Evening Star Newspaper, July 25, 1896, Page 16

16 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JULY 25, -1896--TWENTY-FOUR. PAGES. GOLD IN THE EARTH ———— Wonders of the New Processes of Reduction of This Metal. REVOLUTIONIZING THE PRODUCT Description of What May Be Seen in a Cyanide Mill. AND DIRT FROM ROCK (Copyrighted, 1896, ty Frank G. Carpenter.> DENVER, July 15, 1896. BEGIN WITH THIS letter a series de- scriting the revolu- tion which is going on In the mining re- gions of the west. During the past three months I have trav- eled several thou- sand miles in the Rocky Mountains. They are alive with prospectors. It is estimated that 2,000 men are climbing about the hills and canons of Calffornia, Arizona aud Nevada. There are hundreds of prospectors going carefully over the old mining regions of Colorado, and in Utah {3 now being developed a new gold region, which Salt Lake City men claim will pro- duce more than enough to pay off the national debt. The gold now being mined at Cripple C-eek Is enormous in cuantity, and there ere other camps in Colorado which are turning out fortunes in gold- bearing rock. The new processes of gold reduction have changed almost entirely the character of gold mining and within the next few years the whole world will be re- prospec for gold. Gold Everywhere. It is d to realize that gold ts one of the most common of all the metals, but this is fact. Gold is to be found in nearly every part of the earth, but hitherto h of reduction has -een 90 great and the quantity of gold so small that m only a few places could it be mined at a profit. s in the waters of the sea, and emist who can invent a method of getting the gold out of the gre It Lake will have a fortune. The Andes are full of gold. Central America has hundreds of | s. The old dumps or wa: hich the Spaniards worke be put through the new for getting out the gold, and the will be un ‘There is a vast ty of low-grade gold in the eastern United States. From Nova zeorgia runs a golden streak, which has at different points paid for min- ing. Nu have been recently found tu Nova worth $200, and last year a nugget was found In Crawford County, N €., which ghed 8 pound 5 < All ur gold ame from North and there have long been gold | lifferent parts of Georgia. ‘There quartz near Washington, D. will, it ts said, pay 316 a ton, year gol nes have been Carolina mines fs aw a i mall way near the national capi There is a gold vein in New] Hampshire, which, in 1817, yielded $50,000, and gold has been mined on Manhattan Island which averaged $4 a ton. There is gol in Onio and our motntains of the west | lieved, hundreds of undiscov- In the region between and the Pacific so far has Deen produced 99 per cent of all the gold of the United tes, amd hitherto many | mines have been discovered and abandon- ed, which can row be worked by the new proce at a profit. There are valuable gold mi n the state of Washington, and the sends or the Pacific ocean, from Puget Rockie: und to the Aleutian Islands, contain | gold dust, in some places they are now | being panned by miners. There { probabl: amount of gold in British Colum he tnountains of which have not been | pected. The Tri vell mine of Alaska has an annual output of more than $50),- #) and from it hax already been taker more than $5,000,000 worth of gold. This gold of h a low grade that some years ago no one would have thought of trying to maine It. Its average Is between $2.50 and & per ton, and still at these low than has ever been mined in any one year. It is equal to the entire product of any twenty years up to 1840, and if the present ratio of increase goes on we shall in 1900 have an annual product of $320,000,000, and the world’s stock will, between this time and that, have been increased by more than $2,000,000,000. These figures are inconceiv- able, but they are founded on fact, and they represent a revolution brought about by a combination of new discoveries in natural resources and new inventions as applied to mining, which will revolutionize the finan- cial system of the world. The New Cheap Processes. But let me tell you something of these cheap methods which have lately been in- vented for getting out gold. You have all heard of placer mining, or the washing of gold grain, nuggets cr dust out of the beds of rivers and the sides of mountains. The first mining done was of this kind, and urtil lately nine-tenths cf all of the gold of the world was gotten out in this way. An enormous quantity was then produced by crushing the rock and smelting it. This, however, is a very expensive process, cost- ing $14 and upward to the ton of rock, and ore which does not contain more than $20 per ton seldom pays the cost for smelt- ing. By the new processes, if there is $10 worth of gold in @ ton ef rock it can be gotten out at a profit. There are immense ore bodies near Salt Lake City, which can be profitably mined for $2.50 a ton, and there is one mine there where the cost of reduction is not more than 75 cents. I am ! fore it can be grourd to powder. This is dene by passing it through enormous steel tubes of the length of an ordinary railroad pesset.ger coach and as big around as a ficur barrel. ‘Througn these tubes flames of gus continually blow. They are inclined at such an angle that the ore going in at the top as they revolve rolls slowly down to the bottom. As it rolls it has this fiery bath, and the heat takes all the moisture