BURIED IN ICE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1059, 25 August 1930, Page 10

BURIED IN ICE

BALLOONISTS MISSING FOR 33 YEARS ANDREE AND COMPANIONS Well-preserved in the ice, the bodies of three Swedish balloonists. who left on a projected trip to the North pole in 1897, have been discovered by hunters. Instruments and records were found nearby. United P.A.—By Telegraph—Copyright OSLO, Friday. Hunters in Franz Josef Land found the bodies of the Swedish balloonist, S. A. Andree, and his companions, who set out in a balloon in 1897 for the North Pole. They state the bodies are well preserved in ice. The diary shows that Andree was the last to die. Andree’s body was fully dressed in Polar equipment and lay near the sledge. It was so well preserved that it was possible to recognise his features. A diary and a trinket which was engraved “S. A. Andree,” was found in a pocket. This ghostly camp, which had beeij established by the explorers after their balloon had been driven down, was discovered by an expedition when it landed, but at first little attention was paid to it, the party thinking it was an abandoned camp. Later, upon consulting records, it was found that no previous explorers had landed on the island. A closer investigation was made of the cooking utensils, which were found near the shore, and a little farther inland the explorers found the remains of the lost camp with the bodies of the three men. Clothes and other equipment were lying nearby, together with several instruments, which were marked, “Andree’s Polar Expedition, 1896.” NO TRACE OF BALLOON To all appearances Andree had outlived his companions. Dr. Horn, leader of the expedition which made the discovery, states that much equipment is hidden in the ice Digging operations are most difficult. The bodies, together with the equipment, were taken aboard ship, which will shortly leave for Norway. It is expected to reach Tomsoe on September 10. No trace of the balloon has been found. It is believed that when forced down the explorers set out on foot to reach the shore in the hope of rescue. The position of the bodies leads to the conclusion that they were caught in the snowstorm while pulling the sledges. Later. It is now stated the discovery was made by a Norwegian scientific expedition under the leadership of Dr. Horn, which landed at White Island, 100 miles south-east of Franz Joseph Land. Andree’s expedition had apparently come to grief after covering 400 miles from Spitsbergen. Salomon August Andree, the Swedish balloonist, set out in July, 1897, from Dane’s Island, Spitsbergen, with two others to carry out a plan to reach the North Pole, but the-party was never heard of again. Some of the buoys which they dropped were later found; but beyond these signs, the several expeditions which set out to find them could discover nothing. Andree was born in October, 1854, and had from an early age manifested a keen interest in ballooning. He had worked for some time on his plan for reaching the North Pole by this route.