TO THE NORTH POLE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 8417, 17 January 1899, Page 3

TO THE NORTH POLE.

ANOTHER BALLOON EXPEDITION. Not discouraged by the fate of Andree, who, living or dead, lms spent fifteen months in the unknown, M. Souvigny, the French aeronaut, whose name is a synonym for aerial advenlure, will start for the Vole na soon as his great balloon, the Triumph, is completed, The failure of Andree, far from discouraging the aeronaut, has only stimulated his zeal, and he is preparing to win for France the palm reserved fur him who is hold enough to reach the Pole. M. Sonvigny's project was conceived in 1593. In that year he proposed the building of a balloon upon lines that were at once accepted by French .scicntistfc. Soon after there aiose the Andree sensation, and it was decided to wait until the result of Andree's trip had been seen. At the time the Swedish explorer etartcd oil' into the flomls, with a theatrical wave of his hand, M. Souvigny, who was among the spectators, taiil aloud: — "He will never come back ; the conditions of his balloon are not eullicienti to parry the enormous risk of a long vojuge — such ns the los-j of gas, the deformation of an airship, and the ability to repair.'' Long experience iii ai rial voyages and a si-icntiiio knowledge ot the ilitl'denl elements of a balloon arc necessary for an exhibition : and while Andrei' hid neither one nor the olhor of thi:»e, M. Smnigny possesses, both, lie bus made hundu'ils of trip.-, and he :it one time mulched an} ai'ioniuil in the world to make more ascensinns lliiiu he. Tin' balloon w hii-h he will construct i s one 111 which a man might live for ever, only coming to earth when he wanted food, which cculd not be killed in the air. The balloon will cube 1 1 ,000 metres, and its < iivitmfeience will be S(i metres, ll will be intl.iled with pine lijdrugeii g.is, and it will hu\oa lifting power ot 12,0011 kilogram-, or ■_> I. (HI'llli-. The l-_',nol> kilou'lam-- will be icpie-cntcd by the weight nf the crew, and aKo the provision-,, Uie li.-iulmlh 1 . tin 1 engine;- lor making ;ind tin; hall.is!. which will lie very heu\>. when Andree went up ho took no a< with him, as lie would not- need v. lie e\pix.ud vu icumt tlic ueM d.\y, oi, a.-> he evjiie^ed it, "lluee da\ s at tiic nio 1 -!." lie cxijet toil that he would reach tin 1 Pole in l'J bom~. U m> all \ery Miupli', but lie u'ckuned without the wind, due uniiiuc teature of this balloon will be a -ui.iller ballnon in \.hv interior, which l^ in pre.-eive the geuinrlikal foim of the b.illoon. Nn nnitler how un-atWaetoiily thewiml blow.-, the balloon will keep her >lm]K'. Sin-n'iiiuliiij; lliis- bii; balloon will be twelve fmall balloon*, which are to make up the ln^- ot ga«. These balloon-, can be lilled by inuchinciy, po ih.it e.u-h day an amount c.iui\,Uent to the uxhausted air will be pumped into the smaller balloons.

The entire stretch of unexplored regions , around the polo is only 3300 kilometers, nr )6.">0 miles; and Souvigny calculates that, with an ordinary wind, they coulil traverse the entire unexplored regions in a few weeks. They will take with them a telceamera, or tclcplioto, which takes long } distance photographs with great accuracy. ' There will he live in the crew besides the aeronaut. These will consist of two second aeronauts, one chemical meteorologist, one explorer, who lias navigated the polar seas f and knows his way from experience, and , one physician, who also knows his way to the polar seas. The money necessary for Uie building and equipping of the balloon will lie,">OU,OIH) f lanes, or 1011,0110 dollars. Nmivigny fcais delay owing to the slow- : ness of the builders. Ito dreads the long I time which must elapse before his balloon . can go up. He is eager to start, but, his friends console him by the thought thai it would be more glorious to wait until the Paris Exposition, when he could return in triumph with the Imposition at its height, and label the great airship with the wolds, " Returned from the North J'ole !"