which was a
hand-pump. When the bow of the air-ship dipped, the man at the
pump could transfer some of the water from the fore-tank to the
after-tank, and the ship would right itself. The water could
similarly be transferred from the after-tank to the fore-tank
when the stern of the craft pointed downwards.

There were many reports, in the early months of 1905, that the
air-ship was going to be brought out from the shed for its trial
flights, and the writer, in common with many other residents in
the vicinity of the park, made dozens of journeys to the shed in
the expectation of seeing the mighty dirigible sail away. But
for months we were doomed to disappointment; something always
seemed to go wrong at the last minute, and the flight had to be
postponed.