Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1876-03-23
THE POLAR WHIRLPOOL.


London Correspondence of the New York Mercury.
81 accompanied Sir James Ross in
1848,". continued the captain. ''Sir
John Franklins ships were then prob,
ably blocked in the ice, and himself
and most of his crew living. l felt
certain of the fact at the time, but
had no command. l was merely vol>
unteer, and there was conspicuous
absence of courage in that expedition,
and, indeed, in almost every expedition
that has succeeded it. There was
Mace lintock, who, in 1857, pretended
to have discovered the ten lines in
writing which told of Sir John Frank
Inns death don believe a word of
it, sir; it's forgery-a id forgery.
Lady Franklin believed that these ten
lines were forged up to the hour of
her death. She has said so to me over
and over again, and l always agreed
With her. The fact is MacClintock is
Just as unreliable as Allen Young. All
these Arctic explorers, as they are
called, have private opinion respect
ing the fate of Sir John Franklin that
they are afraid to express"
"What is that opinion?" l asked.
"Why, it's as plain as Calais from
Dover OH clear day. Franklin went
out to seek the northwest passage, and,
no doubt, pushed on to the open water
that he always believed surrounded the
pole Nobody with common sense"
cried the captain, with emphasis, "ques~
tons the fact that both the North and
South Poles are surrounded with open
seas. Well, when Franklin's ships
were blocked in the ice, what could he
do? Why organize sled parties, to be
sure, and proceed north. They would
have found no difficulty in obtaining
food; their boats would be conveyed
on sledges, and when they reached the
open Polar Sea that Kane and other
navigators have seen, the explorers
would undoubtedly embark. To my
mind it seems plain that when Sir John
discovered the open Polar Sea, he
would, if necessary, send back for more
provisions and equipments to the ships;
but he would never turn back without
exploring the open water. Moreover
he would be tempted onward by the
inevitable discovery that the water of
that sea was of an expected high tenn
perature; and he would gradually
arrive at the conviction that the north
ernmost branch of the Gulf Stream,
which passes through Davis Strait aud
Baffin's Bay, find its way to the pole
There would be such field of investi
cation offered in these polar currents
and polar temperature that, admirably
found and equipped as Franklin's ships
were, he would forward by sled parties
everything necessary for two OF three
months voyage on this fascinating
silent sea. can imagine how anxiously
the brave sailor waited for the first
rays of spring after the long polar
night, and how eagerly his crew and
himself embarked on that mysterious
ocean. As they pushed northward in
perpetual daylight they would discover
that the temperature of the water was
still several degrees higher than the
air, and when they crossed the latitude
of ninety degrees they probably en-
countered a region of fog and mist.
The currents of the ocean would then,
in great measure, resemble the cur
rents in the basin of the fountain there.
You see," said the ancient tar, ''where
that tiny wa.tespipe near the center
permits the water to escape, and you
see that it's oriice is surrounded by
revolving concentric eddies. In other
words, the water has whirling motion
impaired to it by well-known law of
hydrostatlcs, just as you see it IN water
escaping from any vessel by hole in
it's bottom. Now there is no hole at
the pole, but the whirling motion is
communicated to the water there just
in the same way by the moons attracts
ion. You perceive that if the world
was mere globe of water the attraction
of our satellite would cause two sweep
ing tides to rush round the earth or ce
in every twenty-four hours. Those
tides are resisted by the continents at
the present time, and instead of rush~
ing ridge of water we have phenom>
enon of the tides amounting in some
places to twenty feet difference between
low and high water. AS Franklin and
his crew in their two boats approached
nearer to the pole they would find that
the ocean currents became strong and
troublesome. They would experience
great difficulty in keeping head on so
to speak. Still, as they would be steer
ing due north, they would be uncon-
scious that they were gradually being