Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-18
BELIEVE IT. WAS ANDREE
st. Petersburg officials Disposed to Credit
the Balloon Story.
Local Scientists and Arctic Explorers
Are Rather Disposed to Doubt
the, Reports.

ST. PETERSBURG September 1S.-The
Official Messenger confirms btodayl the an
f.cafieeynsiF yesterday that on September
II, at II pm. the nhabitants OF the vii
lage of Antziiirowskaoje. in the district Of
leniseisk, Arctic, Russia, saw for about
five minutes balloon believed to be that
of Prof Andree., the Swedish aeronaut.
The Messenger ACIDS that it is supposed
in official circles that the balloon is that
OF tire arctic explorer mentioned. KEN,
The scientislsi in This vicinity who arc
rIeiSaried as a4thSrfties in questions Of
arctic explorations are disinclined to dis
{ i4ssths Andres expedition in the absence
of authentic information on the subject ~
Prof. VIM .Harkness of the naval observ-
atory sad that dfhe Village referred to was
probably Aniziffroysk in north latitude
about 81 degrees. lie added that as An
dlee had startea IN Ms balloon from Danes
Island to the north Of 'Sprzbergen, in
latitude 70 degrees and 50 minutes. it was
clear that if his ba,f6on was row at AMI
ziferoysk he did not succeed in his project
of crossing the polar region and coming out
at some point in the british territory of
North America B. >s
1T makes 20 difference said he what
may be the exact location of this village.
If Andree's balloon is anywhere in the
province of Yeniseisk. which IS a compare
lively short distance east of Danes Is
land. 1t is practically certain that his at
tempt to cross the pole has been q com
fiete failure, and that, instead Of going
north-frorn HIS point of departure his gem
erai direction since he left Trotnsoe has
oeen reward the east and SOUTH
Chief Engineer Melville, the we'll Known
arctic explorer, made the following state
ment on the subject:
1t Is possible that Andree's balloon may
nave been seen and reported from the Yeni-
seisk district of Siberia. but l am inclined
10 doubt If the explorer ever reached the
vicinity or that the news of his being there
could be communicated at this time to the
outside world.
There is no telling whittier he drifted
after he went up in the air from .Spitz-
bergen l am of the opinion that the BAL
loon never went very far from SpitZbergen
and l have for some time feared that An
dree has already met his death" in the
Arctic ocean, though even if he came down
on land in the far north the chances are
he would never be heard from. The region
whence the news of the sighting of the bal
loon comes is little Travelled from April to
October, and it would be difficult for the
news to be carried to the nearest tele era ph
station at this season, and the natives
would not know what the balloon was if
they saw it in the air If Andree should
we'll enough among the natives Till he could
be taken into civilization by the coperts,
or traders who traverse the region with
sedges when the rivers are frozen, from
October to April"
Walter Wellman.: the well-known news
paper correspondent, who has made a spe-
cial investigation of 1.-THE prae.icanility of
arctic ballooning, discredits the Siberian
story, though he. does not coincide with the
prevalent belief that Andree is certainly
lost In his opinion Andrees chances Of
safety about one to two.