Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1876-12-16
ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS.

ExPcoluons ecicuunS --..h.r
are not. and We sxpsct 70 nsAf ~ ~Sr
arctic ~sxpsaitisn bsins srysn. ,,ms
feet he work which the nrst niaL ,n;.s
povs, i, ,hs world declares her inability
q s,scu,s-"-Sa Y,s.e,see Pod. Dses"-
Der 1874.
..By declaring her inability 70 perfect
the work, the first maritime power In
The world exhibits evidence OF returning
..ui,,,. 10 the concurrsn. sjscalsiion Of
the great body Of thoughtful men In both
America and Europe. The writer al
isss. prssunss 10 believe 50 and viii
try TO advance some reasons against the
farther prosecution Of arctic exploring
expeditions. but before doing 10 he fesss
II duty to protest against the snssrias
tone adopted BY the Post towards the
Great Power which Wa the frst 70 con-
esivs The idea Of an arctic exploring e.
petition In the interests Of commerce
and science; was the hrst as we'll to
equip such an expedition. the leader OF
which left his body buried in the Toe Of
that iuAospitabls region where the great
white bear and the valrus are the only
things to dispute the reign OF the atorin
king. It 10 bat fitting that the country
honorsd by the nam and deeds OF Sir
John Franklin should be the q to
wisely iorbsar the further prosecution OF
n ,ask which repeated failure has
demonstrated to be impracticabls. AMI
be the one to close - she was 10 com
msnes expeditions which are almost
barren Of any result. save the sscrines OF
valuable lives.
Some may say that the above Is only
. bar. assertion. and that science will be
materially advanced by the prosecution
Of these polar researches. This recalls
to mind Josh Billings" on the house.
fy. lie says. In effect: 81 have often
wondered what became Of the flies In
Winter. but whenever ! AJAX anyone
about il, he looks wise and vhisssls."
Jast so with bsnenting science by polar
research. Everyone talks about the
groat beseat . successful expedition
will be TO science; but when ssked how
it will advance IL. they look wise and
"whisssl." The fact Ia, that all that
has been Of any benefit, or rather in'
tsr,si. To the public. OF even to scisn-
tide men, was learned and told by DR..
f isha Kent Kane many years ago. He
founI thai there Was no northwest pas
sac Zone OF th. primary objects Of the
first s1peditions). or that II IL existed 1t
was imprscticable as a route to India.
lie also told Is all that We knew about
that electrical phenomenon. the a'oooa
borea.is. NJ well rs gave accurate descriP-
tons Of the few animals and people.
their habits. etc.. who inhabit the lower
polar regions. What has since been
learned has merely been corroborativs
u bis statements. not new.
What. then. is to be gained by more
Of these Perilous sxpeditionsf soms
one " away up north there Is a
vast extent OF territory. described Oh
the maps by the sinols word''unknown."
In this vast area Of country there may
be marvels Of nature which eclipse the
wonderland" Of the Yellowstons. and
in which deposits Of c,al or even the
precious metals and stones exist. which
would enrich the Golfers Of the world
aud rovolutionizs society. Let us con-
slider this for . moment. Some Of the
polar expeditions have p~snstraisd a. far
north n sishty-thrss degrsss-within
seven degrees or 40 geographical miles
OF the pole. It may then be said. with
out making q misststsmsnt. that this
distance (i20 milss) 10 the radius Of .
circle within whose limits 10 embraced
the whole Of this wat" UNEMPLOYED
country. These figures might BE- re-
duced at lsast one hundred miles with
out doing any violence to the laws Of
logic. because al the farthest north
point reached there was no indication
of an approach to q Less desolate and
~unprodustive rssien. Thus NO have Q
section Of country represented by a
circle GAO mil.s in diameter. which has
not yet been explored. Tho "vast'u n.
explored region is not 80 immensely
vast" altar all. IL itp
Bat granting that there are valuable
deposits Of coal In the region. and may
possibly be Of the precious mstals and
stones. how are they going to be mined
and transported to the habiiabls por
tiops Of the globe. Even the "hcrny.
handed sons Of toll. Who delvs ON the
lower levels" (the approved style OF in.
dieating a minsr). and face death from
the heal OF our Comstock mines, would
fall back sghast. IL asked to 60 to q
country where the sun is not seen for
$50 days III the year. and where the tenn
peraiurs falls to ssvsnty.ive and eighty
degrees below zero. aad remains
stationary at from fifty to sixty
degrees below IL for consecutive
weeks. And u the "horny-handed"
by some magic spell Of sloqusncs OF
through the thross OF eupidity could be
induced to 60 aud could manage 4, the
fee Of intense cold and the ravasss OF
scurvy to subsist and ''d.lve." how
could tie treasures 10 brought back to
the habitabls w0Slil Expressly bull,
vessels can oply manage to live in the
foes aud among the icsbsrgs, the skill
ami endurance Of all aboard being often
tasksd to the utmost to ''spar" . way
through thoss trsacherous mountains
OF ice. and for a hesvily laden vessel 10
survive would b. Impossible. There
would be nothing left but 10 build sab
terrlnean mr. xnhn, sr,oa x.,lwsvs Tn