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

ry well, do what was never done before. ana
that is to send dispatches from the inner
regions of the arctic world. Ordinarily an
arctic expedition is not heard from till its
return-one, two or three years after its
departure. We shall do better. We have a
line of communication which is designed to
enable us to send The Star descriptive mat
ter and photographs from the farthest north
While we are still in the field.
Our supporting party of seven men ac-
companies us TO the north from our head
quarters only some twenty or TWENTY-FIVE
Jays IN tnls time we shall hope to accom-
pllsh from 30 to 800 miles of northing If
we 90 only 80, or even less, we shall about
the 10th of June be farther north than man
ever was before. Our supporting party now
turns back, reaching Spitzbergen about
July LIST. There our steamer awaits them
and carries to Norway the dispatches. LET,
ters, photographs and artists sketches which
c IN pear from our perch away up on the top
OF the big globe. In three or four days If
all goes right our steamer will be at from
soc, ana the Atlantic cable will bear YOU a
dlspatch announcing that We have been
heard from, and that when heard from we
were nearer the pole than man had before
penetrated, and were still going north
An international Race for the Pole.
Ihere are other expeditions in the field
ana this is to be momentous YEAR in
arctic work. DR.. hansen, brayest of the
brave, the ideal arctic explorer. is now in
the ice in his stanch little shin the
Fran, to the north of the Siberian
Islands, near where the Jeanette was
sunk. Lieut.. Peary, persistent, successful.
resourceful, is at his house in Mccormick
Lay, West Greenland, whence he will set
OUT IN about SIX weeks for northernmost
Greenland and the pole IL the land shall
Iead MIN SO far. Mr.. Stein of this city is
the protector of commendable and desery-
ing pan Tor further exploration of Elles-
I rrThf oh
| known. In May we shall be in the eterna 1
/ Ice, pressing northward as fast as We can
| go. OF the three important parties, ours is
the one OF which the world will naturally
| expect the least in the way of results
Nansen and Peary are the veterans We
the amateurs. They have written their
names high on the roll of honor, while we
have done nothing. Not one of US has ever
been nearer the pole than Norway or
Alaska. We have yet to be tried amid
| the difficulties and dangers of arctic travel
| and before We can claim or expect conf
| dence must earn il in the field. Until we
nave done this we ask no other considera-
| ton than fair play and a willingness to
await results before passing judgment
Between Peary, Nansen and ourselves
! there Will this year be an international
race for the pole. Frederick Jackson. an
/ Englishman, talks of starting by way of
! Francis Joseph Land, and we sincerely
hope he may enter the field. The more of
us the merrier, and may the best man win
The pole is worth winning, not only in
the spirit of friendly rivalry, not alone in
the desire for fame, notoriety or whatever
you choose to call it, but from higher
motives mingled with these. For those
who identify the progress of civilization
with a search after truth IL is net neces-
sary to argue the value of arctic explora-
ton. That question was answered a half
century ago by that stern friend of knowl-
edge. Sir John Barrow. when he wrote:
THE north pole is the only thing in the
world a VI x-a lyrn nj fnor or,1
that want OF all knowledge ought to
operate as a spur to adopt the means OF
wiping away that stain of ignorance from
this enlightened age"