New-York tribune., 1878-03-06
HOWGATES PROJECT.
THE GIGANTIC FORCES AT THE POLE WHICH IT rs
PROPOSED TO sTUDY-TBE EXPEDITION CEN


ERAILY APPROVED.
lBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE.l
WAsHINGTON, March 5.-COnmttees Of both
Houses of Congress have made reports fayorng in
the most decided manner Captain II. W. Howgate's
plans for scientific and exploring expedition to the
Arctic regions /; and a bill appropriatng the sum Of
money necessary to put the scheme into operation
has been placed upon tho calendar of the House
The general character of the project has been
widely published, and opposition to it has yet
been developed III any quarter. On the contrary,
scientists Of every school, and many practical
business men Of prominence, have given the matter
their heartiest cOmmendatiOn In view of these
facts the favorable action Of Congress ut early
day is looked for with confidence by the friends of
the undertaking.
One of Natures largcct workshops is near the Pole,
and 10 doubt strong motive which inspires the
promoters of this measure found in the Unsuitable
curiosity which would penetrate even there to take
knowledge of the phenomena which attend the
origin OF extinction of those currents of air and
water of magnetism, electricity and auroral light
which rahiate from or flow toward that region But
the age is too practical and the people too poor,
TO warrant the appropriation of money merely to
satisfy curiosity which is not SHARED by the
masses. Nor would the possible addition Of terri
tory north of the Arctic Circle or even the glory of
1vng the stars and stripes at the Pole itself, serve
to tempt the dollars from National Golfers If the
project was unconnected with promises of great ma
terla benefits to the people.
CAPTAIN Howgate has been connected with the
Signal Service Bureau since its creation, and is
thoroughly identified with its management and its
success The chief work of this bureau, it is well
known. is TO display danger signals along the sea
and lake coasts, warning vessels of approaching
storms. and to publish its daily weather reports and
MqfaOroOnV. which
based is the Youngest and perhaps the least devel"
oped of the natural sciences, and the degree OF
curacy which the bureau by a few years eXpe-
rlence has attained in Its predictions is rather an
evidence of the possibilities than of any excellence
of present attainments in this direction. None
know better than the officers of the United States
Signal Bureau how much remains to be
learned before meteOrology can be classed among
the exact sciences. OF tins science an experienced
German student and explorer writes that the condi
tons in the neighborhood of the rigid Polar Zones
are important. The general movements of the at
mospheTe arise from the exchange of cold and
warm of dry and humid air, between the poles and
the equator. How must be the influence
of the huge masses of polar ice upon the distribu-
ton of the earths heat is obvious. Greenland aud
Iceland afford proofs how the movements of ice,
driven by winds and oceanic currents, may affect
the climate Of a country, but our knowledge of
these movements is very defective. Now it
is possible that the ice of the Polar Zones may
be the regular cause Of our climatic conditions,
the origin of many of the furious storms which
sweep destructvely along our coasts and over our
own land 1t is probably not saying too much, adds
the same authority, when we assert that the Polar
regions are the most important portions of our
globe for the study of the natural sciences. The ex-
treme conditions under which the forces of nature
act in the vicinity of the Poles produce phenomena
which offer us the best means of investigating the
nature of the forces themselves As in metoorolOgy
so, also, i'll terrestrial magnetism and electricity
these have TO do with forces of the most tremendous
magnitude often exhibited In destructive energy
but never yet subdued to the service of man.
So too, il ii is desired TO Investigate the ocean cur
rents, and the laws of the tides upon which depend
the safety and success Of ocean commerce. influences
are found centring In the North which must be
traced to their source Probably there is not one of
the laws which govern the elements in their move
ments, better knowledge of which will not result
in material benefit to the race In cheapeninR the
means Of supporting life. In increasing the sources