Show The hast Seen of k flufaee as fie Departed for the Pole Axel Stake the Swedish chemist who inflated the Omen Andrees balloon when it went on its flight to the pole is now living in New York City He is probably the only person Lin the United States who gaw the balloon disappear over the northern horizon He Is preparing pre-paring to take part in another expedition expedi-tion whIch soon will start to the Arctic regions net by balloon but in a plain oldfashioned steam vessel It would I seem from this that he does not take much stock m balloons as a mode of Arctic conveyance and as a matter at fact his diary IS an eye witness of Andrees departure does not look encouraging en-couraging According to Mr Stakes account Andre was reluctant to go on the day the start was made and wanted < o wait a day He lost twothirds of nu > drag ropes before he left the shore > nd wag compelled to throw out a large Amount of ballast and waste a lot of xras before he floated out of bight of Che workmen on shore It was Andree belief that the j Balloon might float more than a month out Dr Ekholm gave it as his expert opinion that It could not possibly float I more than 15 days at the very most A I L r 1 c c I J4 L 7 k3 lE 2J ri i LAUDING THE BALLOO N AT DANES ISLAND Sir Stake says that while Andrees balloon was the tightest ever made yet the gas would escape In spite of all that could be done to prevent it This fact coupled with the handicapping the voyagers received at the start makes it look bad for the success of the expedition expe-dition Certainly at this time when the sanguine friends of the explorers are expecting every day to hear of them the statements of Mr Stake are most interesting He says I was the chemist of the expedition which fitted out Andree for his north pole journey I made the gas which carried his balloon away to the north I kept a diary of all the events that happened from the time the expedition was first assembled in Sweden until Andree and his companions disappeared beyond Fogelsang on the northern horizon hori-zon From what I have seen printed in the papers both here and abroad I do not think that all of the happenings I of the departure can be known to the m ra flLaWys I I b r I Fa I T H7 BEADY FOB THE STAKT CASTING OFF THE HOPES public at large For instance it may 1 not be known generally that Andree I was very reluctant to depart on his voyage on that rather memorable July 11 His Qwn wish was to defer the start to the next day I do not believe he would have gone on the 11th had lie not been urged to go by his companions com-panions He Is very painstaking and careful as a rule and in his middle age tar more discreet than the youth of his companions allowed them to be But Steinberg and Frankel had waited so long and hoped so much for a breeze I from the south that they were ager I I I to be off They were afraid the breeze would die away and the expedition I I would be left strantt on Danes island is-land as it was in 1896 I I remember very well the morning of the 11th Strindberg and I occupied the same cabin on board the Swedish I I gunboat which carried us up to the j island Strindberg came running tome I I I to-me that morning and awoke me in my bunk crying The breeze the breeze I We shall sail today The wind Is from the south I laughed at him for I did I not believe it was possible But when I came out on the deck I found that the I preparations for the start had already I begun Andree was doubtful In his j mind this southerly wind might be a i false alarm He thought they had better I bet-ter wait a day or so and see If it would continue A conference was held on the vessel after which reluctant as yet Andree went ashore tp the balloon house to see If the breeze was quite as strong there as it was on board the I gunboat During the morning lIe had been making meteorological observations observa-tions and the results added force to the pleadings of his companions He I came on board the vessel again and a I second conference was held It was I finally decided to go that day and immediately I im-mediately the order to knock down the front section of the balloon house was given This was at 1030 a m At 2i0 in the afternoon the balloon sailed away I Andree went away with the impression impres-sion that his balloon would float at least six weeks Indeed it was his idea In 1896 that he could keep in the I air for a year or more If necessary But the trouble we had with escaping I gas soon dispelled this notion I think that even after he found how impossible impossi-ble it was to confine the gas he overrated over-rated the time he would be able to keep afloat The expert from the balloon I factory and I made a minute calcula I tion of how long the gas would remain I I in the bag taking into consideration the minute interstices which we found impossible I Im-possible to close up Our calculation j was that the balloon would remain I afloat barring accidents not longer than 15 days The Ornen probablywas yl I 1 T JttI t I LJifi P I I the tightest balloon bag ever made but we could not close up some of the holes I invented a process for detecting detect-ing the escape of gas Aftcr the balloon bal-loon was inflated we spread longstrips of sheeting saturated wth acetate of I lead over the top The confined hydrogen I hydro-gen sulphide as it escaped would on coming in contact with the sheeting I sheet-Ing cause the latter to become discolored discol-ored Thus the exact location of every j j hole could be ascertained I I Even so although we varnished and I revarnlshed the silk Inside and out we I could not prevent the almost imperceptible I imper-ceptible holes The greatest trouble was In the seams where the sections I of the great bag were joined The finest needle hole was sure to show a leak I even after the stjfrhng had bern doe I as neatly as possible It may not be known that the successive varnifchngs could be done satisfactorily only on the upper part of the bag against which the greatest outward pressure of the confined gas wes exerted Of course we would have done the lower pact of the balloon ircre thoroughly but we had not time The aeronauts were eager to I every one believed her was trying to say j something about the loss of the drag ropes but no one coufd understand what i he said and as the balloon got further and further away the difficulty of making himself Understood became greater and greater Andree lost much ballast and much gas before the baioon passed out of sight After Its first jump upward from the balloon bal-loon hose it was decreased towards the i water by the air current coming down f r from the mountains licnind us It sot so I near the surface qf the water that for a i moment we wondered whether the expedition I expedi-tion wasnt going to end right there Nobody I No-body spoke but everybody was tilled with I j d I J7 t I I O 1 rAt 1 J 13HSE I v i = v t > if r r 5 5 1V