out of the rock. Then an elevator of iron buckets, much like that which carries wheat up in a flour mill, carries the ore to the top of the works, and it is emptied in steel crushers, which grind it to powder. The ore which we saw before as cobble stones and broken rock has now become a flour. It looks like dust, and it is composed of millions of grains, but each of those grains contains an infinitestmal quantity of gcld, and this costly dust is worth a fertune. The rock was hard and rough. The dust {is so soft and fine that you can 1ub it to and fro in your hands without scratching the skin, and it looks much like powdered pumice stone. It has, how- ever, no gleam of gold, and were it on the road you would drive your carriage through it without thinking. Golden Mush. The dust {s now ready for its cyanide bath. It is loaded into cars and wheeled into what might be called the bath room. This is an immense room, filled with ctir- cular tanks made of steel. Each tank is about thirty feet in diameter and as high as your walst. Each will hold 100 tons of told that mills are now being put up in Parke county, Col., which will treat ores for 75 cents ner ton and save 9 per cent of the gold, and mere than half a million dollars of gold which wou'd have been wasied has been gotten out of Crippie Creek rock by the cyanide mil, which I describe further on. Then there is the chlorination process, by which cet kinds of ore are treated with and gases, and out of them are taken ingois of pure gold. There is bromination process somewhat similar, and a method has been lately invented in Ger- tain | many for getting the gold out of the rock by electricity. What Cyanide Is. The most !mportant process, however, Is the extraction of the gold by means of cyanide of potassium. Cyanide of potas- sium ts a chemical which looks for all the world like alum. It now costs from thirty to fifty certs a pound. It is made of the keofs, horns and refuse of cattle, and It 1s, Geadly poison. It has, however, a won- derful affinity for gold, and when mixed with water and applied to the ore In a cer- taln way it will suck all of the gold out of the rock. This process of extraction was invented by two Scotchmen, and the first mill was put up in Australia in 1888. Then one was put up in South Africa and in 1892 the first cyanide mill of the Cnited States was erected in Boulder county, Col. There are now more than fifty cyanide plants in South Africa. There are twen- ty-four in Australasia and something like twenty in different parts of the United | States, with a number of others going up ail over the world. The World’s Biggest Cyanide Mill. The biggest and most perfect of all so far erected Is that of the Metallic Reduc- tion Works near Florence, which I visited the other day. Into this mill are poured car loads of what Icok like cobble stones. THE LARGEST CYANIDE MILLS IN THE WORLD. figures it gives the proprietors 100 per cent profit. The gold of the Dakotas !s of a low grade, and there are hundreds upon hun-| dreds ef square miles In Colorado wkich contain low grade ore. Wagon loads of rock picked up off the grazing fields about Cripple Creek*have aszayed $22 per ton, and cl4 mines which have been abandoned ara by sees now being worked ate p ew pro! ‘ofit. The Golden Era. ni never tell where gold ts until you | You find it, say the old miners, and the pros- pectiag which is now belng done will de- velop, in ail probability, mines containing the richest of ore, as well as low-grade mines. Take the Golden Fleece mine, which new prod from twenty to thirty thous- g@nd dollars a month, and has been doing so for fo} five years. It was located about twenty years ago, worked for a time and aband: It was then sold. The buyers ‘Then d. worked it and gave it up as a failure. ® man named Davis, who understood the Decullar ores of the Golden Fleece, took an tion on the property for $15,000. He ap- plied new processes to the reduction of his ores, and his first car load netted -him the amount of the bond. On the strength of that car lead he was offered such a price for the property that he could have sold out and made $75,000 on the deal. He went on mining, and soon struck a big vein. This mine has now 600,000 shares, and I am told that ft has already patd about $500,000 in dividends. ‘The reduction of the low-grade ores will alone revolutionize the gold product of the world. The increase is already enormous. ‘The South African mines are to a large ex- | tent low grade. They produced $40,000,000 | worth of gold last year, and $10,000,000 worth of this would have been lost had it not heen for the new processes of getting out gold by the use of cyanide of potasst: These mines were opened first in 1887. Up to the first of last January they had pro- duced about $150,000,000 worth of gold, and Hamilton Smith, the great English mining engineer, estimates that there is more than @ billion and a half dollars’ worth of gold in the already known fields of South Africa Yet to be mined. The Australian mines are turning out great quantities of gold, and in 1894 both Africa and Australia were ahead of us in gold production. It is only lately that we have gotten these new processes at work upon our ores, but last year we re- gained our place as the chief gold-producing country of the world. In 1895 we led both Africa and Australia by more than $10,000,- 0, our gold product last year amounting to $50,000,000, Colorado