The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1882-02-23
rHE POLAR BALLOON pRoJEcr.
Commander Cheyne's Ideas Fully Z,

Commander Cheyne's Ideas Fully EE
Commander Cheyne's project Of reach.
ing the pole by means of a balloon was,
when first proposed, regarded as very
chimerical, but has of late been assum.
ing q degree Of p~racticability In the
minds of ever the most conservative oil
Arctic explorers.
"One Of the most important premises
in this undertaking" he says, sis the
fact that in eighty-one degrees, forty
seven minutes north latitude, which is
our intended winter quarters, lies a mag
nifcent bed of coal on the surface, and.
according to the report of Sir George
Mares, $50 yards long by twenty-five
feet in width, of unknown depth, ar un-
limited supply of well-nigh smokeless
coal, equal to the best WEIGH. Here we
have discovered what is essential to the
project, a source of heat. On this coal
bed will be built a portable wooden
house for officers and men and here the
gas will be generated. It is my inten-
ton to generate two kinds of gas, pure
hydrogen and carburated hydrogen or
common coal gas. This combination of
gas will be more sticky, and thus will
not SO easily permeate the envelope of a
balloon, and will be of greater lifting
power than common coal gas alone. The
larger the balloon the safer it will be.
We shall have three of good dimensions,
each capable of carrying two tons in
weight. Each will be fully equipped for
separate travelling, in case of separation,
which, however, judging from the results
of my experiments with balloons, 1 do
no anticipate. Each will carry a light
boat, o sledge, a pack of Esquimaux
dogs, and three persons, with the neces-
sary stores, men and dogs being provis-
ioned for five days. If a portion Of the
gas escapes from the balloons we shall
refill by using the gas in one balloon and
then deserving it. The balloons will be
kept at an average elevation of 500 feet
by trail ropes, the mountains being easily
cleared by throwing out a little ballast.
This trail rope will be very important.
If the sun becomes a little warmer than
usual the gas will, of course, expand,
and the balloon be inclined to rise under
such expansion, but directly this rising
takes place the rope is lifted off the ice
and acts as q counterbalance. Again, in
the case of a cloud passing between the
sun and the balloon, the gas will con.
dense, and the balloon be inclined to de-
scend, but in doing SO more of the rope
is deposited on the ice and this again
counterbalances. Another advantage o.
the trail rope is to keep the same portion
of the balloon always facing the north
in fact, it will in a great measure serve
as a means of control. It will enable
gelatin plate photographs and astronom'
zeal observations to be taken with accu
racy and ease. Careful observations O.
the Arctic currents of air have convinced
me that when certain well-known indi
cations prevail in these latitudes, the
. wind may be relied upon to blow fol
two days or more in one direction. Tit
distance to the pole from the point o
departure will be only 1859 miles, ant
this, I estimate, can be easily accom-
plished in t~wenty-four hours. We expec
to return from the pole either by bal
! loon with a favorable wind) or else b,
sledge, making our way back to st. Pat
ricl's Bay, or possibly to some part @
the Russian coast, should it appear bet
ter to take that course"