The New York herald., 1879-07-11
A SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION.


Not by any the least hopeful sign Of the
times is the interest felt and expressed on every
hand In the voyage and the little steamer
Jeanette. The vessel is already pretty well
coarse now and Is probably lost to sight for
years to What report she will bring from the
land of ice and cannot even be guessed at.
She takes . route but little explored in modern
times-namely. through Behring Strait. That
which IL especially gratifying in the popu-
lar interest felt in her fortunes is the fact
that she serves no purely commercial aim.
Tho Northwest Passage ~ a commercial high
way has long ago been shelved. The object
OF Arctic exploration becomes pure
science ana that expedition equipped for
the sake OF adding TO the sum OF the worlds
kno ledge apart FROM Its material possessions
should eni.st such strong interest is particularly
hopeful. IT, however. there shall be no report of
open Polar sea. Captain DeLong may vastly enrich
the world with answers to many otner questions.
lie may tell on hts return OF currents that
kno~ nothing about; may hnd traces OF the great
glAcsl disturbance OF the worlds infancy and what
caused IT, Meteorological discoveries Of great inn
portance may bc made and the variation of tho
needle may be accounted for. The frozen North
is 10 ali iaisuts and purposes an unknown world.
full OF wonders which cannot imagine What
value the scientific world attributes Arctic
may be gathered from the fact that not only
sre England aud ths United States making
persistent efforts 20 unveil them. but Austria.
tseruany aud Russia arc equally concerned. aud
ali cropping In tho Same direction. Four years ago,
by the bsfins Hay route. captain Mares passed the
eighty thiru degree OF north latitude. De-
Long may by good fortune tnd the route chosen for
him open still higher up aud every additional mile
eetssen the Pole aud the limit OF human knowledge
that lie eliminates is solid proht to science well
a. guarantee that We shall some day reach the
eted goal itself
IL would scarcely have seemed credible to the old
oreeA philosopher who made kettle spin pivot
by means ~ It's steam Jet that he had paved the
way 10 the steam engine. and Franklin himself
would be surprised 10 learn that the lightning
he brought down from heaven Rite string prom
i-cd soon 10 allow us to talk from house To house
niss apart. through the telephone. And with these
and other scientinc beginnings and fructihcations
before "a ~s ara amply Ju-tncd in looking by and
by. perhaps very soon. tor solutions OF the great
geographical aud magnetic puzzles that awaiting
discovery at the Pole. Lives been sacrificed in
this undertaking. IN many others that opened
up new regions TO civilization. The brave explorers
who endured hardship and suffering aud cut their
Nay from ocean ~ ocean across the dark continent
OF Africa the vanguard OF civilization behind
whom are marching q whole army. within COM
parativey fee years that vast continent has been
transformed from supposititious wilderness into
practically new world. Its deserts have disappeared.
ts rivers aud mountains measured. AZ ~ another
outlet for the superfuous population OF Europe and
the Anglo sAxon is clearing OF its hostile tribes
sorc1d his empire there.