alone had an in- crease in 1895 over its product of 1894 of $8,000,000, and it stands today as the great- est gold state of the Union. It produced Jast year $18,000,000 worth of gold, or three qnillions more than California, and Colorado Men tell me that they expect to get at leasi $25,000,000 worth of gold out of the moun- tains during the present year. There wil! Je an enormous increase in the gold product of Utah this year, and California, which Produced $15,000,000 worth of gold in 1805, Will produce more in 1806, Altogether in 1885 the world produced nearly $200,000,000 worth of gold, This is a greater amount railroad ballast or broken granite, and out of it every month as a result comes a brick of solid gold, worth $40,000. New works are now being added, and by the time this let- ter is published it will be four times as large as itis now. It will then be able to re- duce 400 tons of gold ore a day, and, suppos- ing the rock to have only one-half ounce of gold to the ton, its output will be at the rate of $6,000 per day, or about $2,000,000 worth of gold per year. The works are situated on the edge of the Rocky moun- tains within two miles of the ofl town of Florence. They look much like an im- mense wheat elevator or rudely built biz Pennsylvania barrs, but they contain the finest machinery of their kind in the world. They suck 97 per cent of the gold out of the rock which passes through them, whereas the mills of South Africa, it is said, are able to save only from 60 to 80 per cent. These mills use petroleum as frel, and the Florence Cripple Creek rail- road brings the Cripple Creek ores directly to them. A Trip Through the Mill. Let us now tuke a train load of gold- bearing rock and follow it through this graat mill. How the gold is gotten out of the mine I will describe in another letter. Our freight cars are filled with the ore. It is a mixture of broker: granite, porphyry ard other stones of different colors. There is gravel in it. It contains dirt, and it is for ali the world like a pile of broken up rocks mixed with the refuse of a quarry of rotten granite. There is not a sign of sold anywhere. You can take up a piece of rock from any part of the car load and examine {t through a microscope and you will not see a glint of yellow or anything which to your eyes would indicate gold. Still, that rock will averege a half an ounce of gold to the ton. In those car loads one atom in every 48,000 is gold, but this atom is almost evenly mixed throughout the whole, and the question is to get it out. Costly Dust. The superintendent of the works tells us this as we ride on the cars up to the mill. We are carried by means of an on- gire om a trestle work track, which lands the ore at the top of the mill, fur the rock is carried from one level to another by means of gravity. We look down at the lead as we go up. There are specks of stone the size of the head of a pin, and there sre Immense boulders weighing hun- dreds of pounds, All this must be crushed to powder before it can be worked. The car steps at the top and the ore is loaded irto what looks like a gigantic coffee mill, the top of which is as big around as a hogshead. As the rock falls into it the mili seizes the stones in its great steel teeth and grinds them to pieces.* You jhear them apparently groan as they are crushed and you shudder at the thought of getting into the jaws of the machinery. This mill grinds the ore to the size of a walnut. Another takes it and reduces it to pieces the size of a pea, and it is thao ready for the dryer. Every molecule of moisture must be taken out of the ore he- chemicals | finally ; this powdered dust. The cars run along a little railroad which leads from one tank to another and from which the dust ped into the tanks. Then the cyanide solution is introduced by means of pipes. The solu Sa fluid as clear as crystal. It lcoks like water, but it is water con- daining the poisonous cyanide of potassium. kes about one pound of cyanide to get pid out of each ton of ore, and as the uns through the dust the mixture for all the werld like brown mush. It . but it is mush mixed with gold. suff oks mu | | by the atlinity which the cyanide of um has for gold, as the solution rains sthrough the sandy dust, the gold Jleaves the earth and melts and a j the torm of a liquid and beecme part of the solution. It is just as though you had a lot of salt or sugar mixed with dirt. | If you should put water on the dirt the salt and sugar would be di: ved and go into the . that is the way the gold does wiih this mixture of cyanide of potassium and water. It takes some time, | however, for the solution to soak all of the | Sold cut of the sand, and it is left for sev- eral days upon it. At the end of this time the gold has all gone into the solution and you have this fluid made up of water and gold and cyanide floating around through the mush. The solution is still as clear as crystal, and there is no sign of gold. Now,each of these immense tanks has two bottoms. One is of solid material through which the water cannot pass and the other 1s of canvas. When the dust is first put in the bottom is double, with the solid bot- tom beneath. After the liquid has been long enough on the mush the solid bottom is taken away and the solution containing the gold drains out through the canvas and is carried away, leaving almost noth- ing but the dirt behind. One tank of dust at the estimate of half