WALTER WELLMAN'S EXPEDITION TO THE 



NORTH POLE 



AT a meeting of the Board of Man- 

 agers of the National Geo- 

 graphic Society on March 16, 

 190b, President Willis L. Moore in the 

 chair, the following resolution, moved by 

 Dr Alexander Graham Bell and seconded 

 by Rear Admiral Colby M. Chester, 

 U. S. N., was unanimously adopted: 



"Resolved, That it is the sense of the 

 Board that the plans outlined by Mr 

 Walter Wellman for reaching the North 

 Pole are carefully and thoroughly con- 

 sidered, and give good promise of suc- 

 cess ; 



"That the Board heartily approves of 

 these plans, and will do everything in its 

 power to aid in carrying them out ; 



"That the Board accepts Mr Wellman's 

 proposition to send a scientific represen- 

 tative, and will, as far as possible, see 

 that such representative is equipped for 

 the work involved." 



Major Henry E. Hersey has been ap- 

 pointed the representative of the National 

 Geographic Society to accompany Mr 

 Wellman, and the scientific program is 

 now being arranged by the Research 

 Committee of the Society, consisting of 

 Vice-President Henry Gannett, Chair- 

 man ; C. Hart Merriam, F. V. Coville, 

 A. J. Henry, O. H. Tittmann, C. W. 

 Hayes, L. A. Bauer, W. H. Holmes, O. P. 

 Austin, and C. M. Chester. 



When the Spanish-American war be- 

 gan, Major Hersey was in charge of the 

 climate and crop work of the U. S. 

 Weather Bureau in Arizona. He ob- 

 tained leave of absence, raised a regiment, 

 and offered his services to the govern- 

 ment. Only part of the regiment was 

 needed, so that Major Hersey was trans- 

 ferred as captain to the Rough Riders, of 

 which he was the ranking major when 

 the war closed. Since then he has been 

 connected with the U. S. Weather Bu- 

 reau. Probably two additional men will 



accompany Mr Wellman and Major 

 Hersey in the airship voyage. 



The first announcement that Mr Well- 

 man would attempt to reach the North 

 Pole in an airship was made on Decem- 

 ber 31, 1905. Mr Victor Lawson, the 

 principal owner of the Chicago-Record 

 Herald and a life member of the National 

 Geographic Society, supplies the money. 

 His public spirit and generosity in thus 

 supporting an expedition which will 

 probably cost more than $250,000 before 

 it is completed is deserving of the highest 

 respect and appreciation. The expedi- 

 tion has been incorporated under the laws 

 of Maine, with Mr Lawson, president; 

 Mr Frank B. Noyes, editor of the Chi- 

 cago-Record Herald, treasurer, and Mr 

 Wellman, general manager. The plans 

 of the airship were determined after 

 much deliberation with the leading ex- 

 perts in aeronautics of France. 



Among Mr Wellman's advisers were 

 Alberto Santos-Dumont ; the engineer, 

 Henri Julliot, who built the Lebaudy 

 dirigible and who has just been accorded 

 the grand cross of the Legion or Honor; 

 Commandant Renard, of the army, repre- 

 sentative of the distinguished family 

 whose names are famous in the history of 

 aerial navigation; Commandant Bout- 

 tiaux, chief of the army aerostatic sta- 

 tion at Meudon ; Captain Voyer, assistant 

 chief and a man of great experience in 

 aeronautics and with dirigibles ; M. 

 Goupil, well known mathematician, the 

 greatest authority in France on aerial 

 screws, engineer, and chevalier of the 

 Legion of Honor ; Captain Ferber, an ex- 

 pert not only in aeronautics, but in avia- 

 tion ; M. Edouard Surcouf, a well-known 

 constructor and engineer, who is now 

 building a dirigible for M. Deustch (de 

 la Meurthe) ; M. Louis Godard, the 

 aeronaut and constructor who has built 

 scores of ships of the air and who has 



