The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1879-02-27
+: THE OPEN POLAR SEA.
iSt. Louis Globe-Democrat.


Capt. A. B. futile, the Arctic navigator, who
CLAIMS to havef had, and probably has had, q
longer and more varied experience as q seaman
tnan almost any man now living, was in the
Guy Yesterday on his way to Washington to
negotiate with the government for small
Atctic seas. Capt. Tuttle is native of New
1os's butAt the early 80 of l6 ran away from
MS parents and went to sea, and has ever since
some thlrty-hve years-been a sea-farine
man. He is large and muscular man, witt
the appearance of having been Injured to hard.
| ships. He has been all over the globe, he says
and has sailed in every sea, and has made TWEEN.
| early manhood he has been captain of whaling
and surveying ships. One of the things that
particularly attracted his attention in sailing
northwsrd was, that he found the sea more and
more open, especially every fourth year. He
made bis last trip about = year ago, starting
from hakodado, Japan, in q full-rigged ship,
with forty-fve men, all-told. In latitude
seventy-eight he found an open sea clear OF
ice. In latitude eighty -onea he noticed an ex-
traordinary dip of the compass, and on taking
soundings discovered the cause of it to be i'm.
mense loads of
A MAGNTIC SUBSTANCE,
in five fathoms Of water. 1t was mixed with
minerals and fine particles of gold. In lati-
tude eighthy-two he encountered the ice belt,
grounded under the water and extending 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 concluded that
the magnetic deposit he had passed had some
connection with the direction in which the
needle usually pointed. By climbing to the
highest points on the icy barrier, he could see
directly into an open polar sea lying beyond,
and by tracing along the belt eastwardly, he
found q naRsape fhrOnOh into <h;u coo with n
depth Of ninety fathoms, or 240 feet. The
water was quite warm, and 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, and found it to be
about eighteen miles wide. In the north part
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 men,
toned, and also saw migratory birds going
north In July these birds went back south
with their young and about the same time he
observed whales going south with their young
From these facts he concludes that during a
considerable part of the year there is a warm
produce tropical fruits. In the ice barrier on
one of his trips he found bones and tusks of
the mastodon, which in 1876 he carried to the
Centennial at Philadelphia. They were so
large that some naturalists thought the animal
to which they belonged 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
gnawed by animals. 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 before or heard of. They
spoke an unknown language which
SOUNDED LIKE HEBREW.
They spoke few words of Hawaiian 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 acquaint-
ed with the Esquimaux language, having
passed four winters with that people, living
on raw wairus, whale blubber and bear meat
During one of these winters, which are with
out daylight, he 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 40 badly larcerated by the teeth of the
animal that it ia 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 almost incredible that
any man could receive and live. The polar
bears attain an incredible size, some being re-
contemplates making another trip to further
explore that 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 1850, and leaves for WASH
ington City this morning.