Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-22

Hated, and despite the warning voices to
Whlch ne had been eobliged to listen during
the intervening winter, he, with two COM
panions. on July IL stepped into the car
already equipped with their stores and in
struments, and bidding the men to cast off
the ropes that held them down the great
| monster, as if made impatient with it's pro-
longed restraint, darted upward
The trailing ropes with which he had
hoped to steer his untried chariot were APP
pareHtly too heavy, for when thew reached
the water they dragged the balloon down
until it touched the surface Andree and
his men rapidly threw overheard a large
amount of ballast, and the balloon, feeling
lighter load, arose gently and swept ma
jestically across the strait and over the
low neck of Amsterdam Island What is,
beyond? The north and the great secret
that is locked up If its bosom
Andree's Starting Point.
1t was no slight privilege to be playing a
part on a stage where such a momentous
act had been performed and it was with
feelings of reverential awe that | looked
around. There was the massive gas gener-
ator. the elaborate apparatus for purify
ing the hydrogen, the tons of material in
case repeated mutations should be neces-
sary. and a long trough which carried the
hose to the balloon. And then the bal
loon house. The great hexagonal struc-
ture' sixty feet on a side, framed and
braced as if for a century. with walls
nearly seventy feet high the floor car
peted with heavy felt and every exposed
piece of timber wrapped so as to mimi
mlze the danger of tearing the thin / l.
terial of which the balloon was made In
the center of the floor was Il WELL in this
the basket had rested and from its edge
the three heroes stepped into their aerial
car; scores OF cleats were fastened to the
uprights, and to these the chatting monster
had been tethered; a stairway led I'D to
each of the seven stories or galleries that
extended nearly all the way around the in
torin ff thh hr,,
flag poe-from this had floatad the beauti-
full flag of Sweden This was the house
that Andrea built-the great structure that
guarded the balloon which he intrusted to
with the plaything committed to its fond
Eng we may never know, but | saw before
me evidence of the way in which it treated
the cradle in which the child of Andree's
fancy had rocked. Here was tangled,
torn and twisted mass of beams and
boards, ladders and platforms. belts and
rods-the saddest wreck 1 have ever seen,
saddest because it called to mind blasted
hopes and forfeited lives. The wind did
this. It gathered its forces from the north.
the east the west, and when no eye could
witness, no ear could hear it dashed to the
earth the building that man in his temerity
had erected. Only one monument remain
ed, this | used as a meridian mark. it was
the weather vane, but it was to the south
not to the north
Sublime Foolhart!iness
Many have said that Andree was foolish,
and some have called him fool. I NAV
have echoed one or both of these charac-
terizatiOns, but now, after having lived in
the atmosphere in which he worked and
seen the determined way in which he went
about to demonstrate a cherished conyic-
tion, even to the extent of stalking his life
upon the verify of his hypothesis L repent
the hastily expressed opinion and ask for
siVeness Tor a thouShtless judgment. If
you insist that it was ''foolhardness,"
Suppose he should succeed what good
would be accomplished? is asked If the
Worlds progress should cease with his
decade no benefit cosld arise If heroic ex-
amples should no longer inspire men to
great and noble deeds it would be lust as
well if Andree had~fever lived. But even
the success whicjLheshas achieved, the con-
quer1ng of the sSft1paraded Obstacles will
prompt others To profit by his experience
and eventually 4fis anattained will not be
found among the unsolved problems Ex-
petitions whose aim is to find the pole-the
highest north-are in themselves useless
But as pathffnders they are invaluable. and
the unblazed path through the air is as
likely to benefit the world as the trackIess
route of the Fran or the wearisorne march
OF Wellman and his intrepid followers.
On the wall of the room he occupied at
Danes Island he wrote:
In McmOriam,
Alfred Noble deceased. 1895
Andrew Dickson. deceased, 1896.
These were the men who gave Andree the
means for putting his plans to the test but
died before their fruitfulness was revealed.
W as 1t by chance or premonition that
caused him to leave space for another
name and the sequence year 1897?
A Noble Watchword
Many times after the days work was
done while sitting amidst the wrecked tim
bers | have looked northward and in fancy
saw the balloon passing over Amsterdam
Island 1t seemed to, be bearing away
friends to whom wished to call a Gods
speed for in that frail car were men whose
WatchWord was 'it can be done, it shall be
dCne'-vords that entwine the worlds pole
star of progress. While looking and pom
learned to revere, the fog rolling in from
the west would hang over this island like
a veil and all beyond was with the I'M
known.
When shall we hear from your" he was
asked In two monthS-or never" was
the answer. Twelve times two months have
passed, 50 it may be never and we are
forced 10 believe that the Arctic SHOWS We're
his winding sheet and the winds sang his
funeral dirge, but if the snow is conscious
of the energy and courage that once ami
mated that body it will hold him gently and
guard him jealousy and the wind will for
get its minor chords because it sings Of a
hero