Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1895-04-11
AS THE CROW FLIES.
VOYAGE TO THE POLE IN A
BALLOON.
A Swedish Engineer Says 1t VIII Take
just Six Days-Distance from Spitz-
bergen is 1900 Miles-His Airship Is
of New Design.

Andre, who, on a balloon trip from
Gothenburg to Gothland, succeeded in
steering his balloon twenty-seven de-
grees out Of the direction of the wind,
read a paper before the Academy of
Sciences in Stockholm the other day, in
which he explained how he thinks he
will be able to reach the pole in bal
loon. He will make the attempt from
Spitzbergen, and, in order that it shall
succeed, makes the following conditions:
l. The balloon must have a lifting
power that will enable it to carry three
passengers, instruments needed for OBJ
servations, provisions for four months,
and ballast, a total weight of about
1000 pounds. 2. 1t must be made so air
tight that it can be sustained in the air
for thirty days and nights. 3. 1t must
be inflated in some place in the arctic
regions. 4. 1t must be constructed ac-
cording to Mr.. Andres plan so that it
can be managed. The first, second and
third conditions, Andre says, can be
met without difficulty. To attain the
requisite lifting power is the problem
long since solved, and by experiments
made some time ago by Poisenilles and
Graham with a balloon twenty-eight
teet IN diameter. 1t was shown that
they had succeeded in making it so air
uSht that at the end of one month it
had lost only sixteen pounds of it's lift
ing power. The imitation of the balloon
IN the arctic regions presents no diff
Guilty, hydrogen gas now being delivered
compressed in iron cylinders. Mr.. An
Dire says that LOO or 800 cylinders will
suffice for the imitation of his balloon.
1t is the last condition which creates
h nc 70 xxrIn
be made. Mr.. Andre, however, is conf
dent that by adopting the following
plan, which he has already tried, he will
reach his aim. His balloon will have
a system of sails and many drag lines,
which will hang down from the balloon
and drag along the surface of the
water, the land and the ice while the
balloon is afioat. These lines will, as
Mr.. Andre learned on the trip men
toned, check the speed of the balloon,
preventing it from moving along with
the full speed of the wind, and under
these conditions the sails can be used
as to defect the balloon from the course
of the wind. The drag lines will be
made Of the fibres of the husks of the
cocoanut, so that they will float on the
water. Besides, the balloon will have
several heavy ropes hanging down to
serve partly as ballast, partly as an
automatic saving apparatus, in case
the balloon for some reason or other
should Unexpectedly and rapidly de
Scend. In that case, as soon as the
lower end of the ballast lines touch the
ground the balloon will be relieved from
llft1ng corresponding weight, and con-
sequently the rapidity of the descent
Will be checked. Mr.. Andres balloon,
which will be made of the finest silk
double soWn, and prepared with the
greatest of care, will be so balanced
that an ascent of about 800 feet can be
attained How long it will take to
reach the pole depends upon the speed
of the wind. With speed like that
which carried Mr.. Andres balloon from
Gothenburg to Cortland on Nov. 20
last year he will be able, he says, to
reach the pole in ten hours. At an
average speed of seventeen miles an
hour the trip from Spitzbergen to the
pole will require forty-three hours. At
all events, trip from Spitzbergen di-
rect across the pole to the Bering strait
is calculated to require no more than six
days and nights, One-fifth of the time
the polar balloon is supposed to be
capable of remaining sustained in the
air. A great advantage to which Mr..
Andre calls attention to the fact that
during the journey, which will be under
taken in the spring, the sun will all
the time be above the horizon so that
he can travel ahead at night without
stopping. Besides, no great change of
atmosphere prevails in the regions TO
be traVersed, and moreover the ground
is everywhere free from vegetation, so
that nothing will prevent the drag lines,
on which Mr.. Andre chiefly depends as
regards the management of the balloon,
from running smoothly along. To the
objection made that a heavy snowfall
may occur and prove too heavy a load
for the balloon to carry, Mr.. Andre
replies that the snow will be blown
sway as soon as it settles on the bal
loon, as it's speed will not be the same
as that of the wind. After having read
his paper before the academy in Stock
holm, Mr.. Andre repeated it before the
Anthropological society, where it was
received with much enthusiasm. 1t is
estimated that the trip will cost about
$500 and it looks as if Mr.. Andre
would have no difficulty in raising the
amount.