Show H0 k 4 irl r r I kill b IIW i i By tho nld of that most marvelous noilcrn Invention Walter Wellman tsl Washington correspondent of tho Chi ago HecordIlcrnld and noted arctic 4 ixplorcr Is mnUlng a third attempt to roach tho north polo Of tho countless count-less number of attempts to conquer the clomcuts of tho far north few U 1 any have over excited tho Interest of t > this expedition of Mr Wellman and t r his clrosen companions It is this thing of going about It In r t t now way that llftH tho Wollman I expedition to a piano high ahovo all previous efforts In point of interest J that places It In a class by Itself Tho I c devices fixed upon by Mr Wellman were selected because they wero tho latest offerings science has mndo r I which were available for tho purposes t w of tho expedition i Tho two expeditions made by Mr Wellman one In 1894 and the other In 189798 HUb those of all other explorers I ex-plorers wore made on thn theory that sulphuric acid and Iron shavings and I 105 tons of these materials carefully selected wero shipped to tho expeditions expedi-tions base on Danes Island The ns censional power of the Inflated bag Is 1G300 pounds The weight of the ship tacit and Its equipment and crew Is 7000 pounds leaving approximately 8000 pounds for cargo The gasoline carried weighs 15500 which Is equal to a power endurance of 150 hours motoring mo-toring with tho 70 horsepower motor In full operation At the rate of from 12 to 15 miles an hour this means that tho airship will be nblo to travel 1800 miles In calm nlr or far enough to carry tho airship from tho base of supplies sup-plies to tho polo and back and then back to tho polo again What the Car Will Carry Suspended from the bag Is tho car or basket which contains tho motors gasollnesupply cabins for tho explorers explor-ers motor sledges HcUmtlflr apparatus I 1 breaks down aC Union and become ui terly useless but the proportion ol efficiency Is great enough to make au tomobllo construction one of tho big Industries of the country The Well man airship holds tho same relation to the possible highspeed airship ol the future as the automobile In Its present stage of development does tc the possible nan brcakahlo automobile of tho future It 18 l possible that the prollmluniy I Ihlll or trials at Danes inland may Indlrato weaknesses or faults but If I mieh Is tho case the facilities fa-cilities nt the huMe for remedying them arc nllHutllrlent The airship that starts to the pole will he a wollbr havnd islly managed ship of UK requisite speed when the start Is made If It develops untiactable trait nftei that It will bo hiHiaiiBo renditions arise which cannot bo foreseen or bcratl Hindi Inn breaks down a contingency which arises whenever machinery Is used Mr Wellrpans Own Views It Is Interesting to note that In the gossipy cUHslaii8 of the venture bv men who pretend to know nothing nt aeronautics nor the polar regions the two objections most often urged are tho two which niiHed Mr Wellman and his asioclates In the construction and outfitting of the ship tho most per plexity Tho manner In which he proposes pro-poses to overcome ono of these dangers that from fast adverse winds has been explained by Mr Wellman thus We have already explained how we hope to make progress with our airship air-ship by means of our motors and screws when the winds are favorable In direction and also when they are unfavorable but not of too great velocity ve-locity What nre we going to dowhen they blow adversely and also too strongly to permit us to advance with the motors This brings us to one of tho fundamental funda-mental fcaMmes of tho method which wo have adopted It Is this 1 With favorable winds or unfavorable unfa-vorable winds of relatively small velocities ve-locities motor nt a proper speed of from ten to 17 geographical miles per hour with 12 miles per hour as perhaps per-haps the mean speed 2 With unfavorable winds of hlgh 1 TNL eova cr UDt rrP yLlf R HOiI N WIHO II 1r fH Ifl4nlJ ecr rNM ANCY VAIN M IDT Or ANDSy rll ro tr C1UATB3T oiAMBTen 32 rear t3 + roua f i He ie 1ZJf v W Ic cvr u SURFACE is + r vNy r QWITB SMOOTH s ill L NATlRU OTtl OP erraDAet Da er F pURe 1 R Mir riaroaeLe O rt 0 OLD w 00 WATCFt thawajq s NOy yjp1LOON FROM 8AL1ONzjr w I I i nuopcn WOKKID a W AT tMI PONT IH tNt rnoM IMOlNl noOH I AH + b o a INOIH INtTALkATIOM Or IHt cis BOOM AMERICAN D < eatlT coS Yrmtnoi TKIORAPH PAJAru TMt AIHIA1 L D iv W WINK ift OlllQ a ANp itftHomo L topH RLAR PIRA no M oe w t RETAHDER 7egl wn yr L DI LR DIAgCfDNCrPwIN I ORrORAOI olJCT1C 0 0 < 11 OR ORAQ DDIIANL7tq > 1ttTOH > = IU ANCHOR nn Pi l 10 ftAtf 3MOWINO MOW BTRI19 as rNa to N D o MOryq r 1S1tFNDTOR RtTARDLIf Se r DISTRIBUTED BV OANDO Cf VABRIC i yj w w M y or IVTRA Tt > i < mi uM Mr 4N IN DlftCTIOM3 AAAA 4 Kq iAn i-An DIAGRAM OF THE WELLMAN AIR SHIP I i Showing the equipment of the expedition and how It Is arranged In the car and showing a section of the I material of the ship the polo could be reached lv sledges f t drawn by dogs The first of these expeditions ex-peditions was made from Spltzbergen and tho second from Franz Joseph Land Tho same obstacles encoun ered by other explorers welt met by Mr Wollmnn and tho trials were fu I lllo oxcopt In that they furnished the explorer with n comprehensive knowledge knowl-edge of conditions both atmospheric and by land and water It was this r fund of Information that suggested tho methods to bo employed In the I forthcoming effort F From au easily reached base of operations i op-erations In northern Spltyhergon latitude o lat-itude 80 degrees 50 minutes tho distance 9 dis-tance to tho mathematical polo Is but 550 miles making tho night there and return 1100 geographical miles Calculating Cal-culating tho distance at 1200 miles I there would ho required but 100 hours of airship motoring at the rate of 12 I I r miles an hour Santos Uumont repeatedly I repeat-edly