Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-13
The Flight Of Wellman.

From the Portland Oregonian.
The Chicago Record-Heralds expedition,
in charge of Walter Wellman, will soon be
be off in an airship for the north pole.
That is to say, it sailed on the steamer
Frithjof for it's headquarters at Spitzbergen,
July g. and after such delay as Is occa-
stoned by getting of on so important a
journey his great craft, cunningly devised
and equipped with every comfort and safe
guard known to science, will rise and set
sail in the air for the northernmest north.
Andree's polar expedition undertaken In
balloon some ten or twelve years ago was
equipped, as far as the developments OF
science then permitted. In every possible
way for its flight. but in few hours after
starting it was lost In the hayward cur
rents of the upper air and was seen ana
heard of no more. The Wellman expedi-
ton will be equipped with wireless tele-
graphic instruments, and through the three
stations at Danes Island, Hammerfest ana
Tromsoe the daring adventures expect to
keep in touch with the world during the
entire progress Of the expedition.
When the great airship which is to con-
vey Mr.. Wellman and his companions. five
in all, is ready for flight 1t will be the
largest and most scientifically constructed
vehicle of it's kind ever built or even at
tempted. The balloon part Is 1874 feet In
II. has a surface of p .O9s square feet, a gas
capacity of 224225 cubic feet. and lifting
power Of 10000 poupds. veritable levia-
than of the air, truly, and under control
capable of accomplishing the century-old
dream OF mariners.
The car which the balloon is to wing
through space at speed rate largely de-
pendent upon the currents and counter
currents Of the air is constructed entirely
of steel tubing. 1t is So 1-3 feet long and
contains the engine room and cabin for the
crew. Its important tow Is basket carry
ing the gasoline fuel for the motors, three
In number, of seventy. of twenty-five and
of five-horsepower respectively. The speed,
when dependent upon these motors. Will
range from ten to nineteen miles an hour
According to calculation, the flight to the
pole will require 100 hours, and, II the final
rise of the airship is accomplished by Au-
gust ], as now expected, Mr.. Wellman
hopes to report by wireless the success OF
his daring expedition by the first of Sep
TENDER, or at farthest by the middle OF
that month.
Busy with retrospection are those who
have followed the many attempts of sci
entists and navigators to reach the north
pole during half-century and more of en-
deavor of daring. of hope, of suffering, Of
failure and of death. The ghost of the Sir
John Franklin expedition rises up gaunt
and gray out of the white silence; that Of
Dr. Kane appeals to patriotic Americans
for admiration through the long interven-
ing years. The Inflated Jeanette, crushed
like a vessel of glass In the cruel clutch of
arctic ice and with great creaking and
depths of silent sea, touches the pity,
even in memory, Of all who love a ship;
while the fate of Lieut.. De Long and his
courageous companions, living as long as
they could upon willow tea" and finally
composing themselves in death upon the
Ice of the Lena Delta. Is recalled in detail
and turned from with shudder. Gen.
Greelys expedition and the return upon
relief ship of his emaciated and mostly cof-
fined crew, with grewsome tales of hum
gers last pinch upon the blue lips of the
first, to which the second bore mute wit
ness, is recalled often as his name APP
pears in connection with public duty. We
turn to the safely accomplished expeditions
of Lieut.. Peary for relief from the gnaw-
ing horrors Of retrospection and to the re-
port of the cruise of Lieut.. Schwatka as
showing that the navigation of the polar
sea is not all hardship. Much that Is of
more than passing interest has been wrest-
ed from the frigid domain of the far north.
Scientists, having gone there full Of hope,
have returned fullhanded and spread their
treasures before the world. Still, for the
effort made, the suffering endured, the IA
talities encountered and the money ex-
pended in arctic exploration, the returns
have not been large. Nevertheless there is
worldwide interest in the Wellman ex-
petition, and IL 1t shall prove successful, all
the world, even intrepid Norway, that has
sent out so many expeditions in quest of
the north POLE will honor America as hav-
ing with unparalleled skill and daring
reached the long-sought goal