Morning journal and courier., 1893-10-17
ARCTIC EVAPORATION.

AhCIlC
 Plans for she Exploration of Elles- mere Land During the Coming Summer-Of Great Scientific 1m- portance-The Working Out of the. PIansMa Take Twenty Years.
 A circular, a copy of which has been re- ceived by Captain 0. H. Townshend of this city, has recently been issued by Robert Stein of the United States geological sur vey concerning the project for the contin- l uous exploration of Ellesmere Land in the polar regions. It is to form the beginning of a system of continuous exploration in physical geography to be gradually extsnd- ed over the whole unknown Arctic area, which is nearly half as large as the United States. The exploration of this land will be of great scientific importance. The meteor ology of the Arctic forms the keystone of the whele science of the weather.
 The science of geodesy will remain i'm perfect until the pendulum has been swung close to the very pole.
 Important additions to the science of magnetism may be looked for from re- searches in the vicinity of the magnetic pole. The geological data brought back from the Arctic have been of startling 1n- terest and the theory of tides and currents will be imperfect until the conhguration of the shores of the Arctic ocean are known and it's tides and currents charted. There is not in all the Arctic . point which is SO worthy of exploration as the southeast point of Ellesmere Land at the entrance of Jones Sound, ninety eight miles south of the point reached by Bafin in 1616 in his sailing ship Discovery, of fifty | five tons. It is annually reached in per feet safety by the whaling steamers before they go to the whaling grounds, and Is thus in regular, sure and cheap communi- cation with the outer world. At tho eame 1 time 1t is in the immediate vicinity of the l unexplored area, being the most nOrtherly point reached by the whalers.
 At this point therefore it Is proposed to l erect . permanent station, always provi- | stoned for two years ahead. It need not | at first be large; such additions as expert- ence shall prove to be desirable may be made in after years. It will be made cold proof by filling the space in the double wall with mssnesia boiler packing. The permanent force at this station is never to exceed fifteen, always including at least l une surgeon with a complete medical out l fiu A workshop will be sst up ard grad 1 us.lly equipped with the appliances for pro ] duclng all the travelling gear needed. Each l year supplies and recruits will be sent out, and any persons desiring to quit the Arc tic will De sent back by means of the whalers (One whaling firm has offered uo transport next years party at tho rate Of S25O per man for the round trip). Al this station the recruits will receive theil preliminary training, face to face with the ! -r,h1anv rn ha enfvA6 VeE mt aYnDSeH fir l risk.
 If nothing more were done, an immense advantage would already bs gained by hay | ing the base Of operations at tho very DOT tals of the unknown region, only 96( miles from the pole, instead of having i l at New York or London. But, besides tb' , primary station, it is proposed to push { fan of secondary stations into the unknowl area, at first not much over 100 mile } apart, until with growing experience tn distance may be increased to 900 miles The first requisite for each secondary sta tion will be regular communication witt the primary station. With the short dis tsnces between them, it is safe to say tha each trip will become easier than it's prede | osssor until 1t ceases to be notable per formanoe. Each secondary station is t have its comfortable house (also mad = cold-proof by msgaesia packing), q sps !, cious ice house, several boats, ample pro t visions, furnished in the first instanc f from the primary station, and plenty of al l. parstus and ammunition for levying trit }, ute on the animal kingdom in the vicinity
 The permanent force at each secondar
 station is never to exceed five in number
 One of these is to devote his time primaril
 to scientific observations, the others
 hunting. Only when the spells of th
 chase have yielded them provisions fo
 two years ahead will they be allowed to g
 exploring. No hunter, however, will g
 any time be without his notebook, hl
 aneroid, and, if possible, his aluminul
 theodolite and pocket chronometer (to
 supplied by Queen & Go. of Philadelphia
 whereWith to map his route. So far
 possible, none but men of scientific traiI
 ing will be admitted, so that nothing (
 value may pass unrecordsd.
 With stations 100 miles apart, each par
 of five will have 10000 square miles
 surface (sbout equal to the state of Ve
 monD to furnish it's food supply. Wit
 200 miles between the stations, the ar.
 will be O,OO0 square miles (about equal {
 the state of Kentueky) One muck OK wi
 feed fl ive men thirty days, one walrus eight
 days, one whale ten years. It seems al
 solutely certain, therefore, that each ss
 ondary station can be made self-supportir
 as regards food, depending on the prima1
 station merely for supplies of vegetable 0
 igin.
 As soon as the explorations from an
 secondary station shall have disclosed
 cite suitable in point of distance, positio
 and food supply, new station will be @
 tablished, with the preceding one as
 base. Provisions aud material for hou
 will gradually be conveyed there, and whe
 everything is ready it will bs occupied b
 compliment of men sent from the pr
 mary station.
 It seema sctically certain that by th f method network can bs spread over tf A unknown area without exposing any or I. explorer to greater danger than is encoun
 cred, say, in the Rocky mountains; an
 when this is com pleted 1t will enable ol
 to traverse the Arctic in any direction.
 is impossible to predict how long it wi
 take to complete this wo'k, but twent
 years seems ample time. Evidently u
 cost Of this system will bs sm all as con
 pared with that of previous expedition , First, because no special ship will
 reeded; second, because the food suppl
 will Do drawn almost entirely from tt
 AroFio itself; third, because most of tl = plant when oncs established need not |
 renewed. Wh.n the system is well d,
 veloped 1t will certainly awaken . livsl interest in scientific circles sll over tt
 world, and volunteers will come torwar
 in great rumbers glad to pay for chsue to spend year or two in the Arctic. An residual deficit will readily be made goo
 by the 4cIentiHc societies, not fo speak
 wealthy patrons, who have not been wan
 ing in the pasr, anu who will certsinly
 still more free handed when assured tht
 their munifcence will not lead to disasts
 It seems not at all impossible that this ne !. work may develop into permanent "Ar
 tic School" and that eventually no youn
 man of science will think his educatio
 complete until he has spsnt some time
 one of those stations.
 o The voyage next year is to constitni h merely the beginning of this system. Tn main object of this initial voyage will t
 the establishment of the primary station
 Eighty days will then be spent in exploi
 ing the west coast of Ellesmere Land. F circumstances permit, 8 secondary static will be established at the west end of Jont
 Sound. Should an overland party be o
 gsnized to penetrate into the interior ( s Ellsemere Land it might be possible to O. ! tabliah @ secondary station at Hayes soun :, which might make connection with Fol Conger in 1S95) More than this will
 in no case undertaken next year at @ di
 tanoe; any other work will be confined
 the immediate vicinity of the primary st,
 tion. The majority of the party will r