The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-02-28
Fate of the Explorer and His
Companions Discussed.
NOTHING AUTHENTIC YET HEARD
German Magazine Discusses from All
Comrades ia Their Quest for the North
Pole-Possibiliiy that the Party May lie
Aliye-The Balloon Could Keep Afioat
for Thirty Days-A Rash Enterprise.
lAhan.sa hr Mr. I sarorhA !

1 --s WV "a ALt AA4lgE VI i4At AASNONCts
OF the bodies of the aeronaut, Prof. An
dree. and his companions. an article dis
cussing the chances OF his return by
Admiralitatsraite E Holloway, which re
Gently appeared In German magazine
gains added interest. be writes: 1t va:
a year o. the nth OF July since Andree
| with his two companions, Strindberg and
| Frankel, set out on his adventurous voy-
age in balloon from Dane Island, OF
the northwestern coast of Spitzbergen
| TO soar over the north pole; but up Il
| the present time not a single reliable
! message concerning the whereabouts Of
| the balloon and its occupants has peer
received. The questions force themselves
upon US: Have the bold aeronauts sue.
/ ceeded in surviving the arctic winter.
Are they stiIl alive: What are their
| prospects Of eventually returning? True
these questions cannot be answered with
| absolute accuracy; but in the universal
| interest aroused by the expedition, il is
interesting TO discuss its possible fate
and the chances of return, upon the basis
CT the resources at Andree's disposal and
| the well-known conditions existing In
| the arctic regions.
I'm the search for everything strange
and sensational natural to mankind, il
/ is easy TO understand that, during the
autumn. various Tumors we're in circula-
! ton, according to which the balloon was
said to have been seen, now here, now
! there, over Norway, over Greenland, even
| over Western Alaska. Special excitement
was caused by the tidings that some Nor
wegisns in pursuit of seal had heard
men calling for help, who were supposed
/ to be Andree. and his companions I'M
| probable as this might appear, the Nor
wegian government was induced to send
a ship to Spitzbergen TO make further
| search. The vessel. of course. returned
without having found any traces.
! Reports " lth0ut Foundation.
ut scarcely requires any explanation
| that all these reports had no founda ton,
/ but must be mere Pigments of the mag
inatiOn. The time during which bal
| loon can remain floating in the air is
\ extremely short, and under no circum-
stances can extend beyond a few weeks,
since by the diffusion which takes place
through the material a considerable GUAM
uty Of gas escapes, thereby diminishing
the lifting power. In addition to this, an
ether and still larger amount of gas is
lost by the inevitable rising and falling of
balloon floating freely in midair and
| by the varying temperatures of the at
mosphere; hence. all the balloon ascen-
sions hitherto have extended only to the
( brief period of one or two days. This
circumstance was well known to Andree,
an experienced aeronaut, and he there
fore took precautions to guard the bal
loon, as far as possible, from the inevita-
bic loss of gas. Yet according to the esti-
mates of the chemist of the expedition,
Mr. SraHa thu
81 cubic meters daily, equal to So kilo-
grams lifting power. According to the
calculations made the balloon, after de-
Quoting the car, the provisions, and the
other equipments, the. drag-rope and the
weight Of three persons, still had a lift
ing power of 93e Kilograms or, sappos-
ing that, in case of necessity, about 500
Kilograms could be thrown out as ballast
from the provisions, the drag-ropes, and
other burdens, the lifting power would
increase to about LOO Kilograms Ac-
cording to these calculate tons, the balloon
ought to be capable of remaining in the
air about thirty days, If We may assume
that the daily loss of gas would not be
greater than before the departure. This,
however. Is by no means the case; under
the most favorable circumstances it may
be positively asserted that the daily loss
will be three times as great In the
most fortunate case. the voyage of the
balloon would not last longer than a
week; experienced aeronauts doubt even
this period, and estimate ii at q few days.
Course of the Balloon.
where can the balloon have drifted in
this short time of a week at the utmost?
The direct distance from Dane Island en-
SpitZbergen TO the pole is about 100 kil0-
meters, to the northern coast of Green
land about the same, and 10 the northern
coast of Siberia about 1000 kilometers If
1t could be supposed that a wind blew
steadily over this region in the respective
directions, ii might be conceivable that
the balloon could have reached one Of
these points during the period of its flight
But nothing justifes such conjecture
We know very little about the system of
winds prevailing within the polar basin:
the little We do know teaches us that
steady winds in the vicinity of the pole.
over the drifting pack ice, are nowhere to
be expected. During the summer months,
especially, they are usually very light and
variable, and Gains often prevail over the
great desert of ice. This Yariableness is
amply proved by the drifting of the Fran
ana the Jeanette, which was principally
influenced by the winds Since the drift
was mainly westward and northward
from Franz Josef Land and Spitzbergen
toward the southwest, it follows that
the direction of the wind in the sea De-
tween Franz Josef Land and Spitzbersen
and the Pole is principally easterly and
northeasterly; that is, wholly unfavorable
to Andree's enterprise. How. in the face
OF this fact, the opinion that the balloon
might have landed on the northern coast
Of Siberia can be maintained is utterly
incomprehensible to me. II is entirely ira-
probable that. in that region. a steady
wind would blow fer several days In sue
cession in the same direction over a tract
several thousand kilometers in extent
According TO report published not long
ago in the Stockholm Aftonbladet, the
Swedish expedition under Herr Stadling
sent TO Northern Siberia TO search for An
dree. has hitherto discovered no trace of
the missing balloon.
There is somewhat more probability In
the conjecture that. after the subsistence
OF the south wind. which bore the balloon
out of sight Of the people in the harbor
who watched it disappear in the northern
horizon, il was carried by an eastern cur
rent toward the northern coast OF Green
ldN1. let. even on TINS slTtlCl. X Is Doubt
full whether, amid the variable winds and
the consequent sailing To and fro In the
air, the distance Of more than a thousand
kilometers could be traversed in the short
period the balloon would remain aloft.
If the meteorological conditions are IN
favorable 10 the enterprise, the aeronaut-
ical difficulties. in the opinion OF expert
enced aeronauts, render tae possibility
of success still more doubtful. and prior
10 the departure OF the expedition, there
was no lack of warning articles In the
scientific periodicals, that pointed out the
Tremendous obstacles from purely tech
nical standpoint. Herr A. Berson OF the
Prussian Meteorological Institute. one of
our most experienced aeronauts, charac-
tfriZed the plan a. the most perilous
venture ever undertaken BY an explorer.
with an extremely small prospect OF sue
cess, so far as escape with life was con-
eeTned- He added emphatlcelly. Person.
ally ! have found in making balloon Voy-
ages from 300 to 800 kilometeFs IN length
that endurance vas very dif1euit IN rain
or snow below the rain or snow clouds
for longer period absolutely impossible
Various Theories.
From these discussions IL Is. al any rate.
49, ~