Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-31
jOhnsOn's AnOdyn0 Liniment
THE ANDRE BALLOON HOAX.

A dispatch to the New York Sun from
Winnipeg says:
Before Prof. Andree left for the Arc
tic regions an illustrated circular was
sent from Sweden to the remote out
posts of the northwest territories and
British Columbia, requesting trappers,
half breeds, Indians, Hudson Bay Off
GERS, and all persons who might be in
the northern part of this continent dur
Ing the summer to be on the lockout for
the explorers balloon. Pictures of the
balloon were scattered through the
northern trading posts, and the inhabi-
tants were asked to give all assistance
to Prof Andree if his aerial ship should
land In their vicinity. This wholesale
advertising has had an amusing result.
Barely had Prof. Andree and his bal
loon taken themselves off toward the
pole, when there was a perfect epidemic
of balloon visitants over all the higher
latitudes of North America. The lone
bachelors of the plains putting solitary
pipes at their shanty doors during the
long evening, imagined they saw Andree
apparitons in the curling wreath Of
their own tobacco smoke. The cowboys,
out on the big ranches, for lack Of some
thing to do in their idle days,
took to discovering Andree bal
looms In every black speck that dark
ened the sky; and the Indians, too, had
a hand in the balloon inventions. Ly-
ing before their campfires at night, any
of the northern lights assuming circular
shape was the white mans air ship. All
these things were duly embelished and
set forth in local sheets, and In more
than one place some wags created a SEN
sation by sending up q fire balloon and
having a laugh at the expense of the
papers reporting Andree's appearance.
Some of these reports have reached
Sweden, and now the joke is on the
savauts of the Stockholm Academy. The
dispatch sent out the other day, "that
the foreign office OF Sweden has re-
ceived intelligence that several persons
worthy of credence saw Prof. Andree's
balloon early in August in British
Columbia" can be directly traced to
one Of the many balloon inventions
with which the westerners amused
themselves last summer Altogether. it
is too bad, when the Swedish Academy
could have had the selection Of a great
variety Of silly yarns tnat the most alb
surd and impossible one of all was sent
to the Stockholm foreign office.
A buxom lady, the wife Of mining
company's blacksmith in Cariboo, and
her young daughter, who lived in a
white tent near Quesnelle Lake, were
not going to be ,hind the times, when
everybody in the north was seeing bal
looms, 50 one afternoon during the first
week OF August, the good woman called
her daughter from the tent, and they,
too, hunted the sky for Prof. Andree.
To be sure, according to their own
words, they made mistake and looked
south instead Of north, but that was
only a trifle in directions; and, never
mind, they saw their balloon. Said
Mrs. Blacksmith, whose pride may be
imagined when she learned her story
was not only to be printed. but to be
sent all the way to the Swedish govern
ment: "I noticed round, gray-look-
ing object in the sky. As I continued
to watch it appeared to get larger as
it descended. ] could see two objects,
one much smaller apparently suspend
ed from the larger one above.
"It continued to descend until I could
plainly see that the object was a ball
loon, with a large basket hanging I'M
der it. 1t finally commenced to swing
back and forth and move very fast in
that direction (pointing east).
Asked if she had ever seen a baIlon,
certainly she had. What kind? Why,
small ones, you know; every one has
seen them attached to the end of a ven
doris stick.
No one else around the mine either
saw or heard of this balloon; but the
pretty fairy story found its way to the
nearest printing Office, and the account
came to the notice Of Z. r. Trenar,
Esq, assistant secretary of the Geolog-
ical Society OF the Pacific, San Fran
cisco, and he wrote to the manager of
the Cariboo mine, and he, shrewd fell
low, never had such chance to adver-
tise the mine In all his life, SO he wrote
down all the details Of the aerial visit
ant and not a few remarks on the mine,
adding: s'T regret that there are no
other persons in the vicinity who saw
the balloon"
The whole story went from Cariboo
to San Francisco, and from San Fran
cisco to Stockholm, where the public
devoutly hoped 1t had been buried; but
here comes the balloon ghost stalking
through the land again. One wonders
If this thing is to go on in ever-recur-
ring cycles, and if the Swedish govern
ment can be persuaded to cali in those
circulars.