The Van Buren press., 1896-11-14
A FLIGHT TO THE POLE.
by ROBERT DUNCAN mILsE.


feet success. An extended trial trip
had demonstrated that the vertical
propeller was capable Of raising the
ship to height far beyond that Of the
highest mountains On the earth, while
the horizontal propeller could easily
drive il ahead at q speed of 200 miles al
hour. 1t answered the helm more readi-
~ than any vessel that ever rode the
waves, and its course could be detected
mp or down with equal readiness. In
fact, at last had ready TO my hand the
means of accomplishing my great pro-
ject. On the evening of the third day
after the trial trip, drove up 10 nv
ranch, near Knights Landing. where
the air-ship had been built. unknown
10 all the world save James Auchineloss.
the Scotch machinist who had assisted
me in putting the parts together as
they arrived from the foundry in San
Francisco. He had shared with me
the perils and triumphs of the trial trip.
Now, es drove my light wagon up 70
the door, after a trip 10 the ferry. Az
chincloss came out TO help me 10 un-
load. Having handed out supplies Of
bread, crackers and various kinds et
canned delicacies, together with some
wine and spirits. flung out SIX buffalo
robes, and the same number o. heavy
blankets
HALO, Mr.. Aitken.s exclaimed Al
chincloss. you've got wraps enough
for the north pole
'-Glsdyou think So" replied I; that's
Just where we're going"
The devil it Is, returned be. blow
ing cloud Of unusual dimensions from
his pipe; ~all right. if you say So"
These robes and blankets we're the
best / could do. Jim. I pretty well
cleaned out the store at the Ferry said
]. as we went into the house and sat
down. I'VE can make rough moecasins
ont of the robes lined with blankets
that / think will serve US: but propose
stopping at one of the Hudson Bay
company's settlements, or else at some
Esquimau village, If we are lucky
enough to strike one. to get more suit
able wraps. We couldn't have got any
thing better than these, even in San
Francisco, unless specially made to
order. My principal reason for bring
ing such a supply of spirits was for pur-
poses of barter. Money is nearly value
less in those desolate regions, and as
nature in northern ATTITUDES Graves
alcohol, ] decided that spirits would
procure us what we wanted more readi-
~ than anything else. Neither did l
wish to postpone the voyage any later,
since we are just entering on the SIX
months polar night. By regulating the
time, however,we can, barring accident.
make the trip to the pole and back
under continuous sunshine. | shall
only stop there long enough to locate
approximately, by observation. the
true position of that extreme point OF
the earth's axis where diurnal rotation
ceases, and TO mark the spot by some
sign recognizable by future explorers"
"All right, boss said Auchincloss,
81 don't doubt you can do it. man
that can build an air-ship can go to the
north pole in it. When do we start?"
Tomorrow morning, at daybreak
--half-past four"
"Tben let's go to bed"
Day broke dim over the hills and
plains Of Stanislaus county as, after e
hasty breakfast, we slowed into the
vessel the things l had bought on the
previous night. We also carried in our
stove and clamped II securely TO the
cabin floor, piling in at the same time
half a cord Of wood for fuel Two ten
gallon kegs of water completed the
commissariat / secured a small, but
beautifully fitted compass, with all
modern appliances, at the forward end
of the cabin, where it would be furthest |
removed from the influence of the iron;
and, beside it, a very fine chronometer. !
This latter marked just 12 minutes to |
five as Auchincloss, standing by the |
engine, turned on the air, and, under |
the enormous draught of the horizontal |
fans, our vessel with a singing noise |
rose vertically into the air.
The moving panorama beneath us
now began to be beautiful in the ex-
IRENE. | purposed keeping roughly in |
the region lying between the 12Oth and |
122d meridians of longitude, deyiating
from strict northerly course where |
necessary to avoid a mountainous coun-
try. We therefore passed in a north
westerly direction over Pennington |
and Linden; crossed the Calayeras
river at 5:O4; the Mokelumne at $40: |
the Costumes at 5:14; and were seour-
Ing about five miles to the east of Sac |
ramento at $3.50. BY six a. m, we had |
passed Red Bluffs and Cottonwood, and /
were abreast of the Black Buttes of |
Iassen; while far away to the north.
20 miles across the intervening country /
OF Shasta, and IN that of Siskiyou, the
white cone which gives its name to the
aforementioned district pierced the
rioudless ether. Still keeping up the
main watershed Of the Sacramento. at
GEO, we skirted the western base of
Mt. Shasta, which lowered 10000 feet
above us. Ten minutes later we were
just crossing the Oregon line, having
passed over more than four degrees Of
latitude, or 300 miles, in an hour and
half The vessel was answering expec-
tation; the pressure in the receiver was
only 50 pounds, and the discharges Of
cartridges in the condenser had been
kept 70 IL a minute. Auchineloss con-
tinued to smoke impertsrbably. and
went methodieally round with his oil
can.
We now and again made a divergence
10 the northeast to avoid the Cascade
range OF mountains. At7:45 we sight