an ounce of gold to the ton contains a thousind dollars’ worth of gold. Of this $970 worth has gone into the water, leaving a waste of only $30 in one hundred tons of ore. Gold From Water. We have now several hogsheads of gold- en water. It looks like common water. It is as clear as crystal, and were it in a pitcher you might drink it by mistake. We know, however, that it has that $970 worth of gold in it, and the question is how to get it out. If it were salt or sugar we might evaporate the water and the residue at the bottom would be a part of the sugar and salt within it. But gold is not to be gotten out in that way. It is taken from the water much on the same principle as that by which it has been extracted from the rock. Gold as it exists in the cyanide solution has a peculiar affinity for zinc. If there is an atom of zine next to one of these molecules of gold it will leave the cyanide water and stick to the zine. But zinc is expensive, and a large surface is needed to gather all these little molecules of gold. The surface is gotten by having the zine prepared in circular disks of the size of a dinner plate and about as thick ag the head of a pin. These, by means of a lathe, are turned into fine shavings, much like the excelsior used for packing dishes. This zinc excelsior is now put into steel vats about eighteen feet long and four feet wide and two feet deep. These vats have partitions running through them, and each compartment is loosely filled with this zine excelslor. Now the cyanide solution, with its gold in it, is turnel into the vat and so arranged that it will slowly flow about through the zine exceisior. As the golden water washes the zinc shavings the atoms of gold leave the water and stick to the zinc until at last every bit of water has given up its gold. The zinc under its In- fluence gradually turns from a bright sil- ver to a dirty yellow. It grows heavier and heavier with its golden load, until it has at last gathered all the gold.’ The so- lution is then drawn off through holes in the bottom of the vat and strengthened up in order to be used to gather more gold. ‘The zinc and gold is put into a furnace and smelted, and after a short time the result is a brick of soiid gold, purer than that which is used for wedding rings or golden eagles. FRANK G. CARPENTER. eg FORCE OF HABIT. umes, Easy to Tell a Man’s Business From His Actions. From the New York Press. They were both students at the new school of psychology, physiognomy and metaphysics. They dropped into an all- night restaurant and were talking of hyp- notism. “See that young man over there near the icebox?" asked one. “Yes; why?” asked the other. “What business does he follow, judging from scientific observation?” “He is either a night operator or a gam- bler.”” “By what reasoning?” “Because he is pale and nervous. The sun never shines on him. He has a voca- tion that keeps his nerves at a high ten- sion.” The students left the contemplation of scientific research to investigate the merits of two clam chowders. “I'll tell you what line of business that man follows,’’ said the second philosopher, after a long pause. “Well, what doves he do for a living?” “Paying teller in a bank.” “How do you know?” “I watched him when the waiter brought his pancakes a minute ago. He dampened his fingers and ran them over to see if the count was right. ee Did It Quietly. ; From Truth. “Do you know that fortune knocks once at every man’s door?” “Well. fortune must have had gloves on when she knocked at mine."* T alas 1. Bi 4) Dk 2d W. ae DRIFTING POLEWARD| ——— Andree’s Perilous Balloon Journey Over Frozen Seas. AN ENORMOUS GAS SHIP USED —_e Description of the Novel and In- tricate Apparatus. STEERING THE COURSE — = T MAY BE THAT at this moment a vast balloon, carry- ing three adyentur- ous Swedes, is drift- ing across that mys- terious region of the earth known as the North Pole. This ts the famous Andree expedition, for which preparations have been in progress in Sweden for many months. The vessel containing the balloon and its appurte- lances, together with the explorers and their assistants, sailed June 7 from Go- thenburg, Norway, and was expecied to reach Amsterdam Island, Sptizhergen from which the. start was to be made, June 18. A dispatch ‘was received about ten days ago from Thomas, Norway, stat- reach Amsterdam Ieiand,,_ Spitzbergen, was that Andree was about ready to start, and was waiting only fof’a favorable wind before floating off into the unknown re- gions of the north. , The August issue of the Strand Maga- zine contains an interesting description of the Andree hailoon and the facts connected with the exploit.” When Mr, Andrée first made his pro- posed voyage known to an Mr. S. A. Andree. dience (at the geographical congress in 1805) he received but scant encourage- ment at the hands of men of science, and probably less from the public generally. One scientific man, indeed, characterized the idea as foolhardy, and in all likeli- hood the majority of people who have not taken the trouble to follow Mr. An- dree's reasoning in the raatter may be of much the same opinion. But the same might be said of most of the multitude of expeditiors that have gone in search of the pole, as well as of many other under- takings. Every attempt to do some- thing that has not been done before looks fcolhardy to most people, until the reasons upon which the adventurer acts are seen to have been