Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-05-20
Balloon to Be Used will Be Largest Ever
Constructed
START FROM PARIS At END OF THIS MONTH
August Will See star,+C$, - rht in Air if
PlapyEN&s
FIVE MEN 10 MAKE THE TRIP
Obse Natural Phenomena 20
Gi fIace on AIrship to Wen
who Know How to
Manage Graft.

PARIS, May lg.-(Special Cablegram to
The Bee e.)-Walter Welman. who will make
his third attempt to reach the north pole
this summer. has just arrived from Amer
lea. Major Henry d. Hersey Of the United
States government meteorological service,
who will be the scientific observer of the
expedition. accompanied him.
The chief feature OF this voyage OF dis
covery will be the great airship. In which
the party will sail from Spitzbergen. but
one real novelty viii be what the explorers
call a motor sledge. Arctic explorers ordi-
narily travel across the icefelds on sledges
drawn By teams of dogs The Wellman
expedition will travel on train Of two or
more sledges drawn by motor.
Three patterns of motor sledges were de-
signed In America and sent to a British
engineer. who went to Norway to expert
ment with it. The engineer returned re-
Gently and made his report to Mr.. Well
man and Major Hersey
The pattern which proved to be the most
serviceable and which will be used coul
sists of small sledge just large enough
to hold one man and the engine, which is
Of the ordinary motor car type. II drives
wheel fastened between the front ends
OF the sedge runners. The rim Of the
the necessary grip on the smooth sur
face OF the ice.
To Keep In Touch with World.
Another novel feature Of the arrange
ment will be an attempt to keep constantly
in touch with civilization by means of wire
less telegraphy. For this purpose wireless
telegraph stations will be established at
Hammerfest, Norway and the headquar-
ters in spitzbergen, points that are 500
miles apart
Communications viii be maintained be-
/ tween these stations continuously and the
airship itself will be provided with a COM
plete installation OF the wireless method
so that whatever happens the members OF
the expedition can always report them
selves to the outside world
Mr.. Wellman outlined his plans to news
paper men follows:
We leave Paris with the alrship at the
end Of May" he said 1--WE shall proceed
to the town of Tromsoe. Norway, where
| the members OF the expedition will as
semble. Besides Major Hersey and myself
there will be Mr.. Maxwell Smith, the wire
less telegraph expert; Mr.. CASTOR Hervieu,
one Of the most famous aeronauts in
Europe; and a fifth member OF the party,
whom we have not yet selected. He will
be mechanic and aeronaut and will be
engaged in Paris.
'Tn addition to these, we shall leave at
our headquarters in Lew Island, North
spitzbergen, DR.. w. N Fowler and Mr..
Felix RiesseRberg, a former member of
the United States Coast and Geodetic
survey. He win be in charge of the nauti-
cal instruments. Mr. Alexander Liwen-
thai. who was associated with Count Yep
pebln in the famous airship experiments
in Germany and Switzerland, and an
Adirondack guide, will also be left there
Large Cargo ON Airship.
The steerable airship which NJ. GODDARD
and his corps of experts have completed
is wholly unlike the ordinary balloon.
Its great size enables 1t TO lift the car
OF steel, three motors. two screws, or pro
pulsors, a steel boat. moter sledges, five
men, food for seventy-five days, instru-
ments. tools, repair materials. lubrioating
oils. and $500 pounds OF gasoline for the
motors.
'In its cargo capecity our ship of the
air much more resembles sea ship, than
the small contrivances used by Santos
Dumont and Baldwin H. GODDARD is con-
structing for the expedition the stronges.
and most enduring gas envelope ever
( known
I'VE so from TFomsoe in the ice steamer
Frithjof, which has been chartered for
| two years, and IL our various trials are
satisfactory the voyage by airship to the
North Pole will be taken in August
IF we fnd something defective in the
apparatus and II is impossible TO make
the required changes at headquarters, we
shall return TO Europe, and. il necessary.
strengthen, or even rebuild the airshio
| FOR a fresh start i'm 1907"
Mr.. Wsllman was asked II he was con-
hdent Of success
We should not start II Fe were not
/ determined,to win" he answered. Major
Hersey and l believe that we have a prao-
teal plan. and we have adopted the
methods that eventually will make known
I the vast region that constitutes the polar r
I cap OF the earth. II is certainly not the
| reckless venture that some people choose
4 to regard It."
Mr.. Wellman is being delayed by the
strikes in the automobile factories. To
make the hydrogen for the imitation OF
! the airship 100 tons Of suIphurie acid
and seventy-ive tons OF iron filings win
/ be taken 10 Spitzbergen.
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