The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1879-10-29
JEASNETTE-s PROsPEsrFS.
The southern gce Limif-Dr. Bes.e
submits Some Arctic Fnef~-

certainly very favorable, Judging from
recent reports received from the region
into which the vessel has sailed. The
sOuthernmOst limit OF hepack seems to
have receded more than fora good many
Years, which, of course, is most favor
able for rapid progress into the northern
waters. | have compiled from the
records an account of the condition of
the Arctic waters running back CEN
fury, and find that the conditions al
most invariably point to am open sea
after reachinga certain latitude, beyond
which | am confident the Jeanette
will he able to pass. The following
synopsis of the condition of the ice i'm
Behring Strait will sustain me i'm nv
predictions:
In August, 177S, the great navigator
Cook reached latitude seventy deg.
fOrty-four min, in longitude l6l deg.
thirty min. west. The equatorial limit
of drift ice was found To be i'm latitude
siXty-four deg. eighteen min. on the 18th
of August, while two days later the
limit of the pack was encountered in
latitude seventy deg. fOrty-One min,
longitude 100 deg. west. The highest
latitude reached by Cook in the follow
ing year was attained i'm July, when he
advanced to latitude seventy deg. thirty
min., in longitude l63 deg. ten min.
west. On the 9TH of July, lT79, the
sOuthernmOst limit of the drift ice was
met i'm latitude siNty-seven deg. north.
Later in July the sOuthernmOst limit OF
the pack was i'll latitude sixty-nine deg
thirty min., and later even further to
the south. In 1857 POrtloclS and Dixon
found the coast of Northern Siberia en-
tirely blocked, while i'm latitude sixty
one deg. thirty min., there wasscarcely
any ice 10 be seen, and two Years later
Mackenzie found the mouth of the river
named after him completely blocked as
late a. July. In 1874 Vancouver found
Cook Sound completely blocked, and on
the 18th of June he met the equatorial
limit of drift ice in latitude fifty-nine
degrees thirty minutes. kOtZebue, in
the Russian exploring expedition 1916,
found Behring Strait free of ice in
August, and the next year he met the
equatorial limit OF drift ice in latitude
siXty-five degrees ON July III, while st.
Lawrence Island was entirely surround
ell by it. The Russian brig Blagonam-
jeremy i'm 1920 met the southern limit
of the drift in latitude sixty-nine deg
forty minutes on the eth of July. Later
i'm the same month the limit of the pack
was encountered in latitude siXty-nine
degrees thirty minutes. The west coast
of 1t. Lawrence Island was entirely free,
and likewise the sea before KOtZebue
Sound. The latter opened on the 22d
of July. The year following, i'm 1921,
the same vessel reached latitude seven
ty-One degrees thirteen minutes, where
the ice was found To he impossible.
This happened on the 18th of August,
and large fields of ice were met with as
far south as latitude 690. In April of
the same year Lieut.. Anjou, of the Rus
sian navy, on his sledge journey, found
the sea open at "a distance of twenty
miles northeast from the eastern coast
of Kotelnoi, and was prevented from
attaining high latitude on the ice. In
the same month Lieut.. Wrangle found
the water Ia be opened l20 miles north
of the coast, between KOlyma and In
digiuka, and was likewise forced to turn
back. In 1872 this explorer met the
open water l60 miles north of the Sibe-
rian coast, while Anjou, his companion,
struck the open sea only twenty-five
miles north of the Siberian coast and
about fifty miles east of the New Sibe-
rian Islands. In April of the following
year the sea was open fifty-nine miles
east of Siberia, and ninety miles north
of the mouth of the Kolyma. In 1926
the limit of the pack was found i'm Au-
gust, in latitude 7l0 30, i'm the meridian
of Point Barrow, this latter point being
reached by Capt.' Beechey. Northwest
from kOtZebue Sound the pack extended
in streaks, through which il was posi-
BILE to sail with ease, and at Point Bar
row the ice was entirely impenetrable.
In July, 1872, large fields of lee made
their appearance about seventy miles
south of st. Lawrence Island; the sea
to the northward, however, WAS open.
On the Sd of this month the southern
limit of drift ice was found i'm latitude
siXty-three deg. twenty-eight min. The
following year Norton Sound opened as
early rs June. On the 2Sth of July,
1919, the equatorial limit of the pack
was i'm latitude seventy-two deg. fifty
one min., longitude l6l deg. forty-five
min, and Capt. Eellett, X. ", sailed in
less than fifty hours from st. Lawrence
Island to Chamisso Island. The year
following, ON the 2d of August, the pack
extended as far south as latitude seven |
ty-twO deg. one min. north, longitude
l66 deg. twelve min. west, tending in a
direction from east-nOrtheast to west
southwest. In the month following the |
same line was about a degree and half
fi'rther To the north, and Capt. Collision
reached Latitude seventy-three deg. |
twenty-thPee minutes. The eastern side |
of the Prince of Wales Strait was blocked
with ice, while the west side was entire |
ly free. This strait in the year follow /,
ing opened ON the 2d of July, while the I
Prince ROYAL Islands were at the same
time still blocked, and continued 80
until the middle of August. The fol- 4
lowing year, 1852, the conditions were /
less favorable, as the pack iii longitude /
l67 degrees fOrty-three minutes extend /
ed as far south as latitude siXty-nine /
degrees thirty minutes. Capt. Collision 4
reached Dease Strait by coasting, and 4
returned from there in August. To- /
ward the end of September the sea was 4
frozen. Capt. Mcguire, ON the 18th of /
August, 1853, reached Point Barrow and /
found the sea to be open from east-north- /
east To west-sOuthwest. In 1854, Capt !
Collision reported that Behring Sea .
opened on the 10Th of May. In 1861, /
ON the 18th of June, the drift extended |
to latitude siXty-One degrees seventeen 4
and in August the equatorial i
limit of the pack was met i'm latitude I
degrees.thirty minutes. Ac-
cOrding to the Pcifc Commercial i'd .
rertiser, the American whaleship San
tiago was beset i'm latitude sixty-two
degrees and drifted for thirty days.
The season of 1861 was an uncom-
monty favorable one. Captain Long,
the American whaler, sighted and dis
covered Wrangel Land, which is eX-
pected to serve as the base Of operation