had made 10 to 23 miles an hour I I with small airships equipped with correspondingly 1 cor-respondingly small motors The Le bandy ship had made 2fi miles an hour and Its average speed through n long t fortes of flights had been boo 20 miles an hour Under all conditions In i which airship nights have been made I I speed of from 12 to II miles an hour i has been easily obtainable Description of Ship t A general description of tho airship la ns follows tIn t-In length It Is 1G4 feet Its greatest diameter is 52 feet Tho materials of which tho bag is made aro pure rubber and silk with the top of tho bag a perfectly smooth surface which will not nccumulatp frost snow or sleet and thereby decrease the asceilslonnl I power By a simple device provision has been made for tho removal of snow I from the top of tho ship Tho propelling power of the airship lies in three motors of the inner combustion com-bustion typo and using gasoline for fuel Tho combined horsepower of i I tho motors Is 100 althoiigh the contract I con-tract called for only 75 The largest motor la 70 horsepower and In calm air provides a speed of from 12 to 14 miles an hour With all motors workIng work-Ing tho ship will bo driven 19 miles j j an hour In calms The surface of the bag measures 21 098 square fear and the volume Is 224 225 cubic feet The hydrogen with whlch the bag Is Inflated Is mado of I t and food supply This last item weighs 800 pounds and Is contained Inn In-n chest containing 1C cubic feet When it is stated that this supply is sufficient suffi-cient to nourish five men for 76 days some idea of the great economy of space being practiced may bo gained Of course the disposition of tho weight In the car Is such as to Insure perfect balance under normal conditions Tho gasoline reservoirs are four in number two at each extreme end of tho car In tho engine room Is placed besides tho motors the wireless telegraph apparatus ap-paratus Tho car Is 52 feet long by six feet by eight feet In its other dimensions di-mensions Its construction represents tho maximum of strength and the minimum u min-imum of weight lining entirely of steel tubing Tho power from tho motors Is transmitted trans-mitted to a shaft at cither end of which is a bcrow propeller with broad blades which offer tho greatest efficiency effi-ciency Time forward screw Is 1S feet in diameter anti tho rear screw four feet loss in diameter Thoro Is hut ono rudder which Is above the car and below tho rear end of tho bag This rudder Is operated from tho en gineroom with n simple steering apparatus ap-paratus Below tho car there Is suspended a steel lifeboat nonslnknble and noncap sizable but of very light weight This boat represents the precaution against tho chance of tho destination of the ship or Its sinking Into open water Into It ate packed when not In use tho cables for the guide rope nnd the rotarder two of tho most Important attachments of tho airship In the construction of bath bag and car tho utmost care has been exorcised and only the highest possible quality of materials used A ikgld system of material Inspection was maintained to reduco to tho minimum tho chances of flawed materials inadvertently being used Such In brief Is the airship in which will bo mndo the most remarkable remark-able journey In history It represents the highest degree of skill known to the machlnlcal work No principle In tho construction of tho ship itself or of its propelling appliances has been followed fol-lowed which has not been proved to be sound and thoroughly practicable The monster hag and Its attachments do not stand for a theory any more than docs tho automobile that skims tho boulcvuids Tire automobile er velocities stop the motors and throw out upon tho Ice sheet over which wo are sailing a dragging anchor an-chor or retnrdateur device calculated calculat-ed to offer the maximum of resistance In proportion to Its weight and by this means to drift slowly with tho adverse ad-verse wind Assuming that this method works out as well In practice as in theory and there are many reasons for believing believ-ing that it will do so to at least a fair degreewe have then this principle 1 That the winds that blow with our course directly or obliquely edd their movements to tho advance which tea expect to make with our motors and help us ho much on our way 2 But contrary winds of volocltl greater than our motor speed or BO great that motoring against thorn would bo an uneconomical use of fuel arc not losses to bo deducted at full value from the progress of the airship air-ship bevaisrt tho Influence of such winds is largely neutralized by tho ac lion of tho dragging anchor or re tnrdatcur In other words all of the valun of favorable winds Is placed on tho credit side of our loJgtSr or log while only a part of tha value of the unfavorable winds has to be written down on tho debit side And tho slgnincance of this in life last analysis is that it will require a most extraordinary combination ol chcunistauros to prevent us getting more help than hindrance from the winds The expedition Is distinctly Amerl can for all the mechanical aid thai foreign countries have given In th preparations and for the deep interest they me taking In the project L It is ar American journalist backed by at American newspaper to whom credit is for the bold due and Intelligent conception con-ception It Is typically American that nil of science and the arts that other nations had to offer has been marshaled mar-shaled under tho American Hag for the aerial journey into tho unkn < xrn north The giant airship has been christened the America and it the next few weeks shall demonstrate that the plans of Mr Wollman wore well founded and the explorer shall sail triumphantly to the pole the first act will be the dropping of tho American Stars and Stripes over the spot whlcb has lured nearly a thousand brave men to their deaths |