The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-09-17
The Polar Region an Open Sea.

That wonderful man, Columbus, acting on a con-
~yietion, which, from its depth and strength, must
have been inspired, proved the existence OF what
was then called a new world. Yet, though the
discovery was the greatest ever given to man to
make, it was not the object sought that object
was g western route to India Columbus him
self. when he first knelt on the shores OF st. Sal
yador, thought he had reached the tabled land,
and little suspected that the whole continent OF
America Law between him and it. Subsequent
voyages and reflections rectifed this error. and
then il was that a new route was sought by CABOT
and his sons BY the North Pole. From that day
IN this. all the maritime nations have sent forth
their most daring and experienced naVlgators TO
find this direct water way. All, as yet' nave
failed the mystic gate has never opened on It's
frozen hinges, and none have been permitted 10
sail on the open sea that lies beyond.
The almost certainty of this open sea around
the pole, the wonders that must surround Its 81
lent shore, on whose sands no European has ever
left his foot print, will ever be an object OF the
most ardent fascination nor is 1t at all Impfooa-
BILE that success will crown the efforts OF some
brave explorer. Immortal fame will be his re-
ward to him will be given, first among the sons
of civilized men, to see the spot where the currents
turn on their circuits and the earth on It's axis
there the trembling needle and the wanton and
unstable winds sink into slumber and repose;
there the aurora borealis lights its torch at the
focus of these wonderful magnetic forces whose
influence fill the earth, the air and the waters
beneath there is the nursery OF the young whaie
and the home of the glacier and iceberg; there, In
fine, is the pole of the earth and the pole of the
sea, the pole of the magnet and the pole OF the
utmost limits given here below for man to thread
The world has not a physical secret so tempting
and so far so impenetrable as this North Pole.
Now let US examine some of the data on which the
arguments for an open polar sea are based. We
have seen before that the sea, like the air, like
the body of all organized beings, has its ordained
laws of movement and circulation. This circula-
ton is like that of the human body, from the
centre to the extremities-from the equator to the
pole, and from the pole to the equator-for where
there is a current going out there must be a cur
rent returning again. The pole is the pivot
around which this current turns. 1t will be seen
at a glance that, admitting these facts, and they
cannot be denied, this endless flowing in and
flowing out from the pole requires an open polar
sea. This constant agitation, mixing and mingling
of the waters of the ocean, must also equallze
their temperature to a great extent it should
also be kept in mind that sea water does not
freeze under q Q while fresh water freezes at
32o. All Arctic navigators pay much attention
to the movements of the whale, as a few years
ago our Rocky Mountain explorers observed very
closely the habits and movements of the buffaloes.
They all agree that the birthplace and nursery of
the whale must be beyond the frozen belt, in an
open sea around the pole.-ChicGgo Republican.