Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-05-10
A Lonely Island,

A Lonely Island.
A doughty crew of mariners, says the
London Globe, has just left the harbor
of Pola. Their destination is far Oh, in
the hazy north of the Greenland sea,
the lonely island of Jan Mayen. Six
officers and eight men have volunteered
to pass twenty months of their lives on
this patch of Arctic land, at present ten
anted only by bears, foxes, hares and
gulls. For more than year and half
will this hardy band be cut off from the
rest of the world, and the potent magnet
which has drawn them away to the land
of ice and long darkness is science. Up
to the last days of his life did Wey-
precht, the great Arctic explorer, warm
ly maintain that but scant assistance
could be rendered to the cause of knowl-
edge by isolated excursions toward the
North Pole. sL'at2l50n fat la force "
holds good III science as In war, and If
observations In tide currents, tempera-
lures, electrical waves, etc., are to be of
any use III helping us to unravel the Sc
crets of the pole such observations must
be made simultaneously at several
points for the purpose of comparison.
Hence the object of this expedition. 1t
is Austria's share of joint undertaking.
The international polar conference, held
in st. Petersburg last August, decided
to send out eleven expeditions to the
Arctic and two to the Antarctic regions.
The work is portiOned out as follows:
For the United States of America, Point
Barrow and Lady Franklin Bay; for
Denmark, West Greenland; for Sweden,
Spitzbergen; for Norway, Bossekop; for
Russia, Nowoje Semlja and the mouth
of the Lena River; for Holland, Port
Dickson; for England, Port Simpson;
for Germany, Greenland station; for
Austria, the island of Jan Maven.
France and Italy send expeditions to the
Antarctic regions. The Austrians are
timed to reach their destination in about
three months, for halt will be made at
one or two ports on the way. Their
course is Pola-G Gibraltar, l, $40 sea miles;
Gibraltar Gravesend, 1.64O; Gravesend-
Bergen, $50; Bergen-Jan Mayen; 750;
together, 1870 sea miles. The whole
costs of the expedition, amounting to
10000 forms, will be betrayed by
Count Wilczek, the munifcent patron of
all problems which have for their object
the solution of Arctic problems.
The island of Jan Mayen was discov-
cred in 1911 by Dutch whale fishers, who
chrlstened 1t after one of their sturdy
shippers. Another name for it was land
perhaps still is) Mauritius Island, while
the English knew it as Trinity Island.
1t lies between degrees 4 minutes and
Z degrees SO minutes west longitude
from Greenwich, its latitude being be-
tween 70 degrees 40 minutes and II de-
grees minutes north. Bleak and rug
ged and somber, with it's lofty rocks and
snowy mantle, it's lonely strand and dark
icy waters, is Jan Mayen, and grim
mountain, 1,943 metres high, rises in
the center, while near the southern cape
are three volcanoes. Indeed, the whole
island is of plutonic origin. The place
is OF Ill fame, for on it's barren shores
there died In slow succession a crew of
seven Dutch explorers. This was in
1888, when lime-juice was not appre-
clated and scurvy not understood. The
stifened corpses of the little band were
found next year, as also the diary kept
by the longest lived of them-the last
pages family scrawled by the weak hand
of sickness. The very last word was
eide" Since that time the island has
been seldom trodden by human foot,
save seldom now and again when the
frigid blasts of Arctic storms have hard
pressed the struggling mariner. But
the navigators of 1882 may hope for
different fate to that of their fellow
craftsmen of $50 years back, for the
present expedition will be furnished
with every conceivable necessary, and
Injuries to boot. Their complete stock
of scientific instruments will be supple
mented by all sorts of games, music, pic
tues, etc., to enliven the long hours of
darkness. The chase will also afford
ample amusement and heavy bag, while
the soothing effects of female society are,
it is whispered, to be provided for by a
small batch Of Esquimau ladies, to be
shipped at Bergen. None the less will
it be critical moment when, ali their
chattels disembarked on the shore and
their excellent house set up, the little
band will have to wave adieu to their
friends on board, as these steam away
back to the world and their families.
The hardy volunteers are almost sure not
to see another ship till they are fetched
away from their island prison in August,
1883. May good luck attend them!