The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-10-13
Another Arssic Hxpedialon.

Another ArssIc Expedition.
Since the safe return OF the Austrian ex-
petition has brought the subject of Arctic
explorations once more before the public
several propositions have been made look
ing to further investigations in the land of
ice and snow. After the undigested manner
of the daily press several fiippant paragraph
lists have dismissed the suggestion with al
lusions TO polar perils, the failure of former
expeditions and what they call their utter
uselessness. But field which has pro-
duced glory for adventurous knights under
all flags, from the time when Erik the Red
discovered Greenland in the tenth century
to the time when Sir r. l.. Mcclure voy-
aged through the northwest passage in the
ninteentb, deserves better treatment than to
be made to point a moral in tu'penny
newspaper. The usefulness of future jour
neys to the frozen zone depends upon the
taste and fancy of the individual as much "a
ever did the spelling of Mr.. weller's name.
It is hardly probable that any discoveries
in the regions where Franklin, b ick Rich
ard on, Ross and the rest won their spurs.
will affect the price OF wheat or provide
market for the gimcracks of Yankee land.
On the other hand, it is not always sats TO
make predictions as to what will be and
what will not be discovered. Searchers tor
for Ell Dorado and the Fountain of Youth
were doomed to disappointment, but they
found treasures almost asVsluable as those
they sought. Moreover, the sciences dove
tail into each other in wonderful manner,
and Sir James Ross's discovery OF the mag
netic pole in 1929 aud the botanical and geo.
logical investigations of McClintock's party
in 1858 may yet be found to supply valu-
able link In the chain. But if knowledge is
of value Independent of its relation to
bread and butter, if things are
worth knowing for the mere sake OF
knowing them, then Investigations which
will add to our stock of
information concerning the surface Of the
globe are always worth making. At any
rate the discovery of the north pole is just as
likely to increase human happiness as the
from some ones inner consciousness of the
correct manner in which TO square, the circle.
Every ship returning from the north ma
brought more or less novel intelligence, and
has added to the store of facts already gath
cred, so that however unsuccessful in the
objects directly sought. there is, in broad
sense, no such word as fail in the vocabulary
of Arctic explorers. 1t might be added that
Great Britain sets great store by thee en-
terprises as training school for sailors in
times of peace, and certainly they have
Droved source of fame and promotion to
those who have taken part in them. II is
curious 10 notice the successive stages
IF rank held by these modern
eikines. Plato midshipmen, JOIN
Franklin, and George Back bezi
their adventures amid the ice when mer
b ,ys, and are soon Admiral Sir John Frank
lin and Admiral Sir George Back. And whei
Lieutenants McClintock, Mcclure. and Sher-
ard Osborne are noticed among the most
,killful of the aid bringing m ariners, and for |
them promotion followed fast.
Blu. the gre atest Misrepresentation prevail |
i'm regard to the perils OF polar naviga- |
ton. In the olden days medical Ignorance |
and unskllliul officers united TO cause con- |
siderable mortality among the adventures. |
But even then the loss of life WAS probabl, |
not greater than it would have been during |
A cruise of the same length of lime among |
the West Indies. Ships have sometimes |
sunk, but not until their crews have leil |
them. They have been deserted aud sgaiu |
picked up in a sound condition, like the |
" Re solute," One or two craft have perhaps |
been wrecked, but that has been much |
rarer occurrence than in other paris of the
globe. The ships employed have generally
been built of teak, which differs from
most other sublunarv substances In being
The real dangers have
been from scurvy and starvation, the latter
Jeing dreaded only when ships have be-
.ome "beset" in the ice. So firmly is this
cit that when SirJohn Franklin's "Erebus"
md sTerrur' did not return at the ex-
,ected time, every one was certain thai
hey were ics locked. The only difficulty
vas in getting to them. There were sur
few deaths during the many voy-
ses OF Sir L lwari Parry. r John Rl-s
n the old Victory" at the time his nephew
lie ,yered the magnetic pole, had intended
o stay out two years. He spent four win
ersin the leo. ani turned up, minus bis
hio. at thu end of that tims as lively as
yer. When Mcclure passed from the Pa
tic into the Atlantic through The north