The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1906-07-12

by EShtnfng or have q tree fall on
him oven in the temperate zone.
If the balloon should tumble into the
open sea metallic boat has been TAX
Ell along which Wellman calls his "re-
turn ticket n
Before the start is made the balloon
is to be subjected to the most rigid
tests. TRIAL voyages will be made, and
if the apparatus is found in any way
defective it will be remodeled or, if
necessary, abandoned and new bal
loon constructed. Some such contin-
gency may delay the trip for year.
If the first effort to reach the pole is
not successful another trial will be
made year later and if that fails still
another attempt will result To put it
plainly the north pole has got to come
into the reservation of the known il
American ingenuity, newspaper enter
prise and Wellman perseverance can
bring it there
Wireless Telegraphy On Board.
One of the novelties of the Wellman
expedition and pretty much every
thing about it is a novelty = is that
wireless telegraphy will be used in Or
der that the daily reports of the voyag-
ers may be flashed back to civilization
One wireless station has been estab-
lished at Spitzbergen, another about
600 miles south. and the third will be
on the balloon itself. Instead of this
being a pole high in the air. however,
it will be a rope hanging from the bas-
ket of the ship. A wireless apparatus
expedition. Thus even if the melan-
choly fate of Andree should overtake
the daring aeronauts the world will be
enriched by an account of their obser-
vations If the pole Is discovered we
shall not have to wait months for the
news to reach us. but it will be flashed
all over the world on the very day it
occurs. Great is science. and wireless
telegraphy is its newest wonder
II Walter Wellman reaches this goal,
which has been the dream Of ages. he
will not be the first American news
paper man to have gained fame as a
discoverer. Henry NJ. Stanley. the
great African explorer, was reporter
on New York newspaper at the time
he found Livingstone
Does Not Believe In Omens.
Wellman was born at Mentor, o..
Nov. 3, 1858. The fact that he is a
Buckeye is another sign that he will
succeed Besides. Mentor was the home
of James A. Garfield. so that is good
place to have been born in. That is
another suspicious omen. Wellman
himself, by the way, does not believe
in signs and omens, for he Is going to
start his expedition from the same is
land where Andree began his voyage
to fame and death. The rest of us,
however, may he excused for believing
that a man who took his rise in Men
tor, o., had favorable point of set
ting out
Mr.. Wellman was educated in the
district schools of Michigan. AT the
age of fourteen he launched weekly
newspaper at Sutton, Neb., and when
twenty-one started the Cincinnati Post
He did notable work as a corresponds
ent in the Blaine-Cleveland campaign
of 1881. For over twenty years he has
been one of the Washington represent
atives of the Chicago Record Herald,
which newspaper is financing his pres
ent undertaking.
The first voyage of discovery made
by Welman was in 1892, when on
Waiting island. or San Salvador, in
the Bahamas, he erected monument
on the spot where Christopher Column
bus made his first landing Ala years
ago. Two years later Mr.. Wellman
started his initial arctic voyage, reach
ing 81 degrees north. Subsequently
he was the leader of an expedition ia
Franz Josef Land, reaching 80 degrees
north and discovering Il number of new
islands He has written extensively
of the arctic regions and has lectured
before learned bodies in Europe and
America. In appearance he is of dis
tinguished bearing, with the keen, alert
look Of the modern representative Of
the press. His home is in Washington
where lie has a family of five daugh-
tiers. Altogether he is not only the
writer, but the typical American who
does things.
In rendering credit to those who
have assisted in making the present
Wellman expedition possible Nj. San
tos-Dumont, the celebrated French
aeronaut, should not be overlooked.
His advice in building the great dirigi
BILE balloon has been almost invaluable.
The gas bag itself is made of two lay
ers of cotton and one of silk. The car
Is suspended beneath this cigar shaped
bag and is about six feet wide, six and
half feet high and fifty-two feet long.
The engine room and living room. or
cabin, are each about eleven and a half
feet in length. In these little compart
ments will be enacted new chapter
In human history, for their inmates
will go either to death or to goal
sought by man for centuries.
II they succeed in reaching the pole
the world will regard it as the greatest