Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-24

nhu IL necessary, indeed, IL Is probable we
snail, to put into operation the rule of dog
eat dog. We may try a few fresh dog
steaks ourselves. A great advantage of
the use of dog power is the ease with which
your power can be transformed into food
for the remaining dogs or the men. If a
man rails ill you cannot leave him behind.
III he dies, or his services in the drag-ropes
are no longer needed, you cannot put him
in the pot
To the Heart of the Unknown Region
Many people find it difficult to perceive
wherein one polar expedition differs from
another, either in plan or purpose. Having
now briefly described the plan of this ex-
petition leaving some of the features to
be more adequately presented in future
papers, 1T is pertinent to ask the question,
whyfore? What is it that we propose to
accomplish? The answer is-not to explore
bit of coast somewhere in the arctics; not
to determine whether a certain land ex-
tends few miles more or less in one di-
rection; not to wander about the frontiers
OF the unknown region; not to nibble at
the edge of the question. Our ambitions
are higher than any of these, worthy and
in some respects important though they
are. Our aim is to drive straight for the
heart of the unknown region, to the spot
which contains within it's icy breast the
mystery of the arctics, to solve, if possible,
what is known to geographers and scien-
lists as the polar problem.
Mankind set out centuries ago to accom-
pliSh this task. He long ago determined
that the great white sphynX should speak.
1t is safe to say that he will persist in his
efforts till some adventurous traveller, more
fortunate than his predecessors, will achieve
what has been so long struggled for. If
we fail therein it shall not be for lack of
ambition effort.
For two centuries this arctic problem has
engaged the attention of adventurous men
of all northern races. The two great Eng
! disappearing peoples, the Germans, the
! TNtrfa flNn
| have sent almost innumerable expeditions
| to the a-ctics. The French and Austrians
| have at times Joined the hunt, while even
| the sons of sunny Italy have had Their trial
at the ice-beeaugerei mystery. If any one
| imagines that man is going to stop in this
! effort because now and then few lives are
| lost he is very much mistaken. 1t is the
| history of the race that IL never goes back
ward. Having set his face toward the pole
man will never wholly abandon the quest
Until human nature is radically changed
these efforts will be continued, and until man
becomes more than human there will be the
keenest popular interest in these attempts to
penetrate the region of the unknown. The
| search after knowledge. as Prof. Heilprin
has said, has limits and knows 70
time" What earnest desire for knowledge
does not prompt is found in love of adven-
tUre. The two aspirations are sosninGled in
the human breast that IT is difficult to say
where one ends and the other begins. Kind
| ly critics will say of us, no doubt, that love
| of adventure is a stronger incentive than
| pursuit of knowledge. Possibly this is true.
| 1t is useless to argue the point. The main
thing Is not the ambition which impels us,
| but what we accomplish. how much of q
contribution we make to the worlds knowl-
edge of the world; and as to that neither
the critics nor ourselves can now say, but
the results must determine.
Science Awaits the Answer.
Every important science which has for its
| object knowledge of our earth runs against
a great blank space beyond the S0th paral-
lei of north latitude. Until we know what
exists beyond that line these sciences must
| remain incomplete, unsatisfactory. Already
the theorists have done their best, or their
worst, to solve the problem. on one side is
the belief in an open polar sea, the theory
that owing to the action of the gulf stream.
which is supposed to dive under the ice and
reappear farther north, there Is formed in
the region of the pole a land of climate
comparatively mild, habtable and possibly
inhabited by a race of men who have for
ever lived isolated from the remainder of
the world. AT the other extreme we find
the theory that the region of the pole is
covered with an eternal ice cap, some COO
miles in diameter, resting upon both land
and sea, and thousands of feet in vertical
thickness! Who shall say that either of
these theories is right or wrong? Both ere
or have been supported by men of learning
Who shall decide between them. or declare
as is much More probable, that the truth
lies midway their extremes and that the
pole is surrounded by lands which are
glacier-capped. while the sea is covered with
a network of pack ice. frozen solid in Win
te- and drifting about in summer? Who
shall close the gaps for science. prepare the
way for completing the circle of knowledge?
None but the man who penetrates far
enough within the unknown area to find
the answer, and lives to bring 1t back
Can the Arctic Problem BE Solved.
When we say that the north pole is the
ideal objective point of our journey we
mean thereby that the pole is symbolical of
the central part of the unknown region 1t
is at the pole or in its neghborhood that
the solution of the arctic problem is to be
found. GeoSraphers and men of science
agree that penetration beyond the S5th or
perhaps to the seth parallel is, Cor the Dur
pose of solving the arctic mystery, as good
as reaching that precise point 1T which the
northern axis of our earth terminates where
all lines of longitude converge and where
there is no direction but south. Our success
from a geographical and scientific point of
view therefore will be in crossing the circle
which surrounds the pole at a distance of
800 statute miles from it, Our greatest sue
cess from the popular standpoint will be in
reaching the pole itself, o. at least in ap-
preaching near enough to 1t to be able to
say that it has been substantially within
our grasp From our headqua tiers at
Danes Island to the pole, in a direct line
the distance is 200 statute miles: to the S5th
parallel, which at least We hope to pass, il
is $50 miles. One hundred miles short of
this parallel marks the fa~thest north vet
achieved by man, and that was done by two
brave Americans, Lockwood anu Brainard
1t is further agreed by the best students
of the polar question, both in England and
America. that the first expedition to enter
this unknown region need not and perhaps
should not be wholly of scientific charac-
ter 1t should be practical rather than
scientific. 1t should be an exploring party
simply-a pioneering party. If it can find
the practicable road to the pole and show
the means of travelling it, larger parties
more fully equipped for careful scientific
inquiry will surely follow in its track. To
do this much is the aim of the present ex-
petition. At the same time while holding
the character of a pioneering party we
shall endeavor, in case we are successful
in reaching high ATTITUDES, to make studies
and observations of meteorological and phys-
ical conditions that will prove of value to
science For this purpose we take out an
admirable set of Instruments and have the
benefit of the counsel of Prof. MendenhaIl
of the coast survey and other eminent sci
entific men.
A Newspaper Exploring Expedition.
Exploration. valuable additions to mans
knowledge of his earth, important scien-
tlfic observations, possible solution of what
Is known as the polar problem-these are
not the only purposes of this expedition 1t
Is newspaper effort. For the first time, it
Is believed, a newspaper writer leads an