Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-06-12

Henry Hudson. reached so degrees. -
Forth latitud7. IN his CLUMSY wooden sail
Ing vessel The best Lieutenant PcNy
could do last year with all his AriCnre
sud tine equipment, WAS to reach ~ de-
grec-, ~ north latitude, AMI the best tlut
has ever been dome. The great record
among all polar explorers, Is 81 degrees.
~ rrith latitude made by two yligrrs of
the Greeley expedition IN lSS2, Thu
means, as any one ctn see for himself,
that modern civilization has been able,
In nearly 800 years. 10 gain only 10
miles Oh the record Of Hudson, madi
three centuries ago, At that rate, allow
ing an advance OF one degree century,
the north pole would be discovered Ahiut
the year 1000 A ID,
Fortunately there IA good reason to
think that the tragic and unsatisfactory
story of the pust will not he forever re-
pented Arctic explorers like other men.
learn from the mistakes Of their prcle-
cessnrs, uthough II must be admitted
they learn slowly. There Is q general
disposition today among those who can
speak authprltutlyely "a admit that FOR
200 years or more searchrrs for tile pole
have been wording ON false scent.
They have made little progress because
they have Insisted ON violating or dis
regarding one Of natures very simple
laws, turiously enough during the
same long period the men who have
been luhpriug tu solyr the problem NJ
aerial navigation have suffered from the
same mistake. Inventors OF flying ma
chimes have been dcludcd 10y the idea
that body lighter than the air could be
made 10 resist the pressure Of air and
b. driven through 1t. Searchrrs for the
North pole have been drludcd by the
Idea that body lighter than lee cOull re-
slst the pressure of ice tmd be- driven
through ", In The one ease balloons
luNp uruyg1 ttuu NuuugnhlN and kaan
torn To pieces, IN the other ships have
iluuudcrcd heplrssy la the terrible ice
toes and heou crushed to pieces. II
has taken two centuries OF failure and
disaster with The los. of thousands OF
lives, hundreds Of ships aud mcstima-
BILE wealth. 20 make men learn natures
lesson that IN order To navigate the air
or Ice, bodies must be heavier. not light.
ar, than air or ice.
A glance over the records siucc 1878,
then the British parliament began oil.
Wing large rewards for Arctic discov-
cries will show that nine.lenths Of all
the trouble and loss OF life IN all the
polar expeditions has been caused by
this strange pianiu TO drive lighter
body through q heavier one, a ship which
loats In water through mountains of
songcaled water. As we'll try TO cut
diamond with 4 piece OF glass, Lieu
tenant Melville. u. 5. n. who has made
wonderful potency Of thcsr Hoes Is il.
credible, and can only be calculated in
millions OF tons. therefore consider 1t
impossible 10 construct floating body
which will be able TO resist the tremond.
Gus strain OF the polar lee packs. l do
not think such Il vessel could withstand
the pressure even though it were built
solid
Que has not to look far for proofs OF
this statement, woeful proofsl la 1S2s
Captain John Ross started nof;hwnrd
on the Victory. The Victory was crush
ed In the Ice In 1916 Sir John Frank
lin led the Erebus and the Terror with
In the Arctic circle and both st0h there
ground TO atoms, rhen eane the Pioneer.
the Intrepid, the Resolute aud score
Of others dt is curious what awe-in.
spring names they all bear. aud the Ice
crushed them one after the other DIR
Kane sailed In 1859 on the Advance
which also became the pfey Of the hun.
cry lee packs and advanced no further
The Polaris, with Captain Hall and
party, was ground 10 pieces IN 1877
One year before that the German shll
Hansa, with Dr. Pcterman and his party
was crushed In the lee In 1919 the mcf
Of the Payer expedition. sent hy Austria
Nhn discovered Franz Josef Land, wer,
vpligcd 10 leave their ship the Tcgrthofi
shattered IN the lee. In 1871 the il
thifri Jeanette began her voyage with
l,ientenant belong Ia cOmniRnd. hut ths
ne packs piti,ess grip caught aud crush
81 her too, bringing death un0n many
pave men. Yhesc nm but few Of
ilie ships which have started out gal
!nnl'y on polar expeditions. only to IL
hrekan into spliptera Ia the great ics