Show DEAD TO THE WORLD thirteen months ago three men andree franckel and left the island of Spitz spitsbergen bergen some distance off the northern bog coast of norway in a balloon headed for the northern end of the earths axis they had previously prepared for the journey at A soe a northerly norwegian town and embarked thence to the point of actual starting the balloon was a strong commodious one well equipped in all respects and havi having ng some ingenious devices looking to the welfare and comfort of its occupants it being made as convenient in all respects as was possible within so narma a compass food was taken along sufficient to last the party four months in addition to which they had bad improved firearms fire arms fishing apparatus etc by means of which it was expected to reinforce their stock of provisions indefinitely all being in readiness re andree swung lightly into the basket calling out to the others as he did so to get on board which they immediately did when the ropes were cut and the aerial cratt craft mounted majestically aloft and swept along toward the point of destination the shouts returned by the men to the cheers of the populace became fainter and fainter and finally were lost upon the intervening space while the balloon grew dimmer and more obscure until it bw became a mere speck upon the horizon and was then blotted out forever as it now appears no word no sign Ms has ever come from the daring explorers since that day they took carrier pigeons and many claims have been made maa e to having re calved missives by such much means but none of them has been authenticated an exhausted pigeon was captured in this vicinity ty recently with a sliver silver ring marked with the letter all A attached to it but it la Is quite improbable if not impossible that any bird could have made such a flight as would be one from the polar regions to utah at least one expedition has gone in search and scientific circles have given the matter their most serious consideration in the hope of discovering some means by which the men or their bodies could be recovered or at least ascertaining the means by which they met destruction but all apparently to no purpose and atter after so long a time it is quite unreasonable to suppose that they or either of them will ever be seen again alive or dead what an insatiable moloch the north pole Is like the siren of the sea it is ever luring the infatuated pursuer on to his ruin there seems to be something irresistibly fascinating to the inquiring philosophical determined adventurous mind in the very dreariness of the regions of eternal ic ace while the rigors and hardships the perils pains and dis comforts the trackless trac klese limitless wastes and impassable barriers of frozen crystal all give forth their mute warnings in vain there te Is a place beyond all these discourage ments known to science as the one where all the lines of longitude cone con verge in in a common point to attain which and move one step in any direction is to go south where the needle of the compass would point downward and where the flickering rays of fardis far dis tant gamt polaris descend almost vertically and to this point all energies are directed all this side of it is ignored until encountered to the long roll of victims who went ir quest of this ultima thule the names of andree franckel and may now be added commencing in 1603 by stephen bennett the expeditions in quest of the aple have continued irregularly down to the present day a peri period od within which the names of hudson phipps cook Frank franklan Frankl lil ln kane melville delong nansen peary peals and anany more figure conspicuously some of these and a thousand more unnamed never returned what has the he world gained in lieu of all these kaaa flees some have penetrated neater nearer the long sought for region than others but not one has ever seen it and returned with the he Wor information matlon acquired indeed it is highly highl questionable wh whether elther any at all has ever been permitted to dorest rest his natural eyes upon the zone perhaps none ever may but alb 0 long as it remains in its present POST tion ind existing condition it will be sought for suffered tor for had died for it is apparently so 90 natural tor for mn man to yearn yeam for the unattainable |