The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-10-04
Yalue Of Arctic Exploration.

Value Of Arctic Exploration.
There is an an cutlery from lot Of
newspapers that exploration of the
Arctic regions must stop, that the re-
suits of the explorations do not justify
the cost in money and life. But the
explorations will not stop, and the gen
tlemen who ale demanding that they
shall are taking counsel of their hearts
rather than their they are moro
sympathetic than sensible. There has,
indeed, been great sacrifice of life in
the ice region. But has there not also
been great sacrifice of life at home? 1t
is asked: What sort of return for the
suffering and death in the Greedy party
is the information he obtained? In
reply: What sort of return for the
death of the one hundred and twenty
men who were shut up in the fiery fur
mace of the Pocahontas mine was all
the coal ever taken out of it? Shall the
life of man and the tears and cries of
widows and orphans be weighed in the
balance with some tons of coal, and
shall no account be made of the dis
plays of heroism and their value in the
formation of National character? May
men perish by scores digging coal and
the fact be accepted as an incident in
National progress, and others perish in
efforts to enighten the human race ON
some of the most important problems
of natural science, and the fact be set
down as waste merely? If the fate
of those with Greedy and De Long
was waste of life and limb, what
was the fate of the thousands
who lost life or limbs in mines? 1t is
important to have exact knowledge of
the world we live in, as well as to have
coal to keep us warm or cook our food.
Those who cry out against Arctic ey-
plOration do not seem to know that the
scientific world is looking to the Arctic
regions for a solution of difficulties en-
countered in the study of the laws of
storms, and upon correct knowledge
of those laws depend the life and safety
of all who 60 to sea, to mention only
one part of the multitudes who would
be benefited by such knowledge. If
| the laws Of storms were thoroughly I'M
| derstood, does anyone suppose that a
charlatan like Virgins could succeed
in frightening thousands ofmariners by
! his prediction of a coming storm on the
ocean? To say nothing about the effect
of that scare upon the character of the
! people. the delays to shipping by it
caused directly and indirectly the loss
of greater sum of money than the
Government ever expended in an Arc
tic expedition. Recall the great diSas-
tiers at sea. and how many of them
might have been avoided had the laws
of storms been understood? How many
ships have sailed right into the vortex
because no one knew that a distant
storm was forming the vortex? Or look
at the matter on the other side. How
many ships have been saved, with all
their crews, in late years, by a short
telegraphic dispatch announcing
changes of weather, and reporting the
alterations in the thermometer and
barometer9 Read the stories of the
storms on the coasts of all civilized
nations now, and an answer to the ques
ton may he had. In the stormy season
no reports in the papers are much more
common than reports of how fleets OF
merchant vessels ran to shelter when
word was received, from across tbe
ocean perhaps, that there was peril il
being abroad. Is it waste of money
and life to send brave men to region.
where they can obtain facts to verify
and amplify such important knowl
edge? And what has the loss of life
amounted to- The statistics of Arctic
explorations show that the number OF
deaths in all the expeditions from the
one sent out in search of Sir JOIN
Franklin down to recent time ha;
amounted to onl Y two per cent. of the
whole number of explorers. These are
indeed, perilous expeditions. There
are also coal mines known to be spe
cially perilous the fro damp mines
Will not the statistics of these mine!
show as high death rate? Then, IL
be consistent, the gentlemen who cry
/, against Arctic exploration ought to de
mand the closing of these mines. Blu
the cry is nonsense, and only to be en-
dured because of the kindness of hear
which inspires it. For centuries thu
most enterprising nations of the world
beginning with the Dutch in their he
roic age. have been vieing with eaci
other in their endeavors to solve thu
problems of the great North. Every
expedition has drawn nearer to the 50
luton, and the last one, the nearest o
all. 1t is sheer folly to suppose thai
the problem will be abandoned now
The suffering of the Greedy party is no
thought fly scores of men who are i'm
patient to start on an expedition over the
ground he covered, because they think
that they will be able to 90 still further
r and learn more. When adventures in
vited death by penetrating the heart O
Africa, there were plenty of person:
who asked what good could come of it
They do not ask that question now
The light that has been thrown On the
dark continent shows what good these
adventurous men did in exposing th'
horrors of the slave trade and opening
the country to civilization. What gooC
did Livingstone do, wearing his heroic
life out in Africa? Ask the Interna
tional Association which is planting
the seeds Of great State on the fertil
p banks of the Congo. Pittsburgh ChTon
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