POLAR AERONAUTICS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 594, 24 August 1909, Page 5

POLAR AERONAUTICS.

WELLMAN DRIVEN BACK. THE FAMOUB "SERPENT 1 ' BURSTB. BALLOON' DAMAGED. (Dy TclCErapb.-PfeM AMoel»llon.-OoMrt«bl.t London, August 22. The start of Mr. Walter Wcllman'.s projeeted balloon voyage from Spitzbergcn to tho North Pole, in his non-rigid dirigible, balloon America, has been again attended by in-iuck. -. After quitting the hoseshaped bag or "serpent" containing provisions attached,to the balloon guide-rope, and ; ; l used as an oquilibror, burst, and the ex- i pedition was thus compelled to return. i i The attempt to reach tho Pole will bo ro- < , linquishcd for the present year, as tho \ balloon is also seriously damaged. j Only thirty-two miles had been covered \ when the accident happened. ' , , THE WIND-WRECKED EFFORTS IN 1907. . ' SERPENTS DESCRIBED. , When she attempted to clear Spitzbergcn in 1907 for the North Pole, the America covered j 15 miles under her own power (as against 32 I , on this occasion!. These 15 miles, consisted ■ . mostly of beats to windward, for a heavy northwest wind, with a! blinding snow-storm, blow, and tho America had either to beat into Hon her northward mission or run the risk of boiii(f smashed on tho mountainous coast of Spitzbergen. ' Three times tho America was blown bocktowards a rocky promontory, and each time, with tho aid'of tho motoi, she escaped by beat- t i iug up oircuitously against tho wind. Unable •„ .

to proceed, and with a thought now only to , saio the airship, Mr. Wsllman and hie cn- : gmeer, Mr Vanimon, seized Sin opportunity to let the America drift over tho glacier that flows into Foul Bay. The "serpent" and ib«H "retarder" serpent—described below— wcrs, hi ought into ploy to arrest their flight, and \ on that occasion, it is said, "worked admirably," The report of the flight concludes s— "Once uell over the glacier the emergency , ' valve was opened and tho ripping knife brought' into requisition, The descent was effected on., the glacier itself at a distance of half a niilo i inland. So well was it timed and earned out that tho balloon with its nine tons of \ ' material sank 800 ft, on to the 6Uiface of tho J ' ice without any 6hock to spoak of, No damage was done, except that a few tubes and I wnos Hero broken and bent, The many doliI cate scientific instruments on hoard woro un-, injured. After the descent tho fabrlo of tho balloon was easily repaired." Texture and Purpose of the "Serpents." One of tho Wcllman party has written the following nooount of the two sorpents —"The-*, serpents are an important part of our project. A guide-rope, so-called—though a better name for it would bo woight-balnwor or eftuihbrer— ' ' wo must have Its function is to drag mora oi less of itself upon the surface of the caith, with less or more of its weight upon the ship, as cueumstances may require. Thu6, it becomes an automatic governor, within eei-1 tain limits, upon tho vertical fluctuations of the ship. This guidc-iope or equilibier must! have weight to be effective—u thousnnd pounds at I 6lß ' , •vi l "To oscapo pitting so much weight into uso- J less mntonai, wo designed and constructed tho i sernont—a pipe of strong wator-tight leather, Oin. in diameter and 123 ft. long; its outside > surface covered with moro than iiO.OOO stool | scales, very thin, and riveted to toe leather, ' Overlappme like tho scales of a fish, This | serpent is "designed to havo the smallest pos-, sibto resistance In sliding over the mo or snow, ( or floating on tho water, in which element it is buoyant. ,1 The Rofarder. i "Tho ratardor serpent, on the other hand,) is designed to make the greatest possible ro. ■ sistance in proportion to its weight in dragging over tho lce-floos, which are usually covored with a snow-crust, apd rarely present a smooth suiface. Tha function of thonretiirder is, to drag like a drag-anchor-Vhen the wind is advorfe to our course, and we wish to drift gently with it and without losing either too much headway oi burning too niuoh of our proc'ous fuel in the motor. Hence this eoipent is covered'with 1875 steel scratchels/ each With six sharp points about one inch m length, or a total or 11,250 points on tk6 '60vonty-fivo. feet of body. Food Contents. J ' "In the two serpents, with n combined length of 138 ft, wp papked H73lb.tof.fopd, of which 351b. was paper, tin, and psckjxig, leaving 14381b, of food not, Tho serpents themselves weigh 4631b, the total is Jo3Glb., ami tho I percontngo of contents is 7G, lpaying only 2t ' per cent, for tho serpents. "As to injury to the contents of tho serpents, wo do not much fear it. Water may get in thiough a tear in the leather op by tho rivet-holes, but oven if tho broad wore to get 6oaked with sea-water, it would not bo n total loss. ,Tlia same is true of the other foods. Moreover, almost UOOlb,, or 75 port cent., of nil the food m'the two .serpents n suph that it could not bo oil damaged even if it wore squked in salt water,' ,