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66 1907. June 4. Tuesday. at Baddeck Globe New York 3 Apr 1907 WELLMAN TELLS OF POLAR PLANS Explorer Just In From Europe Describes the Giant Airship He Will Use. Walter Wellman, the explorer, who expects to leave Spitzbergen late in June to find the North Pole in a gigantic air ship, arrived from Europe to-day on the North German liner Kaiser William II. The purpose of his visit is to attend the wedding of his daughter, Miss Rose Wellman, to Le Roy Chamberlain, in Washington. The explorer will return to France in two weeks. Early in May he will leave for Spitzbergen with his airship and paraphernalia, and after a few additional tests will sail away for the Pole. "If Mr. Peary knew as much about the ballooning as he does about sleighing he would never advocate attempting to reach the north pole over the ice," said Mr. Wellman. "Late in June I will leave in the air for the pole, and I am confident I will round it in my dirigible balloon and land again in safety in Spitzbergen. There will be no danger from the snowfall. Mr. Cruiser of the Air will carry a weight of 500 pounds to the square foot, and the snow that may fall on it will have no more effect than if it fell on a gigantic copper roof." "Now, as to details: My balloon is covered with three thicknesses of cotton, and between each thickness is a layer of rubber. The craft, or envelope, as aeronauts call it, possesses a lifting power of 19,500 pounds, which is far in excess of the weight it will have to carry. The airship will carry 7,000 pounds of gasoline, 3,000 pounds of food, enough to last us all winter; twelve dogs, which will be delivered to me at Spitzbergen from the Arctic regions in the north; a sledge, and four persons. I have ordered, in all, twenty-five dogs, and will pick out the best twelve from that number. "We have made numerous experiments with the air ship and have ascertained that the loss of gas amounts to but 1 per cent. a day. I figure that we could afford to lose 2 per cent. of gas a day and make the round trip in safety. Our power will be obtained from a seventy-horse motor power, which will drive us through the air at the rate of fifteen miles an hour. I estimate that our trip north will take from two to eighteen days to reach the pole, and the return trip from five to twenty days. We will, therefore, be out of the world for about a month. We will take cameras and all the necessary plates." [[?]] Mail. New York. 3 Apr-1907. SAYS PEARY IS NO AERONAUT Walter Wellman, Who Will Hunt Pole in Balloon, Replies to Criticism. DECLARES EXPLORER KNOWS NOTHING OF FLYING. "If Mr. Peary know half as much about ballooning as he does about sledges he would not be likely to condemn the project of reaching the north pole by means of a balloon as impracticable." With this preface Walter Wellman, who will hunt the pole in a balloon this summer, spoke to-day of his undertaking. Mr. Wellman arrived from Europe in the steamer Kaiser Wilhelm II. to attend the wedding of his daughter Rose to Leroy Chamberlain in Washington. He will return to Europe next week. When told that Peary attached little value to the balloon for northland work and that he believed that the needlelike snow would destroy it, Mr. Wellman added: Peary Ignorant of Balloons. Globe New York 3 Apr-1907. UNCLE SAM'S AIRSHIP SOLD M. Santos-Dumont Doesn't Want It, but B. J. Green Does. Uncle Sam to-day sold his airship, and will try to keep on earth a little longer. He does not guarantee that the ship will navigate the air, nor that it is "kind, sound, and city broke." He just called it an airship because that was what Santos-Dumont, the Brazilian superheated ether expert, called it when he owned it. The flier was found among the unclaimed goods in the seizure room of the customs department. It is the same airship that Senhor Dumont threatened to navigate at the St. Louis Exposition, but didn't because some one cut large holes in it, and at the time there were those unkind enough to say the hand of Santos-Dumont was the hand that wielded the knife. Anyhow, B. J. Green of Brooklyn now owns the airship, having bid $80 for it, and having had no time to renig before the auctioneer cried "You're it." Mr. Green denied to report that he was going to use it for his summer trips to Coney Island to beat the Brooklyn Rapid Transit, but any one seeking a streak of green amid the blue overhead this summer will quick guess that it is the Green of Brooklyn. Consul, Capt. Bostock's famous trained gorilla, was also sold to-day. He is less educated than he was, having been claimed by death, and is only a stuffed Consul now. He was purchased by William Woodbridge, a member of the Swans Club, and it is reported that Consul is to be elected to membership in that organization. Once Consul was quoted at $5,000, but he only added $5 to Uncle Sam's exchequer. Globe-Boston 3 Apr-1907 SPREAD OF BALLOON RACING. BALLOON racing apparently is destined to become as fashionable in America as it is in France. Last year in our own Berkshire hills there were numerous trips taken by expert handlers of the balloons, and the sport is likely to be much in vogue in the future judging by the preparations which are being made in various parts of the country. The most exciting balloon races this year will be of an international character, and will occur at St Louis next October. About 300 of the richest men of St Louis have banded together to be known hereafter probably as the "Aero 300." This club proposes to provide the comforts and balloon paraphernalia required by the foreign enthusiasts over aerial navigation who will participate in the international balloon races, which are to start from St Louis. The program as now planned is for the international races to be held under the rules of the International Aeronautic Federation, the prize to be a cup valued at $2500. This cup goes to the club represented by the successful balloon-the one covering the tempts in the past at aerial navigation. Balloons were first used by Montgolfier in 1783. That genius used heated air. A few weeks later Messrs Charles and Roberts improved on this idea by using hydrogen. There have been aeroplanes and dirigible airships without number experimented upon,and some of them with considerable success, but the 20th century finds the designers of balloons and various flying machines more confident than ever that they are to succeed soon in utilizing the space above the earth for aerial navigation on a grand scale. Such remarkable progress has been made already in this direction that whoever should argue that it cannot be accomplished successful within a
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