Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-05-28

y,
look for one in Notes and Que,'ies-C7tano-
| bers's Journal.
Arctic Wonders.
| AS THERE is nothing SO solemn in nature
as the vast desolation that reigns about
the north pole-virgin yet of the presence
Of intruding foot or sail, or any evidence
of our human kind-so when we catch
vague glimpses of that land of silence Or
are enabled to lift the curtain of ignorance
| that hangs about its outskirts, nothing can
more strike the mind with its impressive
ness. We all know that in some lonely,
ice-bound spot lie the remains Of brave
explorers-Sir John Franklin and his
company-never, perhaps, to be brought
back to the world of green fields and
| pleasant places. But sometimes the Sc
crets of the far North are unlocked; some
times the shadow of ignorance which en-
velopes it and hides it from our sight
gives way to the light of knowledge, and
| the world reads curious history in the
revelation It has been reserved for Cap
tain Carlson, a Norwegian navigator, to
pierce this veil of mystery, in one instance
at least, and to make discovery, which,
in the recital of it. seems more like a
strange fairy tale of the far North than a
| sober narrative Of our prOsaic day. While
/ so many brave men are exploring the
| Arctic regions searching for the North
pole, the geographical phantom which
| allures and never evades, curious interest
will attach to this discovery But in order
| to approach this subject we must follow a
circuitous rOute-we must 90 back nearly
278 years, to period late in the sixteenth
century, about the year 1896, when one
William Barentz, a Dutch navigator, sailed
away on his second voyage of discovery
to trace out, if possible, the Northwest
passage-that famous imagined highway
to Asia by way Of the Arctic Ocean, the
fact of the existence of which so many
other navigators have vainly endeavored
to realize.
Barentz failed in his search, but he dis
| covered Spitzbergen, the vast archipelago
which lies in the heart of the Arctic ocean.
He found it expedient to land upon this
| coast, and there he built huts for shelter
and for temporary residence for himself
and for his company. Here he tarTied
| during the dreary months Of an Arctic
winter, and in due time abandoned the
spot, leaving the huts and their contents,
and returned to his native country, never
to revisit his quaint settlement.
| Three centuries nearly have passed
away since that event. The years have
come and gone over those silent witnesses
to the presence Of the ancient mariner and
his sturdy crew. In all that time as we
may believe, no living thing has invaded
the sacred solitude of this spot haunted
with memories of that coming, long ago,
of Barentz and his men. Possibly, from
distance, the walrus and the seal may
have gazed upon it, and from his rapid
flight in the ether some Arctic bird of
passage may have turned curious eye
upon the scene. But no dust has settled
there; no moth has stolen in to bring de-
cav Even the elements seemed to have
abated their severity and to have protected
with kindly hand the legacy left to their
undivided keeping. The sequel almost
partakes of the character of one of those
tales wherein the Princess in the Arabian
Nights deferred her threatened and de-
layed fate by Willing away the tedious
evenings of her cruel Caliph. One day,
in the year 1870, Captain Carlson bore
shoreward in his ship to this icy coast of
Spitzenberg He landed at the spot where
Barnett had landed before him, and to his
perplexed eyes appeared the vision of the
old encampment.
The huts were still there, just as Myn-
heer had left them nearly 800 years ago
utterly-dead and long extinguished fire.
| Upon shelf were books from the old
Dutchman's library-a work on naviga-
ton, the latest edition published before
he had sailed, and history Of China
translated into Dutch. Jugs and dishes
wherein had been prepared the drink and
food of the adventures, were scattered
here and there, and even a pair of shoes
was found which had belonged to little
cabin bow, who, as say the records, had
died upon the voyage There were also
Quaint engravings, and a curious mathe-
matical instrument intended to assist in
obtaining longitude. All these articles
were carefully collected, and were brought
| to Europe on Carlsen's return. There is a
touch of the pathetic in this revelation OF
the long kept secret of the articles. 1t is
as pathetic indeed, as that story Of anoth-
er old Dutchman, Mynheer Vanderdecken,
whose ship-we have it upon excellent
authority of sailors who come to port, and
who themselves have witnessed the strange
spectacle-may be seen at dawn and tWi-
LIGHT. in fair weather and foul, rushing
like the ghostly ship that 1t IS, through
the startled sea, or beating aimlessly about
the approaches to the Cape OF GOOD Hope.
-Nep York World.
EVERYBODY has heard Of the quack
doctor who was in the habit Of giving his
patients medicine which would throw
them into fits and then doctoring them for
fits. which he considered his speciality.
This case has been paralleled by that of
an old man calling himself DR.. Teasdills,