Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1879-04-03
THE OPEN POLAR SEA.
Arrival in st. Louis Of u Sailor Who Says
he has been There.
GSt. Louis Republican, February 1911

he has been There.
[St Louis Republican. February 1871
Captain A. b. Tuttle, who claims to have
had longer and more varied experience as a
seaman than almost any man now living,
was in the city yesterday on his way 10 W ash
ington to negotiate with the Government tor
a small steamer to assist In his further explor-
ations in Arctic seas. Captain Tultle is a
native of New York, but at the early age OF
sixteen ran away from his parents and went
to sea and has ever since-sOme thirty-ive
years-been a sea-faring man. He has been
all over the globe, he says, and has sailed in
every sea and has made twenty voyages TO
the Arctic regions. Since his early manhood
he has been captain of whaling and survey
ing ships. One of the the things that partic-
ularly attracted his attention iN sailing north
ward was that be found the sea moreand more
| open, especially every fourth year. He made
his last trip about year ago, starting from
Hakodado, Japan, in ful-rigged ship, with
| forty-fve men all told. In latitude 78 he
found an open sea clear of ice. In latitude 81
he noticed an extraordinary dip of the COM
pass, and on taking soundings discovered the
cause of it to be immense lodes of magnetic
substance in five fathoms of water. 1t was
mixed with minerals and fine particles of
gold. In latitude 50 he encountered the ice
belt grounded under the water and extend
ing in height in some places over 400 feet. 1t
stretched east and west as far as the eye could
| reach. He here discovered that the needle
pointed due south, and in his own mind con-
cluded that the magnetic deposit he had
passed had some connection with the direc-
ton in which the needle usually pointed. By
climbing to the highest points on the ice bar
rier he could see directly into an open polar
sea lying beyond, and by tracing along the
belt eastwardly he found q passage through
into this sea, with depth of 80 fathoms, or
$40 feet. The water was quite warm, and a
gulf stream was steadily setting out with a
velocity of from four to six miles per hour.
He pulled through this passage in whale-boats
the north part of this open sea he found
nearly fresh leaves of plantains, bananas and
other tropical plants floating on the water and
showing that they had been off the trees but
a short time. Last October he found large
female whale going north through the open
passage before mentioned, and also saw
migratory birds going north. In July birds
went back south with their young, and about
the same time he observed whales going south
with their young. From these facts he con-
cludes that during considerable part of the
year there is a warm climate within the open
polar sea sufficient to produce tropical fruits
In the ice barriers on one of his trips he found
bones and tusks of the mastodon, which in
1876 he carried to the Centennial at Phiadel-
phia. They were so large that some natural
lists thought the animal to which they be-
longed must have been forty feet in length.
He also found some hard wood in the shape
Of troughs imbedded in the ice. They looked
like feeding troughs, and the edges had the
appearance Of having been knawed by ami
mails. In sailing west he struck the north
part of the coast of New Siberia, where he
found race of people that he thought no one
had ever seen or heard of before. They spoke
an unknown language which sounded like
Hebrew. They spoke few words of Ha-
waiian and the Esquimaux language, and
with these and the aid of signs they conveyed
the idea that they came from the north. He
was little acquainted with the EsQuimaux
language, having passed four winters with
that people, living on raw walrus, whale blub-
Der and bear meat. During one of these win
tiers, which are without daylight, be made a
journey of $50 miles in the dark. During his
adventurous career he has met with many
disasters, the most serious of which was an
encounter with polar bear. He had both
arms and both legs broken, and lost one finger |
off his left hand, another being so badly
lacerated by the teeth of the animal that it is
sadly out of shape. He also lost two ribs,
which were completely torn from his body, |
which bears the marks of wounds which it |
seems incredible that any man could receive
and live. The polar bear attains an incredi-
bic size, some being reported to weigh as
much as 5000 pounds He contemplates |
making another trip to further explore the
open polar sea, but needs small steamer for
towing purposes, which he hopes to obtain
from the government. He proposes to start
some time in 1880.