The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-20

human being seen. Should this pc the
case, we shall cache our E...YY..Ss.,ons'
and thus forming a depot OF supplies
make short excursions IN various a.
rections. for the purpose of rendering
us capable of taking still longer jour-
news. We believe, my companions ana
I, that way we can so harden our
selves as to undergo extreme TAXA
ton of our strength without dangerous
results.
81 do not fancy, however, that we
shall land so very far from at least an
OUTPOST of humanity. Every one
knows that there are from 400 to 500
persons wintering at the mouth OF the
river Mackenzie every year. Inc golo
hunter has for years been in the CEN
ter of Alaska. 1t may be that there
will be land found by us far north OF
Alaska which has never yet peen
reached by the adventuresome ex-
plorer. We have done our best to send
the information of our proposed jour-
ney to the places farthest north In
touch with civilization. Last year
when we fully expected to start, we
sent out circulars in similar fashlon,
but this year they have been circulated
all through the frontier of British Co
lumbia and the Dominion OF Canaoa,
as well as Northern Siberia.
1.-THE Russian government ana the
Russian Geographical society took the
matter of the circular up themselves
and saw to it that the documents were
not only distributed, but that they
were written in so simple language
that even the most ignorant mlgnt
comprehend what the balloon really
was and where its occupants had jour-
neyed from. I want to call your at
tention, and through you the atten-
al, 10 Hearing
which we intend to drop upon the Ice
at intervals These, drifting with the
ice in the ocean currents, may take TO
those farther south information OF the
experiences and hopes of the three OF
us who propose to stake our lives upon
the success of this aerial trial with
chance"
DR.. Nils Ekholm, who accompanied
Herr Andree to SpitZbergen last year
with the intention Of taking part In
his aerial voyage, talked with me on
the prospects of the expedition based
on the facts of Andree's ascent. DR..
Ekholm declined to go this year be-
cause he considered that the lmper-
meability of the balloon was unsatls-
factory. He pointed out that from the
day the balloon was fully inhated II
lost 81 cubic metres Of gas every twen-
ty-four hours, representing a diminu-
y
grams per day. This showed that the
imperviousness of the balloon had not
been essentially increased since last
year.
Besides this daily escape, various cir
cumstances led to a certain loss OF gas
in the ascent itself, necessitating
corresponding sacrifice of ballast.
After making allowances for these
losses of gas and taking ito consider
60 hot hn nor ri
of the drag ropes were lost and that the
balloon at once rose to a height of
49, 600 to $4,000 feet, Dr. Ekholm formed
the following conclusions: The longest
time for which the balloon would re-
main in the air would be from tWen-
ty-two to twenty-four days, and even
less than that if mountains exceeding
the height Of those attained at the
start had to be crossed. DR.. Ekholm
declares himself skeptical with regard
to the supposed loss of the balloon in
the White sea, but he proposes, never
theless, that a search expedition should
be sent to the White sea from Vardoe.
Since it was reported that Andree
had provided himself with a number Of
homing pigeons which he intended to
dispatch from his balloon while en-
route to the North pole, with informa-
ton as to his success or otherwise, it
mas Deen npOSSlDl6 10 PICK up paper
without finding a telegram from some
part of the globe, announcing the cap
ture of homer" which it is invari-
ably suggested may have come from
the pole or Whereabouts.
The popularity about all these pig
cons seems to be that they bear on
various parts of their persons numbers
Of words of highly cryptogramic
character To the foreigner the i'm
nrecsiOO is conveyed at certain times
that the woods are full Of pigeons. AS
a matter of fact they are picked up
everywhere from Tromsoe in Norway,
to Bedford and the Isle Of Thanet.
One thing may be depended upon,
| however, and that is that not a single
pigeon that Andree took with him in
| the balloon has yet been heard from.
! The stories to the contrary are I'M
blushing falsehoods.