justified by results. The idea of attempting to reach the pole by balloon is one Mr. Andree hi ris mind for some years. In 187 on his way across the Atlantic, struck by the regularity of the t This led him to reflect upon t e possibf of making long balloon voyages, and es- pecially of crossing the Atlantic from Eu- rope to Americ The inipossibility, how- ever, as he thought, of getting the money for such an enterprise caused the idea to be practically laid aside until 1892. Then the splendid feat of Nerdenskiold and the exploits of other Swedish scientists and explorers in the arctic regions excited in Mr. Andree the desire to do something with the balloon in the same regions. Hence arose the idea of utilizing the bal- loon to ercss the polar region and perhaps to reach the pole. Experimental Trips. Up to this time‘his study of balloons had been mainly theoretical; but now he com- menced eee practically with them. He first ‘of all made some trips with the Norwegian aeronaut, Cetti. Af- temthat he obtained aigrant of £300 from a fund for scientific purposes called “Lars Hjertas Minne." ;With:this money he pur- chased a small halloom capable of holding 40,500 cubic feet: of (gas, with which he made some ten or: twelve ascents. The experience:-of bailoon navigation ac- quired during these trips strengthened Mr. Andree’s belief im ther possibility of reach- ing the pole by aarships, as well as his re- Balloon House, Amsterdam Island. solve to make the attempt if he could get the means wherewith to fit out his expedi- tion. Baron Nordenskiold, the celebrated aretic traveller, supported him warmly, and he had not long to wait for the money. He estimated that he would require in all something like £7,220. @oward this sum one Swedish gentlcman, Mr. Alfred Nobel, gave 43,400, The king immediately increased it by a gift from his private purse of £1,730; Baron Dickson added an equal amount; and a private individual in Stockholm brought the amount up to the required £7,220 by a donation of £300. This practi- cally closed the subscription, but Col. Sell- stroem, a patriotic Swede of Buenos Ayres, sent an additional £200, as he put it, “for extras that are sure to be required.” Having thus secured the means for his undertaking, Mr. Andree went to work in earnest. He traveled in England, France and Germany, adding to his knowledge of balloons and’ their manufacture. On his return he carefully revise’ what he had seen, drew up the plan of an airship such as he wanted for his purpose, and gave it to M. Lacaambre, the famous balloon man- ufacturer of Paris, to construct, at a cost of 42,000, The Balloon, ‘The finished balloon is 75 English feet in height from the appendice, or opening, to the summit, or 97 feet in all from the cap to the bottom of the basket, or gondola, in which the air navigators will have their sleeping place during their sky voyaging. ‘The upper two-thirds of the balloon proper are made of three thicknesses of silk, the lower third of two thicknesses, the whole being stuck together with varnish. In ad- dition two coats of varnish are given to the outside of the vik, and two to the in- side; the network in which the balloon 1s inclosed is of Italian hemp five millimeters in thickness (about 2 in.). At the balloon's largest diameter, the meshes of the netting are about 13 inches square, decreasing in size, of course, as the balloon narrows up- ward and downward. The balloon has no valve at the top, as is generally the case, but has instead’ two on opposite sides of the equator, and a third at the appendice. This latter is automatic, and is designed to rreyent the entrance of air into the bal- loon. Tt opens by a pressure equal to ten millimeters (about 4 in.) of water and lets out superfluous gas The upper valves are opened by lines attached to them on the inside, and passing through the balloon near to the automatic valve. The upper end of-the palloon is protected by a cap of varnished silk. This is to strengthen it against snow and the rays of the sun. All the ropes—forty-eight in number— coming from the network terminate in the suspension or bearing ring, the strongest part of the whole apparatus. This ring is made of wood and is seven meters (about yds.) in circumference. Strengthened by bars, it serves as a storage place for reserve ropes, anchors, ete. The spaces between the ropes descending from the network to the suspension ring are covered on the outside by canvas. In- side the canvas are sewn pockets in rows one above another. They number some 300 in oll. In some are stcred meat in tins, in others provisions of various kinds, while in others are the materials for a collap- sible boat, a tent, and three sledges. This store house, as we may call it, is 15 feet in diameter in the higher part, and has a circumference of 50 feet, while its depth is Gls feet. Steering Apparatus. The bearing-ring, of course, supports the basket and the apparatus for steering. This steering apparatus is a new feature in ballooning, the invention of Mr. Andree. It consists of guide-ropes and sails. The guide-ropes are three in number, and are attached by means of gearing to the sus- pension-ring, hanging thence to the ground or the water, as the case may He, and drag- ged along in the wake of the balloon. The ropes are of different lengths, the shortest being 310 meters (about 1,017 feet) in length, the next 320 (about 1,042 feet) and the long- est 370 meters (about 