The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-10-20
editorial in The Hartford courant. :.
 Speaking of water wellman's express
 sions of confidence in his airship. The Courant says:

Speaking of water wellman's express sions of confidence in his airship. The courant says:
 A yesterdays dispatch from London shows what his confidence is worth. The British Army airship. which as- gotngs and comingb, has been held up ever since at the Crystal Palace. where 1t came down. Rain and adverse winds, the oyor rs91a1 s hase sea ny wind so injured 1t that it will have to be sent back in sections to Alder shot by train. When the wind blows to go. yes; but otherwise. the alrship has to lie at anchor and under a good roof in order to retain it's fitness for another trip.
 wes shave of late. seen frequent ref erences to this British Army nyer. It has been pointed out as complete vindicatioa- of the claims of aeronauts. and as conclusive evidence that an air ship can be made to fly just where de- sired and without danger or difficulty. As can be seen by reading the extract quoted, this vessel performed nicely when conditions were entirely favor able, but .srain and adverse winds. put it out of business Why will not the same causes produce like effects at any other timer Man has not yet learned to control the winds. Now. as in the days of old, "The wind bloweth where | it listeth. and no man can control 1t The rains come down in their seasons and soak the airship as well as the growing crops. and the aeronaut can not control it. either.
 As for the wellman scheme. we are free to admit that we have had little confidence Init from the beginning. Ii it was not designed as a big advertise paper it was the conception of . dreamer and an enthusiast. The difi- culties in the way Of voyage to the Pole through the air are appalling. not only because of what is known but more especially because of what is un- known, and even beyond conjecture. No human being can even imagine the atmospheric conditions existing in the Nortb Polar regions. Something is known of conditions up to within three or four hundred miles of tie Pole, il Is true but beyond that all lis as dark and uncertain as Erebus itself. Mfr. Wellman nor no other man can form anything approaching correct idea of that region.
 Even if conditions and circumstances should enable him to reach his desti- nation. .ta,sse is nothing, to make 1t cer- tain that he could return. and what benefit would 1t be to science and hu- manity for him to sail away from all human knowledge and never sreturn? We can only conjecture the fate that befell the unfortunate Andre. He sail- ed saway into the unknown and un- Allowable some years ago and that was the end. He may now be at the Pole unable to get back. He may have per ished on the. way or. an adverse cur rent may have blown him into some unknown region to perish miserably or to live a, still more miserable existence In short. the weIlman project was a dream. and though he boasts that he has .full confidence infhis ability to make the trip we can see no reason to look on it as anything but an idle boast. Airships perform all right when every thing is favorable and that4is about all that can be truthfully said of them.