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affidavit before in his home country that the balloon intended exclusively for the St. Louis race. Warning is given that it must not be placed on exhibition or used for commercial or advertising purposes. Otherwise it will be liable to confiscation by the United States Government. It must be shipped out of the country within six months after the date of entry. Tribune New York. 11 Apr 1907. American aeronauts will be interested to learn of a useful development of invention as applied to practical ballooning. A German inventor, Captain von Krogh, who acted as pilot of the Parseval balloon, has devised a means for dispensing with ballast in bulk. Instead of sand, certain chemicals of a non-bulky nature are used; these have the property of absorbing moisture from the atmosphere and thus increasing their weight. The invention, foreign papers say, was tried with complete success in a voyage from Tegel to Koeslin, a distance of 186 miles, which was covered in about six hours. Herald New York 11 Apr 1907 NEW AERO CLUB OFFICER. Mr. J. C. McCoy was elected vice president of the Aero Club at a meeting held last night, in place of Homer W. Hedge, who resigned both as vice president and from the directorate of the organization. Ten new members were elected. It was decided to accept the trophy offered by the Scientific American for aeroplanes, the first contest for which will be held at Jamestown. Herald New York 11 Apr-1907. 'POLE BY AUGUST,' SAYS WELLMAN With Conditions Satisfactory, the Explorer Hopes to Reach Objective Point in an Airship. SAILS FOR NORWAY TO-DAY Declares He Will Not Start on Expedition from Spitzbergen Unless He Believes He Will Be Successful. Walter Wellman will bid his friends in America farewell this morning when the Touraine sails, and he says when he greets them again he hopes they will hail him as the discoverer of the North Pole. He expects to leave for Tromsoë, Norway, about June 1 and before the middle of the month to be at his winter quarters in Spitzbergen. It will not be possible, however, to begin the trials of his airship before the second week in July, and it is likely to be the last of July or early in August before a start can be made for the Pole. "If we once set sail under favorable conditions I have the utmost confidence that we shall succeed," said Mr. Wellman last night at the Waldorf-Astoria. "But it is certain that we shall not take unnecessary chances. We know that the various parts of the airship have been constructed in the best possible manner, but before the real voyage is begun there must be an exhaustive trial of all the mechanism under all conditions. "Until the last of June it will not be possible to obtain enough fresh water to generate the supply of gas, and after that it will take ten days at least to adjust the great steel boat and the propelling apparatus. Then will follow a series of experiments and trial trips, and I do not expect that everything will be ready before the last of July. "One thing is certain. We shall not start for the Pole unless we have reason to believe we shall be successful. The plan of reaching the Pole by means of an airship is too good to be ruined by a premature attempt, which might result in wrecking the ship and destroying public confidence in the project. It may be that a start will be delayed until next year because of unforeseen difficulties, but as far as I can see ahead now I expect that the Pole will be discovered next August." "I believe my plan is scientifically correct," was Mr. Wellman's last word to America. "I shall do the best an American can for the honor of his country. If we fail to start next summer it will be only because the conditions are so adverse that it would be virtual suicide, but if we fail this year it will be only to reserve ourselves for another attempt the year following.' As an evidence of their interest in his project, Alan R. Hawley, J. C. McCoy, Chales Jerome Edwards and Augustus Post, all prominent members of the Aero Club of America, gave a dinner last night for Mr. Wellman at Martin's. Not Come Back at All," He Suggests, Incidentally. Sailing on the French line steamship La Touraine this morning, on his way toward the North Pole, was Walter Wellman. "I am going to Paris to superintend the packing of my airship and its appurtenances, which leave there on May 10 by special train to Rotterdam," he said. "From there they will be shipped to Norway and taken on board my own vessel, the Frithjof. We follow later-that is, my expedition of forty men-and we go aboard the Frithjof either on the last day of May or the 1st of June. Then there is the journey to Spitbergen, which is six hundred miles north of Norway. There she will probably arrive about the 7th of June. "At Spitzbergen I shall superintend the erection of the steel car of my airship, which is one hundred and fifteen feet long. By July 1, hope to put the first gas in the balloon part of the airship, and the next few days will be spent in making trial trips in the air. If these prove satisfactory, we shall get right away on our trip. "The airship is not extraordinarily fast, doing about fifteen knots an hour. We may start as late as August 25, but if we don't get away by that date, the trip will have to be postponed for another year. The chances are nine out of ten that we shall leave some time between the middle of July and the middle of August. "We expect to be back in Europe towards the end of October, if we have good luck. If luck is bad-well, we may not come back at all." Among those at the pier to say good-by to Mr. Wellman were C. F. Bishop and Augustus Post, president and secretary of the Aero Club of America; Alan R. Hawley of this city, and R. E. King of Washington. Mr. Biship will leave for Europe next week and take with him a special banner of the Aero Club to be presented to the explorer, who will take it with him on his air voyage. The club's president may go with the expedition as far as Spitzbergen. Ledger - Bermingham Ala. 12 Apr-1907 LOOKING FOR PARACHUTE BALLOON STRIKES HIM. H. D. Keith Injured in Peculiar Manner FALLING AIR BAG UPSETS BUGGY And Death From Suffocation is Narrowly Averted by the Occupants THE BIRMINGHAM LEDGER, Bessemer News Bureau, Trotter Block. 3d Ave, and 19th St., W. P. GUNN. Manager. Bessemer, Ala., April 12.-The old saying "There is nothing new under the sun" is in the main true, but the American citizen an sustain injuries in many unusual ways, but whether they are new or not remains to be seen. Yesterday afternoon Mr. H. D. Keith sustained severe injuries in a most peculiar manner. At 5 o clock in the afternoon the aeronaut with the Spring Festival Company ascended in his balloon with parachute attached, and when the descent began a large crowd of people on foot and in vehicles followed to see the balloonis strike the ground. Among the numbe was H. D. Keith with two little children in a buggy to which was hitche a spirited horse. At the corner o Sixth avenue and Sixteenth street, Mr Keith, intently watching the parachute did not notice the long heavy balloo rapidly falling towards the ground. I a twinkling man, children, horse and buggy were wrapped in the folds from which the smoke was pouring, and the weight turned the horse and vehicle over in the road, the buggy falling o Mr. Keith, while the horse almost frantic with fright struggled hard to regain its feet. Nearby citizens hastily released the unfortunate occupants, when it was ascertained that Mr. Keith had sustained a dislocation of the shoulder, but children and horse were uninjured. Th accident was witnessed by a large crowd, and its peculiarity was the tall on the streets last night. Mr. Keith i resting easily this morning and will soon be able to resume his business. will be ready to thrown open within a few weeks. The [[?]] tee has several thousand dollars ava ble now for the purchase of books and the committee will at once begin making its selecions for this important matter conected with the library. The boad inspected the new building and al were pleased with the splendid sructure which adds so much to the eauty of the city and also adds so mch to the advantages the public may enjoy from a public library.
