Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1896-07-02
EXPLORER ANDREE TO START IN
HIS BALLOON JULY Is.
HIS PLANS ALL COMPLETED
May Reach His Destination in Forty
eight Hours, but Takes Provisions
for Two Years-Carrier Pigeons to
Be Liberated En- Route-A Small
Party.


fort to reach the north pole in a bal
loon will be made by S. A. Andree,
the Swedish aeronaut, scientisE and
civil engineer For more than two
years the plans for this trip have been
making and there are many people.
well versed in the matter, who are con
fdent of it's success. Andree is ore of
them and the two men who will ac-
company him share in the belief
The big balloon, which has been
christened Pole Nord. is now on its
way to the far of island of SpitLbergen,
in the Arctic ocean, whose northern
most point is within trifle over 500
miles of the pole. If Andree succeeds
i. may be, when he reaches the point
for which explorers have striven for
ages, that he will find that he is too
late. The fate OF the daring explorer
Fridtjof hansen, who sailed with a
picked crew from Christiania, June "a,
1898, in the schooner Fran, with the
intention of drifting to the north pole,
is STU. unknown. He may have per-
ished, but it is possible that he sue
ceeded. In February last it was re-
ported from Irkutsk, Siberia, that he
had reached the pole and that the
Fran was drifting on its way home.
Nothing corroborative OF this has since
been heard 1t was the intention of
DR.. hansen to drift along with the cur
rent which carried some of the wreck
age Of the Ill fated Jeanette expedi-
ton from one side of the polar region
to the other Since Aug %, 1898. moth
ing definite has been heard from Nan
sen and it is presumed that he has met
the f. te of many other Arctic explorers.
A house has been built on the north
western point of Spitzbergen especially
be inflated with gas and the final ar
rangements for the journey made
Numerically it will be the smallest ex-
petition that ever tried TO reach the
pole. Andree's companions WI. ne Pro-
lessor Gustav Ekholm, a scientific OBJ
server and Nils Strindberg, physician
and photographer. Ekholm is a man
Of forty-eight years, scientist by nat
ural inclination and by subsequent de-
pelopment For the last twenty years
he has been deyoting his undivided at
tention and his unlimited energy to the
study of meteorology. In 1882 he acted
as chief for the Swedish expedition to
SpitZbergen, which was working in
concert with similar expeditions from
this country and ten European coun-
tries. 1t is generally asserted that the
results achieved by the Swedish axpedi-
tion surpassed those gained by any one
of the other expeditions, and that this
was chiefly brought about by the ex-
cellent work done by Ekholm. At the
present time Ekholm is by ali Euro
pean students considered an authority
on the branch Of natural science to
which he has devoted himself. 1t may
be added that he is a clever inventor
who has given to the scientific world a
number of highly ingenious instru-
ments whereby the study of meteor
illogical phenomena has been greatly
simplified. The third member of the
trio OF explorers is a very young man
only twenty-four years of age Yet
Nils Strindberg has already succeeded
in making name for himself as a
physical student of high standing, hav-
ing paid special attention to electric
phenomena. He is also an expert
photographer, and as such will be of
prpat I1ce IN tho aynadit;np
None of these men are reckless adj
venturers. Andree is one of the most
careful and cautious men that ever
tried to reach that imaginary spot
which has played such an important
part in the dreams of hundreds OF am
bilious scientists But he has the
courage of his convictions. and he be-
lieves that the undertaking planned by
him is not by any means as dangerous
and is more feasible than the trip upon
which hansen entered some two years
ago For long time Andree has been
figuring and experimenting and plan
ming, until he has reached a point
where no detail Of the pending journey
has been left untried. He has chiefly
conducted mis- researches along two
lines, trying to master the science OF
aeronautics and to become perfectly
acquainted with the meteorological
conditions Of the Arctic regions.
The aeronautic exploits OF Mr.. An
dree have become known all over the
world, and he has made a name for
himself as one of the most audaeious
men that ever assembled IN a balloon
Yet with him this work is never a mat
ter of chance. Every one of his daring
trips has been carefully planned, as il
it had been the browning journey
northward, and it las been executed in
strict accordance to the plans made.
Once he went up from Stockholm and
crossed the gulf of Bothnia, landing on
the shores Of Finland. deed never be-
fore tried. Another time he sailed In
his balloon from the city OF Gcthen-
burg, on the western coast of Sweden,
to the island of Gothland, in the Baltic,
trayersing the distance u go miles Ia
I'VE hours. The noticeable feature OF