1,205 feet), and they weigh a kilogram (about 2 1-4 pounds) per meter. The difference in length is designed to prevent them from hanging close to- gether, in which case, if any of them got lodged, all would be lodged, and the balloon would be stopped in its progress. But if any of the ropes catch separately the bal- loon can be freed, either by the rope break- ing at its weakest point (specially con- trived) or by its being detached from the balloon by means of a screw imbedded in the rope 100 meters (about 328 feet) from the suspenson-ring. Supposing one of the ropes were to be caught in something, one of those In the balloon would twist the rope at the top, and this would have‘ the The Balloon. effect of releasing a spring, and so allow- ing a screw to be unscrewed. ‘The guide-ropes are trailed after the bal- loon, of course, exactly in a line with the direction in which the balloon happens to be going. If the end of the rope be moved right or left in the bearing-ring, the balloon will at once turn round an equal distance in the opposite direction, so as still to keep it exactly in its wake. Mr. Andree found when once crossing the Baltic, and had dropped the end of a rope into the water to “slow” the motion of the balloon, that the retarding effect of The guide-ropes on the balloon causes it to move with less velocity than the wind does, and at the same time excites a pressure of wind corresponding to the diminution of the velocity. If this pressure acis upon the sail, it will carry the balloon in the same direction. If the sail is at right angles to the direction of the wind, then the direc- tion of the movement will not be changed. But if the sail is brought to a more acute angle to the direction of the wind, the pres- sure of the wind will cause the balloon to deviate from the direction of the wind. Sails for Guiding. The balloon carries three sails. They are attached to bamboo spars lying across the | bearing-ring and beneath the balloon proper. One is inside the ropes that sup- port the bearing-ring, while the other two are outside the ropes, presenting in all 800 square feet to the wind. The sails are sus- pended by broad straps from the top of the balloon, the straps being held in place by being threaded in and out of the netting. In the ordinary way the sails would only help to carry the balloon directly before the wind. But if the guide-ropes are moved a point or two to the right on the bear- ing-ring, the sails, instead of being directly before the wind, are brought to a slight angle to it, and the action of the ropes dragging behind keeps them there, with the result that the air-ship, in place of going directly before the wind, moves in a direc- tion at a certain angle to it. These guide-ropes serve another purpose in the guidance of the balloon: that is, they tend to keep it at a certain and equal mean distance from the ground. “I shall never go beyond 150 meters (about 492 feet) from the earth if I can help,” Mr. Andree observed, in explaining the management of his balloon. “I may be obliged to go up higher if I meet with very high land, but so far as possible I shail keep to my mean height of 1%) meters. There will necessarily be a slight varia- tion of distance from the ground, for when the sun shines the gas will be made lighter, and hence the balloon will rise a little. In the same way, if the sky be overcast the gas will be cooled—made heavfer—and the balloon will descend somewhat. But if the balloon wishes to rise there is at once a check put upon it, because it has to lift the guide-ropes, which are dragging upon the ground or in the water, and which in all weigh 1,000 kilograms (about 2,204 Pounds). On the contrary, if there is a dis- Position to descend, it decreases the weight it is carrying with every foot it sinks, be- cause it has so much less rope to bear, and hence the downward motion is arrested. Thus there is a constant force at work tending to keep the balloon at a mean dis- tance from the ground. The guide-ropes, four inches in diameter, are for the first 100 meters (about 328 feet) of hemp, the lower part being of coir, and are thoroughly saturated with vaseline to the guide-ropes can be moved from point to point of the suspension-ring, as required for the purpose of steering. The Living Arrangements. The basket, or gcndola, is circular in shape, about five feet in depth, and six and one-half feet in diameter. The lower edge on one side is cut away, so that if it strikes the ground it will not turn over. The edge thus shaved away is the one facing the di- rection the balloon is going. The basket is provided with a strong wicker-work lid, in which is a trap-door la-ge enough for Cooking Steering Appnratus. Apparatas. the exit and entrance of the travelers, whose sleeping place is in the basket. Only one person, however, will sleep at a time, the other two being in the meantime at work in the “observatory,” as the space immediately above the basket is called. The observers stand upon the lid, above which they have free space of some eight feet. At a convenient height (about three and one-half feet) is a ring of equal circumfer- ence with the basket, and upen this are fastened the scientific instruments with which they work; barometers, thermome- ters, sextants, altazimuth, anemometer, an instrument for determining the direction and velocity of the clouds, one for record- ing the intensity of the sunlight, another for