New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1872-10-24

ocean. lnlS officer dlSO iSbhoSNfS
landed upon King Carl's Land, which had
bncn SIGHTED. hut never before visited by any
expedition Captain Altman found that IL
consisted of three large and many small
islands. living in the throat OF the Poiar
stream that pours around Spitzbergen. Inc
observations now taken differ materially
from those heretofore published by the
Swedes. 1t is not improbable that the driit
ice this year will be found IN large quahti-
ties, but it would seem not IN 1ormidaoie pro-
portions, and almost all the exploring yes
sells now in the high north are prepared to
rough it among the worst seas OF ice. Or.
Petermann, in a circular dated Gotha, sep
TENDER 2, (present,) takes this Intelligence
as confirnlatory of the theory OF the ice aga
current conditions on which the outstanding
Austrian and other expeditions have been
projected.
THE OUTSTANDING POLAR FLEET-vALUE
OF AN EXPLORATION VIA BEHRINd
STRAIT.
| The news given in another column from
one of the Arctic expeditions sent out from
Germany this wear may throw ray or two
of light over the past summer weather ana
ice conditions that have recently prevailed IN
the high north The intelligence Is from
Hammcrfest, as late as the oath OF August,
and briefly states the facts OF the redlscovery
1 anu cAs;iillilatlOn vi NiiiS Nutii i-.ahN "
Captain Altman and his experience of but
little ice on the cast coast of SpitzberSen.
The Swcdes have usually reported large ice
formations on this inhospitable coast, even
in summer, and from Captain Altmann's ex-
perence it seems highly probable the energy
of Old Sol has been phenomenal there this
summer, as we'll as in our part of the world.
There are now half-dozen expeditions in
The fields of Arctic research, seeking by
various routes and methods to attain the I'M
conIuerable Pole, or, at least, to find ~
path to perpetuity Of fame" Like the eXpe-
dition under the command OF Captain Alt
mann, most of these Adventures are trying
their fortune in the route lying between the
coasts of Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla'
One expedition, under the lead of Nj. Pavy
is the only representative of those scientists
who think the true approaches to the Pole
lie TO the northward of Behring Strait. Inns
latter hypothesis was ably sustained, anC
would have been calamity tested by NJ. Gus
tave Lambert, the French savant, but thai
his life was sacrificed to his country's defense
, the late Prussian war.
1t is great pity that there was no inter
, national concert in planning and dispatchin4
the present expeditions, one of which ought
, by all means, to have been sent north o
Behrng Strait, if for no other purpose, tt
gather the harvest of magnetic, meteorologi
. cal. and other scientific observations so mucl
needed by the whole civilized world. W.
are not disposed to gauge the merit OF an.
enterprise by its merely pccuniary returns
but the interests of navigation alone require
: that every ray of light that can be collected
should be brought to bear on the mysterious
,, variations of the mariners needle and /th'
! general physical phenomena that mark TIT
9 high attitudes of the globe. The eXcellen
experience afforded and the tone OF hardy ant
skillful seamanship infused into navy b,
such daring exploits as those of Wilkes AM
Ross, of Sir Edward Belcher and other nava
; commanders of Arctic fleets, will amply war
rant the Government in sending out, at III
9 distant dav, an Arctic surveying expedition
, into the waters as yet almost unlurr0we'
which lie beyond Behring Sea. The subjec
NAV well engage the attention OF our nava
authorities There are doubtless great dis
coveries awaiting the explorer of this uneN
plored region, in which for the botanist, TIT
> naturalist, and the astronomer there IS 81
much to learn. The navy which engages IL
, no such work in time of prolonged peace vii
soon canker and rot. There are othe
achievements for our national ships beside
those of war; and, if the standard OF excel
lence is to be kept up, the gallant men witt
man them, as some one has sad, must nave
something else to do than pick oakum or run
over the masthead after topgallant yards
| " y. Herald, October 10.