Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-11-26
WHOLE NUMBER 1866
HOW ANDREE STARTED.
story OF the Daring Venture Told by
Jonas StadlIny.

SsoFy VI thc DhrAhK venture AOiu "
Jonas Siadling.
Jonas Stadling, who witnessed
Andree's departure for the north
pole by balloon from Danes island,
writes in the November Century as fol
lows:
After sound sleep during that
night (July lOth) we were awakened
the following morning with joyous
cry which rang out in chorus from the
younger members of the balloon
expedition: "Southward! A strong
and steady south windw We rolled
out of our beds, jumped into our
clothes, and ran up on deck. Andree
had already gone ashore. hurried
after, gave the carrier pigeons food and
water, and went to the balloon house.
Andree, who the night before had said
to one of the younger members of the
expedition, al feel that it will not be
long before we shall 60 up" looked
trifie more serious than usual as he
walked about inside the balloon house
and looked up at the balloon.
After few moments consultation,
it was decided to wait for an hour,
during which time the three aeronauts
were to finish their correspondence
and all private preparations. The
fated hour passed; another consulta-
ton was held ON top of the balloon
house. Besides the aeronauts M.
Machuron of Paris, the nephew of NJ.
La Chambre, the balloon manufac-
turer, took part in this consultation.
Andree asked each one separately to
to give his opinion. All were in favor
of starting, although the strong wind
made the start somewhat risky. Then
they came down. Andree as he went
on board the Svenskund, seemed to be
more pensive than ever.
The next morning Andree told the
captain OF the gun boat, Count Ehrens-
ward, that he had d ecided to start.
Immediately the order was given to
make the final preparations. This
was 1O:45 a. IN. on the IL of July.
Then followed a few hours of intense
work and great suspense. In less than
an hour the northern side of the
balloon house was pulled down, and
in little over two hours more the
basket securely fastened to its place,
and everything else belonging to the
last preparations accomplished.
All being ready to start, Andree
called me aside and told me that he
had decided to call his balloon the
Eagle (Ornen), and authorized me to
publish its name. He gave me some
messages and salutations to his rela-
tives and friends, whereupon he Mr..
Strindberg and Mr.. Fraenkel, smiling
and without ceremony, warmly shook
our hands and bade us farewell. Then
Andree jumped into the basket and
called out, "Strindberg! Fraenkelw
each jumping quickly into the basket
as they were ordered. The extra sacks
of sand were then unfastened by
Strindberg and Fraenkel, and the
balloon was held only by three strong
ropes manned by a number of sailors.
Andree now instructed the sailors to
cut the ropes when he should say
"threeV" There followed a few
moments of suspense and painful wait
ing for favorable moment when the
wind should not blow so hard. Ex-
actly at 2:30 o'clock in the afternoon
Andree called out with calm and steady
voice "Cut! One, two, three" A
simultaneous snap, and the gigantic
balloon rose majestically out of its
prison, while Count Ehrensvard shout
ed "Lefve Andreew GOOD luck, An
dree) followed bya strong Swedish four
fold Hurtah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
HurrahW while the daring aeronauts
shouted back from above, "Hesla
gamla Sverigep (Salute old SwedenP
as the balloon lifted and started before
the strong wind on its way to the un-
known regions of ultima thule-a
voyage more daring than any since one
Pytheas, more than 1900 years ago,
sailed out of the port of Massilia
(Marseilles) steering toward the un-
known regions of the north.
As the balloon was being cut loose
I ran up the side of the mountain be-
hind the balloon house, from which
point saw it ascending and took
number of pictures of it as it started.
With its weight of about five tons the
gigantic balloon rose magestically to
height of about 600 feet; then it sud-
denly descended until the basket
touched the surface of the water. The
depression was do doubt caused by the
great resistance of the three heavy
guide ropes, each measuring more
than 800 feet, and which in some way
or other must have caught upon some
thing during the ascension; for it was
found that large part OF them had
been severed from the balloon and left
on the shore. Notwithstanding this
mishap-which it is hoped caused no
injury, since to the balloon were at
tached eight ballast lines, each O52
feet long, which might be used to
lengthen the guide-ropes-the ascen-
sion was accomplished successfully, in
spite of the strong wind. When the
balloon had been relieved from the
tension of the tangled guide-ropes it
rose again, following the current of
the air between the mountains, first
northeast and then north, whereupon
it rose to some 1900 feet, enabling it