showing the true horizon, compasses, @ magnetometer, a theodolite, and two pho- tographic cameras. When the observatory is suspended from the balloon, a canvas covering will extend round the supports, which will, to some extent, protect the ob: servers from the wind. Inside, the canvas is provided with pockets for holding record ing books, instruments when not in use. A cooking stove has been specially Invented to obviate the danger that would arise if cooking were done in too close proximity to the gas. It measures ten inches by sev- enteen inches, and when in use hangs } rope twenty-five feet below the roof of the basket. By means of a string running -down an india rubber tube, a match 1s struck and a spirit lamp fs lighted. In half an hour water is boiled, soup made, or meat cocked; then by a puff down the tube the lamp is extinguished, and the food is realy to be hoisted up and enjoyed. It cannot be used, however, in a high wind. Mr. Andree has made something like thir- ty inventions in connection with the bal- loon; then manufacturers have made others to overcome difficulties; so that, with Dr. Ekholm’'s and Mr. Strindberg’s, sixty or seventy inventions in all have been maie in order to carry out specially the design of the expedition. One of these is an in- vention by which they will have fresh bread all the time. A collapsible boat twelve feet in length by four feet in breadth ts also carried: the framework of it is of ash, and the covering of silk, the same as that of the balloon. No nails are used in its construction, the keel, ribs, ete., being tied together ‘with sinews. It carries three persons and 690 kilogrammes (about 1,223 pounds)of freight. Two men can put it together in six hours Silk for Clothing. The silk used for the balloon and the boat has been found, when prepared with var- the aerial voyagers have had suits made of it to wear when in their sky observatory. Their other clothing includes sleeping bags like those used by Nansen in his niand expedition. ‘The sledges, like the frame of the boat, are made of ash. Meters (about nine feet ten inches) in length, weigh a little over twelve kilo- grams (about twenty-six and one-half pounds), and carry 100) kilograms (about 220 pounds) each. They are made from the design of Mr. Andree, and the accompany- ing diagram by him will show in what they diifer from the old form of arctic sledge. In short, they are of the same shape top and bottom, so that if the runners get damaged by the ice, the sledge can be turned right over. A small bucy, made of cork and covered with copper wire, terminating in a spiral nish,so impermeable by wind and water,that | They are nearly three | bearing the Swedish flag, is to be dropped | at each degree of latitude as a Within each is a brass tube in w be placed a record and chart of progress made. Dr. Ekholm is a man bordering on fifty years of age. He is a doctor of science, and one of the best-known meteorologists in Europe. So long ago as 1882-83 he had charge of a Swedish scientific expedition to Spitzbergen, in which Mr. Andree took part. He is the author of several treatises on subjects connected with meteorology. Mr. Andree is an engineer by profe: but is now the examiner-in-chief o royal patent office in Sweden. He is very tali, standing over six feet, broad-shoui- dered, and altogether of herculean frame. It is possible that he may return from his voyage before completing his forty-second year. In a city notable for handsome men, he is remarkable for his good looks. The third and youngest member of the party, Mr. Nils Strindberg, is, like his chief, a man of magnificent physique, and appar- ently well fitted to urdergo any amount of fatigu>. He is not yet twenty-four years of age; but he has already distinguished himself at the university, especially in science, and is a teacher at the High School for Science in Stockholm. Both Dr. Ekholm and Mr. Strindberg have the greatest confidence in their chief, and mark. The boats on the Park Lake are v ich will | | bis disti well they may, fora cooler or more cour- ageous man is rarely to be found. Three Parts of the Expedition. The expedition naturally’ divides itself into three parts: The voyage to Spitz- bergen,the balloon voyage and the journey home. For the transport of the travelers, their balloor, the materials for inflating it, ete. and the necessary provisions to Spitzbergen, the iron ship Virgo of 5,500 tons carrying capacity, Capt. H. Zachau, was chartered. It sailed from Gothenburg on June 7. Captain Zachau expected to reach his desti- nation about June 18. Arrived there, and a landing safely ef- fected, there was much to be done—the wooden house, ninety-five feet in width and 100 feet in height, for sheltering the bal- loon during inflation, to be put up, the ga making shed and apparatus to be erected, and a great deal of detail work to be seen to. Tae house was constructed at Gothen- burg at a cost of £1,000. It is octagonal in shape, and is so substantially put together that when half of it is taken away the other half remains perfectly stable. This was done with the view of allowing the lee side to be removed when a suitable wind arose, so that the balloon could get free from the house without being subjected to undue pressure from the wind. The roof, which is of canvas, is so constructed that it can be removed in a few minutes by pulleys. The material for making the gas consists of forty tons of