The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-09-19
The Aerial Voyager Sighted in Arc
tic Russia.
Believed in Official Circles to Belong to
the Aeronaut Explorer.
Commodore Melville of the United
States Navy, However, Doubts
That Tt Belonged to Andree,
plorer Met His Death in the
Arctic.

ST. PETERSBURG, Sept. 1S.-The
Official Messenger" confirms to-day
the announcement yesterday that on
September 18th at II p. m. the inhab-
itants of the village of Antzifirowskoje,
in the District of Yeniseisk, Arctic Rus
STA, saw for about five minutes a bal
loon believed to be that of Professor
Andree.
The Messenger" adds that it is sup
posed in official circles the balloon is
that of the Arctic explorer mentioned.
VIEWS OF SCIENTISTS.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1S.-Arctic ex-
plorers and scientists here are much
interested in the report that balloon
supposed to be that of Andree, the ex-
plOrer. has been seen over the village
of Antzifirowskoje. in the Province Of
4eniselsk. Professor William Hank
ness of the Naval Observatory was
asked as to the location Of this village
and the significance of the report, and
said that he had not been able to locate
the village exactly on the maps at his
command but he found on one of the
maps place marked Aniziferovsk,
which he assumed was a different spell
ing of the same village. This place is
in north latitude about 81 degrees, and
is about 200 miles west Of north from
Krasnoiask, the town from which the
Geographic dispatch was sent announc-
ing that the balloon had been seen.
Professor Hardness said that as An
dree had started in his balloon from
Danes Island, to the north of Spitz-
bergen, it was clear that, if it were his
balloon, he did not succeed in crossing
the polar region. Instead of going
north from his point of departure, his
general direction since he left Tromsoe
has been toward the east and south.
Commodore George w. Melville, u. S.
N, the Arctic explorer, said:
1T is possible Andree's balloon may
have been seen and reported from the
Yeniseisk District Of Siberia, but I am
inclined to doubt if the explorer ever
was in the vicinity, or that news of his
being there could be communicated at
this time of the year to the outside
world. I am of the opinion that the
balloon never went far from Spitz-
bergen, and 1 have for some time feared
that Andree has met his death in the
Arctic, though even if he came down on
the land in the far north the chances
are that he never would be heard from.
1.-The region whence the news of the
sighting of the balloon comes is little
Travelled from April to October, and It
would be difficult for the news to be
carried to the nearest telegraph station
at this season, and the natives would
not know what the balloon was if they
saw it in the air.
Walter Wellman, the newspaper cor
respondent, who has made special in
VestiSation of the practicability Of Arc
tic ballooning, discredits the Siberian
story, though he does not coincide with
the prevailing belief that Andree is lost.
In his opinion, Andree's chances of
safety are about l to 2.
Concerning the latest tidings via st.
Petersburg, he said:
There is nothing improbable in the
story so far as the geographical posi-
ton of the Siberian village is concern
ed and the distance the balloon must
have Travelled to get there. The dis
lance the balloon would have Travelled
from Northeastern Spitzbergen to the
Siberian village, assuming that it cross
ed Franz Josef Land and then out to
the Arctic sea, is something like $500
miles. This he might have done in
much less time than nine weeks. I'm
til further evidence comes to hand the
Siberian story must be disbelieved, not
because of the distance but because of
the time which has elapsed. 1t would
be miraculous if Andree's balloon had
retained the power to float in air sixty
four days. Andree himself did not
reckon upon his ability to remain in the
air more than forty days, and twenty,
or, at the outside, thirty days, is the
estimate of others familiar both with
aeronautics and Arctics''