The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1897-07-27
ALASKAN BALLOON TRIPS
Old Aeronaut King Declares They
Are Net Feasible.
DIFFICULTIES ON THE WAY
Drag Ropes. Which Are Inevitable
Necessities, Could Not BE Avail
able in the Timber Lands Winds
Also Too Uncertain Experiences
of a Distinguished Aeronaut.

Philadelphia, July 81 The report which
has come from the West 10 the effect that
Prof. Rufus G. Wells, a physician and
scientist, has decided 10 attempt a trip
10 Alaska by balloon has set all the local
gold Observation-Disclosures new Girectaon, and
some OF them are wondering why such q
plan wauld nct be more feadlde for them
than going overland by sledges.
Praf. samuel q. King, the well known
aeronaut. Of this city, is very strongly of
the opita0n that such a tnp could not be
rnade at tie present stage OF ballOoning.
In an interesting talk yesterday lfe gave his
reasons for such a belief.
"In the first place." said he, "such an
fdea is not feasible, because bailOOning
has not developed up to such work as
that. IT is always necessary for Arctic
explora iions or world wide voyaEing 81
any kind 20 make practical experiments
first, and in this case nothing II tue
kind has been done. I think the trip
Is as impracucable as the idea OF reach
ing the pole, and ] have given my opin-
l9n out on that several times before this.
"A trip TO Alaska would require more
OF 4 halloon than atrip to the Pole anyway,
because the only method conceived Of
keeping the balloon in the air at the night
distance from the earth is by the use OF
the drag nope. and IL is not practicable
TO use that over a wooded country like
Alaska. The balloon would not run free
as al woulI 0ver the ocean or ice and snow.
Besides this. the staying powers OF the
balloon have got to be tested before
any attempt such as the Alaska trip Is
made. Tl'ey might just as wen think OF
starting off-Lit or miSS-for the center
of Africa.
Now a ere is another thing W hich would
knock such a project in the head. Andree
has very large balloon, and finds that
IL can accommodate three persons, includ-
ing iinlself. A balloon TO Alaska couldn't
very ell take any more and where would
three persons be IN the wilds Of Alaska2
Prof. wells SAYS he Is going to get a balloon
that he can propel at a great rate OF
speed. That is iBnosShle. simply because
the speed is always dependent on the We
lodty OF wind whatever that may be.
And for the same reason they would not
be atsle 10 make connections. The balloon
al gold 81 would b. one iig point gained.
bat tn" balloon has got to land in par
ticular stot, and the wind is HalIe to
take the vOyaeers anywhere.
Il filed balloon one day at Buffalo
II took most OF the day. and expected to
Land ia Canada Instead. came down be
low Sslen. Y ]. The wind changed, and
/ was absolutely poweriess SO a party
O. Alaska is liable at any time to lose what
ever distance il has gained simply by the
changing Of the wind.
In regard 10 the party living in theirba
loon after they reached the gold regions.
If they ever did" continued Prof King,
that might be possible A balloon large
enough Tor an Alaska trip would have to
contain several thousand yards or mata-
rial, and they could double it over a num-
Der Of times. ald SO live in II comfortably.
Balloon material isn't any thicker than
PAGER, though, and so they wouldn't have
a very substantial house.
Il shonld say he ocean trip is hy far
the most feasible way to reach Alaska
bv balloon. That. think, is the next
step in fs.lloer'rg in advance OF any
thing that has heretofore transpired. No
bslloon hos teen known TO stav over a
single day in hc hiCh air. and for a long
trip IL is Of course. necessary to keep
mp s'ea'lhy. On the ocean we can use
the drag rome. end rail low all the dis
tanoe, end the ocean currents would
DE % benefi'. A trip on the ocean would
be dangerous enough, but alongside OF
the Arctic expedition il is cornparativelv
safe The principal point in favor of the
ocean is, rs said, the drag rope, which
makes low. steady sailing always posi-
lhe. After few hours Of high sailing
there is great exhaustion and overflow
OF gas and waste of ballast 1t is hard
10 poise the balloon in the day. too, be
cause of the variation of the tempera-
ture The sun gives the balloon a greater
bDoyancy OF temperature. while the
clouds redDce II. No, I think I can
safely predict that nobody win get TO the
gold fiends in a balloon. At least. not
for considerable time TO come"