iron filings, thirty-five tons of sulphuric acid and seventy-five tons of water. For putting up the house, making the gas, etc, a large number of carpenters, blacksmiths and other artisans—including an experienced gas maker—were taken with the expedition to Spitzbergen. Everything being ready, it was Mr. An- dree’s intention to take advantage of the first southerly wind, if strong enough, to let > his moorings’ and sail away north, into the regions of eternal ice. None of the explorers appear to have the least dovbt about their coming safely home from their perilous adventure. The only doubt there seems to be in their minds is as to where they will land, and how far they may have to travel over snow and ice before they reach the borders of civiliza- tion. The explorers calculated that they would lose about one cubic foot of gas a day, and that they could afford to lose 10) cubic feet without impairing the efficien the balloon. They carry food for about 120 days. As regards the temperature they will ex- perience, Mr. Andree thinks they will have it about freezing point all the time. “Our chief danger,” he adds, “will arise from sbow or rain getting f: on the in, If we were to have much snow and it be- came firmly attached to the balloon, or if much rain were to fall and it froze, that would be @ real danger, because it might overweight us and bring us to the ground. But apart from that, I do not se danger If we got into a cycione, w 4 Steer out of it, as a ship does.” The Time Necessary. Dr. Ekholm’s estimate Is that under fa- vorable circumstances they may travel at the rate of from twelve to fif miles an hour, and that they might reach the jole in six days, and Siberia of the North continent in two weeks more, he remarke st favorable be six we in ntal land, and that is really to be the case.” we might Mr. Anirec’s than this. He rate of t or nearly that. ." he says be at the pole in forty-two hours, Siberia or Bering’s strait in a week lacghs as he says so, but adds quite possible, but I don’t think it is very probable, It is more likely that we shail be three weeks or even me I would Tather not do it so quick, ause of our observations.” It ma: udging from what is known of the prevailing winds in the polar regions, the explorers arrived at the following ‘conclusions regards the probable place of their landing (1) The greatest probability is that the balloon will land in ria in about lat:- tude 70 N. and long. ¢ That it wif la the S&S oveden peninsula in lat. 70 N., long. 70 E. That it will land in the v pe Barrow in Alaska, in lat inity of WN. and an >» W., where there ts an Ame station. will nt That it land in itish North e long 10) ¥ ing of these probabilities Mr. An- iree 3 “For myself, I would like as well as anything to sight continental land at Bering’s strait, and be able to go as far San Francisco, but that is not likely. What would please me the least, perhaps, Weuld be to come down in northern land, which would probably compel remain there a year. We might, of « find ourselves brought right back to $ bergen, though that, of course, ish. to_be ‘expected.” Dr. Ekholm took t« fa wife after the expedition was decided upon and he had undertaken to go with it ally, he wished to postpone the w until his return, but the lady felt and desired that the ceremony should piace without delay Neither Mr. Andree nor his yo panion is married. ly Person- nger Mr. Andree’s mother is still living, bright and ve-minded lady of seventy. hing conc the expedition she atches with the greate Not Hf rl or paragraph rs about tt j but she must have a copy, and these she | dates and puts away with the greatest | uld the voyagers have the good for- e to return, and ny part of the Rus given Tens of thousand: distributed broadcast the: should jominions, le reular throughe n instructing all and sundry what to do should the balloon descend in their midst. milar circulars have been distributed also in Alaska and British North America a Another Kind of Queen. From Aaccdotes. A scn of the Marquis of Salisbury has | 2 great love fur bees, and, finding one of | his hives queenless, he sent an orler to Welwyn, the nearest town to his f: beautiful estate at Hatfield, for a Carniolan queen, i.r., a famous Italian bee, and asked to be informed of the probable time of its arrival. The bee master, wishing to serve guished emer with all promp- sent off the be the next train, tude and wired to Hatfield phe qu will ar- e by 340 this afternoon.” When the eung Icrd reached the station he found the place thronged with peop! graph clerk had jumped to the conclusion that her majesty was paying a sudden sit to Hatfield, and, as he was unable to ep stch an important telegram to him- self, the news spread like wildfire Gfeat was the disappointment of the peo- ple when they discovered that the only queen to come was one that the young lord could carry home in a match box in his waistcoat pocket. The telo- +o+ Insufficient Data. From he Cincinnati Enquirer. The inquisitive passenger had hinted areund until his patience had worn out, so he asked the dignified passenger: “What is your business?” The dignified one answered him: “I am a lung specialist.”” The inquisitive man stayed still for awhile, then he broke out again “Say, I just happened to think,” he said. “Did you mean you are a doctor or a prize fighter?” u ry pretty and picturesque, but the names do not always fit the occupants.—Harper’s Bazer.