ANDREE'S NORTH POLE TRIP.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVI, Issue XXIII, 6 June 1896, Page 652

ANDREE'S NORTH POLE TRIP.

Andree’s plan for his balloon expedition to the North Pole seems to be fairly definite and complete. He will leave Gothenburg on June 7th in the ‘ Virgo ’ for Spitzbergen, plentifully supplied with provisions, a balloon house, and all the necessary materials for the construction of a balloon. Tromso will be reached in six days, and Spitzbergen a week afterward. Here the balloon will be filled and Mr Andree, in company with Dr. Ekholm and Mr Strinberg, expects to be ready to depart about the end of June. The balloon will carry four months’ provisions in a concentrated form, and an electric cooking and heating apparatus. Mr Andree, who is chief engineer to the Swedish bureau, has been experimenting in balloon sailing, and he now finds that he is able, by means of a sail and a rope which drags over the ground, to steer within two points of the compass on either side of the wind. His plans certainly do not appear very plausible on the first glance ; yet he himself is confident as to his success, and his enthusiasm has proved infectious. Most of the provisions have been presented by merchants, and several Norwegians and Swedes have contributed generously to the cost of the balloon. The King of Sweden has given $9,000, and Alfred Nobel $17,500.