t J G pj r 7 iJJN < r JjY I ZT < f r > I J o f t ir f j f r X 0 x 7 1 t V C LJ s 2 j T Yl < > I t V WX I v X 1 Y I PREPARING = oJ BALLOON FOE INFLATION sail with the Iirst good south wind and we had to let them go Strindberg had made some experiments to reduce the outflow of the gas but they were without with-out success The constant smearing on of the gutta percha which we used was really the best we could do Our estimate esti-mate of 15 days duration for the gas small as it was would provide for its retention twice the length of time that eras has ever before been confined In a balloon I believe that no balloon heretofore here-tofore has floated longer than a week Andree was handicapped at the start by the loss of twothirds of his drag ropes upon which he depended to steer his balloon Ihe accident was a curious one and while it could not have been foreseen yet the conditions under which it happened might have been avoided if different arrangements had been made The drag ropes of the balloon which were about 1000 feet long were in three sections and were joined together to-gether by metal screw couplings The couplings could be screwed apart the inference being I suppose that If An dree wanted to do so he could unscrew and cast off any part of the drag rope Why he could not Just as easily have I cut them apart I do not know Now I a = iS > f t 1 U = t > > r b r 4 fL 7 1 P 1mJ 4 I S fYj > r r > rtfSi R r < t tWx j ih t 1 4r M 1 < h I lf r It 5 > r 4 I > 7 V r J j i Listening For Andreas Last Words when the balloon was ready to start the drag ropes attached to the lower I side of the basket were allowed to trail up over the top edge of the balloon house and down again to the beach along which they were trailed so as to be clear of all obstructions and ready to follow the balloon out to sea when It rose out of its nest But the heavy weight of the ropes de featedthis purpose The part of the ropes which lay outside on the bench offered an immense friction which the balloon seemed seem-ed unable to overcome Instead of following fol-lowing the bag out of the house uncoiling I as they went the upper sections of the drag ropes twisted and under the severe se-vere strain the couplings unscrewed For a moment It seemed that the balloon would not get away that the friction of the heavy ropes would hold her to the shore Then to our astonishment the couplings parted and the airship darted upward The question whether or not the loss of I these ropes wouid prevent Andree from steering the balloon has been openly lls cussjl t It Is i Impossible to tell of course I though he may have remedied the defenet by putting out another drag net composed com-posed of the rope which hung from the basket and which for the time being was > used as ballast When the balloon rose out of the house some portion of It caught on the structure of the balloon horse Andree was heard Ito Ito I-to eclalm what was that Then we I heard StrlndberB crying Long live old i Sweden A boat was pulled out from the shore and as the bag tore away Andree I I grabbed a speaking trumpet and shouted I to those in the boat From his motions j II I excitement all the more intense because I no sound wasuttered Then the balloon 1st began throwing out ballast nine bags of sand weighing about 37S pounds After Af-ter that the balloon went upward It I reached over 3000 feet In height then It went forward again Later on it was depressed de-pressed evidently through the escape of I gas which the aeronauts permitted to lion through the valves Finally when It rose over VogPlsuntj more ballast must I have been dispensed with In order to accomplish ac-complish the purpose c08P course It is sl impossible to surmise where the explorers are at present If they have escaped the bad effects of Arctic exposure It is naturally impossible for the balloon to have floated until this time and in reasoning out any course of safe 1ont nt rs ty for the balloonists I i we must presuppose that they descended safely on some land V > Know from the message received bv means of the carrier pigeons that were shot In the rigging of the sealing vessel Alken In the vicinity Of Snltzenbergen that Andree did not continue northward According to the dispatch he was headed In an easterly direction after havin gone 143 seographical wires to the north He had already gone 45 miles to the eastward when the pigeon was released Andree started on a wind which carried his balloon bal-loon along at tho rate of 25 or 30 miles an hour Had he continued northward at this rate he would have reached the pole In less than two days But I believe when 1 I these southern winds strike the northern I ice and become colder they also become slower Therefore the rate of progress of his balloon would be greatly lessened I as he proceeded northward However we know that he was going towards the east when last heard from ovflfl the balloonists I managed to land safely on Franz Josef land they may have been able to pull through the winter y berectlng a hut and by hunting for food as has been polntea out It maybe may-be that they havo gone too far north to sustain themselves in this manner On the other hand they may have descended Into the ocean although In the latter event they had one meagre chance left opn to them Itv hItS been said that I Andree acted in an Illadvfscd manner when he placed his provisions in packages pack-ages up in the ropes of his balloon rather than In the btgket in which he and his companions were to live It has been said that If the basket had been overturned the balloonists would have been spilled out ard the balloon relieved of their weight would g 3iate n8f in the air and carry away with it their precious food But Andrees conciu < ons in this matter showed him to have ben more farsighted than his critics His Idea was that the balloon might descend Into the sea in which case he and his 1 compmlons would be compelled to take to those very ropes themselves Thon by cutting loose the basket beneath them the balloon would rsbounU Into the air and carry upward up-ward not only the aeronauts but their precious food as well So It Is all highly problematic Under Un-der < < fortunate circumstances the explorers explor-ers might exist several years in the arctic rsglons Everything that could be done tqjnsuro the success of the trip was done before they started They were provided with every necessary of lIfe they had provisions arms ammunition sledges and a bout They might if they are on the mainland gradually journey southward In which case we shall hear of them before be-fore long It thjy dropped into the ocean they pro lost It they have reached the polar cap and wrecked their balloon they undoubtedly have found the great spot which so many have striven to find but whether they will ever be able to tell Its mysteries to the world Is another question which I would rather not be asked to an swsr |