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19
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The Ruder of the “America.”

of much headway, and saving the precious store of fuel. This method cannot be used in a settled country. Neither in civilization or the Arctics can a large airship be firmly anchored in storms without incurring the risk of disaster by breaking of parts due to the great strain. But a smaller strain may be borne in safety, and such we plan for, using our food-stuffed serpent to drag over the ice and retard motion, on the same principle that the master of a sailing ship throws out his drag anchor in a storm.

The difficulty of getting a fair start with an airship designed to go to the Pole is of course very great. The assembling and preparation of the ship itself, the making of the gas, the completion of a multiplicity of details, form a task of large proportions. On account of ice conditions it is impracticable to reach the base and start effective work be-