The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1879-04-05
THE NORTH POLE.


A Believer In a Wilderness New World
From the San Francisco chronicle.l
All information concerning the mys-
terry surrounding the North pole is
eagerly read by the intelligent public
This interesting subject has got hey
the confines of scientific societies and
the studies of learned men. The aver
age newspaper reader is now dis cussing
the question with jealous attention and
unusual intelligence The Chronicle
has had recently number of articles
on the Polar mystery, the facts therein
having been cleaned from trading and
whaling Captains who have made
voyages beyond Behring strait into the
Arctic. OF the many Captains inter
viewed, but one is believer in an open
Polar sea. This is Capt. Barker, of the
whaling feet. Another Captain may
now be added to the list of believers,
but he differs in opinion with Capt.
Barker. The latter gentleman thinks
that the steam yacht Jeanette, now at
Mare island en- route to the Arctic, will
solve the mystery by sea. The other
gentleman who believes in solution Of
the problem is Capt. jacobson, master
of the schooner William II. Stevens,
who has recently returned from trad
ing voyage Of seven months in the Arctic.
Capt. jacobson is of the opinion that it
is utterly impossible for the most
powerful steam yacht to penetrate the
massive ice barriers which are to be
found in the Arctic even in the most
open season. There are some years
when a sailing vessel can get from 70
deg. to rs deg. north, and occasionally,
if the season is very open, sailing craft
can get as high as rs deg, to 70 deg.
north. Should hard season follow,
when the icebergs drift down toward
Behring sea, the stanchest steamer
could not get as far north as the lati-
tude indicated. ..
The only way, according to Capt.
Jacobson, that any new information
can be procured about the Polarregions
is to establish general camp on
Wrangle's Land off Herald island.
Place men of courage and indomitable
perseverance there, specially fitted for
the work before them; let them have
plenty of provisions, tobacco and warm
clothing, and then say to the leader, who
WV NO may NC LAOlCo CNSl
you want; go and discover the North
Pole, and, if you can't find it, find some
thing that Will make sensation" The
Captain is certain that, if the right man
in the right place can be found, Wrang-
els Land, on which no mortal has ever
set foot, SO far as history goes, will no
longer be terra incognita. The sta
tions, he thinks, should be from fifteen
to twenty miles apart, and few reliable
men should be kept at each. Continue
them northward, something after the
fashion of overland stations in the olden
times, until the wilderness or a new
world is reached. Capt jacobson be-
Geves that Wrangel's Land contains
plenty of wild animals, and that herds
of reindeer will be seen lowering about
the shore, and the Arctic duck, as
the bird is commonly called by sailors,
is very plentiful. There need be no
fear of scurvy with land exploring
party. No opinion could be procured
from the gallant skipper named as to
the possibility of striking a lucious bed
of strawberries, an orange grove, or a
batch of bananas, even more luscious
than the Sandwich island article. He
was also equally reticent as to the
probable style of summer goods in that
region but believed that if anything of
the kind existed it would not be a
Hawaiian malo or Mexican reboza.