The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1877-05-17

Willie luo COul pduy sCIedm6I duU
pounded their knees and gasped for
breath and howled and declared that they
should die, they knew they should.
And that's the way the match was
DrokeP If. or rather, was never made.
Polar Exploration.
The plan of establishing a colony
within the Arctic Circle, for the purpose
Of insuring success in future attempt
to reach the North Pole, is regarded
with increasing favor by scientific men.
In the last number of the Naturalist,
Captain Il. w. Howgate, .. S. n, de-
veiops scheme for conducting the en-
terprise of Polar colonization which
seems entirely feasible. He would have
a company of fifty chosen men, young,
hardy and resolute, established at some
point in Lady Franklin Bay. They
should be mustered into the service of
the United States, and commanded by
three commissioned officers. Two sur
geons should be OF the party, and an
astronomer and several naturalists, Sc
lected by the National Academy of Sci
ences, should accompany it. One or
mere members Of the force should also
be competent to make meteorological
observations, and to communicate by
telegraph and signal.
1t has been demonstrated by the ex-
peditions of Captain Hall in the Polaris
in 1871, and Of Captain Mares in the
Alert and Discovery in 1875, that steam
vessels can penetrate as far north as
eighty-two or eighty-three degrees,
therefore the principal part of the col
ony should be located at least between
latitude eighty-one and eighty-two de-
grees. Thither the men, with fuel and
provisions sufficient to last three years.
and a strong substantial building to
shelter them, are to be transported by
water. This accomplished, the vessel
bearing them will return to the United
States. Every year the colony might be
visited, to carry fresh supplies, news
from the outside world, and letters from
friends, and to bring home any invalid
members of the force, with intelligence
of those remaining behind.
As far as the cold is concerned, the
party could be made as comfortable in
their Arctic home as are the men of the
Signal Service stationed on the SUBMITS
of Mt. Washington and Pixies Peak, or
as the employees of the Hudson Bay
Company at Fort York, where the ther-
mometer not unfreq uently drops to sixty
degrees below zero. Captain Howgate
cites the testimony OF a member of
Captain Halls expedition, who after
ward spent year on the summit of
Pixies Peak, and found that the weather
is no more trying in the Arctic Circle
to parties under cover than it is in the
places of high altitude which have been
mentioned. Enough game could be pro-
cured about Lady Franklin Bay to SUPP
ply the expedition with an abundance O.
fresh food, as the country is plentifully
Inhabited by rabbits, bears, musk-oxen,
ducks, partridges and other animals
Exploration in high latitudes is no more
dangerous to health than elsewhere. In
the thirty-two expeditions sent out since
1841 by England and America, the
deaths have numbered only thirty-eight,
or one-seventh per cent. of the men en-
gagged. With a certainty of annual
communication with home, and of a
sure means of return at the completion
of the objects of the expedition, the men
would suffer little from nostalgia and
depression of spirits-fruitful causes of
physical debility and disease.
The great advantage of the colonial
ton plan is, that the exploring party ar
rive at the post which is to serve as the
base of their operations without being
worn by the fatigues usually incurred in
the voyage. Their fresh efforts would
then be concentrated upon the accom-.
plishment of the journey of four hun.
dred or five hundred miles to the Pole
This would probably be effected by
sledging parties, although in favorable
season there might open a clear path O.
water to be traversed in boats. During
stay of three years there is strong rea
son ior believing that colony of able
bodied, well-equipped men would salts
factorily solve the problems now de
pending upon an investigation of the re
| gion lying between eighty-three ant
ninety degrees north latitude.
! Why Nye Refused the Arabian Horse
The following anecdote of the lat
Senator Nye, is told by the Virginia Cit.
(Nev.) Enterprise:
He was telling us incidents of a jour
ney to Europe, from which he had thel
just returned. Among the rest he SAT-
the Sultan of Turkey ordered in hi
honor, as a Senator of the United States
grand review of the army in Constant
nople, and the Grand Vizier mounted
him upon steed which he described a
magnificent. Said Nye, "He was pur
Arabian. He had coat like velvet; b
felt like myriad of steel springs beneatl
man his eyes was between lions an
woman's, with all the courage Of tn
one and all the human gentleness an
] - Ial l. L.,
was an old man, and was as tender of m
, as child. When dismounted I coul
not refrain from expressing to the Gran
Vizier my admiration for the imcon
parable creature. He heard me throug
an Interpreter, and then, bowling low
| begged me to accept the horse as mar
: of the profound regard which the Sulta
entertained for me. Did you acceI
: him, Senator?' we asked. A peculis
, look came into the old mans eyes as b
| replied: made rapid calculation an
saw that had not enough money, an
could send to no place for enough none,
s to pay the freight on the animal to Ne
: York, so took high ground. I bowe
t low in return to the Grand Vizier, an
r bade the interpreter explain to him tn.
: while touched to the heart by this appr
e citation and generosity of the Sultan,
: was, was sorry to say, against the Law
3 of my country for a Senator of til
Y United States to accept a present frol
e any foreign Prince or Power"
= The greatest loss of life from fire in
/ public building during the present Gel
q tury was in a church at Santiago, Chill
- December s, 1862. 1t was in the eve
2 ing, and the building was crowded /
i more than three thousand persons. II
a church was festooned by gauze draper
q and illuminated by thousands of light
a Suddenly transparency on the alt.
a caught fire, and the whole instantly b
% came mass of flame. The church hs
ia but one door that could be reached
N the panic-stricken multitude, and tn
20 opened to the inside. 1t was horribl
Il In less than fifteen minutes about ty
i thousand persons, mostly women al
| Iat& IL, 7