BALLOONING TO THE POLE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2590, 26 August 1909, Page 7

BALLOONING TO THE POLE.

MR. WELLMAN’S ATTEMPT.

Mr. Walter Wellman, the intrepid American who is endeavoring to reach the North Pole per airship, appears to be dogged by bad fortune. Less than a couple of months ago his balloon shed at Spitzbergen was wrecked by a gale, and his departure was thereby deferred. Now, when at last he made a start, he is frustrated by a second accident. Mr. Wellman’s was the third attempt to reach the North Pole by means of a balloon. The first was that of the illfated Andree, with two companions, Strindberg and Frinckel, in a non- dirigible balloon. It was on July 11, 1597, that Andree left on his voyage to the North Pole, from which he never returned. In 1907 Mr. Walter Wellman organised an airship expedition to the North Pole, but during a trial ascent at“ Spitzbergen the airship was wrecked on a glacier in a snow-storm. Now Mr. Wellman has again-been disappointed. His balloon, the “America,” is stated to be 183 feet in length, with a greatest diameter of 52$ feet. Its volume is 265,000 cubic feet, and when inflated it will have a lifting force of 19,500 pounds. “The mechanical part (states an English paper) presents some strikingly new features in airship construction. The car itself is 115 feet in length, of steel tubing, remarkably light and strong. The backbone of this car is a steel reservoir of equal length to contain 1200 gallons (68001 b) of petrol for the motors. The principal motor, a 60-70 h.p. Clement, works directly on two steel screws, 11 i feet in diameter, placed on each side of the car. The proper speed of tins airship is 16-18 statute miles per hour, and the fuel carried gives -150 hours of motoring at full speed; radius of action over 2250 miles, or nearly' double the distance- from Spitzbergen to the Pole and back again. In addition to motors, machinery, nearly three and, a half- tons of petrol, the crew of four or five men, a dozen sledge-dogs, and a completely equipped sledging party for a possible return over the ice in case of need, the ‘America’ will carry a ton and a half of food, making it possible for the crew to spend the entire winter in the Arctic regions should that be necessary,” The present is the fifth visit paid by Mr. Wellman to the Arctic regions, and the third expedition in connection with his project to reach tlie North Pole. His party was to consist of five persons: Mr. Wellman, the leader; Mr. Melvin Vaniman, the chief engineer and the constructor of the airship; Mr. Louis Loud, The mechanician who assembled the parte of the car ; M. Popoff who had been assisting in the work on the “America,” and who was going out as a scientific member of the ex-:pedition-?-and" a . skilled American mechanic named Corbett. A writer in a recent issue of the London “Times” was of opinion that Mr Wellman wauld have very little chance of reaching the Pole in his “America”— which is, said this gentleman, “as regards the gas-hag, a very ordinary Type of non-rigid airship-. . . . not at all well adapted for rough weather. ]Mr. AVellman estimates that }>is speed will he about 18 _ miles an hour, but with a full lead it will be very much under that figure, and the writer believes that even 20 miles an hour is far too "slow a speed for a ship attempting such a long and hazardous journey as a trip to the Pole.” The Zeppelin, it is to be noted, has shown speeds of 20 to 30 miles an hour. The writer adds:—“Speed is one of the most essential factors in securing the safetv of the airship. The lower the speed the greater risk a vessel runs other things being equal. If a ship lias but a maximum speed of 20 miles an hour, it cannot make direct headwev against a wind of 21 miles an nour. A wind of 30 miles,an hour would be distinctly dangerous if blowrng_ against a 20-mile-an-hour ship, since, as well as blowing it backwards, it would probably buffet it, tend to swing it broadside, and even lead up to tlie danger of -the • non-rigid gas envelope buckling or 1 bending under the great strain. Inis would spell disaster, and as only 18 miles an hour are claimed for the Wellman—which estimate is probably too It j gb —it is evident that the ship will run serious risks in winds wmch a faster ship could cope with easily. The writer enumerated other dangers —over-heating the engine, snow, or sleet on the gas envelope, freezing troubles with the water circulation mid* the ' effects of intense cold on the carburetter. He admitted, in summing up, that-Mr. Wellman had a “sporting chance of success,” but his article- initjols on to the conclusion that it is, perhaps, as well for the safety of Mr. Wellman and his companions that they have been unable to face the dangers of the North Pole in the “America.