Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1896-09-04
NEWS FROM splrzBERalN.
what Professor Maxwell sommerviIie Says
About the Frozen Region in the Far
North and what He Saw.

Anout tne FROZEN Region IN the HHf
North and what He Saw.
Professor Maxwell Sommerville,
of the University of Pennsylvania,
who arrived here last Saturday
from an expedition to the Arctic re-
gion, gave an interviewer some late
and interesting items about his re-
cent visit to Spitzbergen. His party
stayed some time in Advent Bay, a
sheet of water sheltered by the high
mountains surrounding it. From
the ship they commanded a fine
view of sort of amphitheatre,
overtopped by seven enormous
glaciers, the high points all covered
with snow, while an area of about
500 acres along the seashore was
completely free from snow. He met
with two other expeditions sent out
from England. The members of
one of these (the Sir William
Martin Conway Expedition) told
him that they had traversed the
principal island of Spitzbergen from
West to East on sledges, drawn by
ponies, that had been brought ex-
pressly from the north of Scotland.
On their journey they encountered
numerous ravines and crevasses, dis
covered several beds of phosphate
which, however, it would hardly
pay to work-and gathered large
number of fossil shells, coated with
hematite. They met large herds of
reindeer, which, in many instances,
showed little fear and would allow
the men to get pretty close to them.
They shot several for food, but found
that the animals, met with in the
interior where the moss was COW
cred with snow, were so emaciated
as not to he fit to eat while those
found in places, sheltered from the
wind and exposed to the rays of the
midnight sun, where there was
plenty of succulent moss, were sleek
and fattened rapidly. On the east
ern shore of the island, along the
beach, they found a few roundish
pebbles while ON the western and
northwestern shore the debris is al
most entirely of the nature of shale
fiat, crisp and disintegrated Pro-
fessor Sommerville, in his excur-
sions along the margin of the sea,
fell in with a number of entire skele-
tons of seals. He picked up some
remarkably white bones of reindeer.
foxes and birds and further up to-
wards the mountains, he came
across some specimens of coal. He
also saw several varieties of moss,
bearing beautiful flowers, some of
them on bifurcated branches.
The fact that during the short sea-
son of travel scarcely more than
five weeks) a number of excursion :
lists, scientific as we'll as simple tour
lists, go to these high ATTITUDES, in
spired an enterising denizen of
Trondhjem this year with the idea
of constructing a so-called two
story "hotel, made of wood, and SO
arranged as to be taken apart. He
carried it to Spitzbergen by steamer,
and put it up in Advent Bay. The
''rooms" are simply " hunks, " like
those on shipboard, each having the
plainest of accommodation for two
persons. OF these hunks there are
twenty eight, the occupants of which
are furnished with lodging and full
pension at So a head per day. He
finds enough boarders to make it
pay, and who are only too glad, as
were the members of this years ex-
petitions, to partake of his hospital
ity. The ''menu" does not lack in
savoriness, as in addition to rein
deer steaks and fish, the Scotch
canned goods offer a palatable vari-
ETY.. Only the day before the Pro
fessor left the frozen region, there
were some fine salmon caught.
Professor sommerville fell in with
several of Herr Andree's companions
and conversed with them. The
weather was charming, but Herr
Andree, who had gone further Ut
the western coast of the island, was
awaiting a southerly wind.-Ameri
can Register, Paris, Aug. IS.
REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS.
Dingman Township. Margare
Jones, widow, to Jacob R. W. Jack
son, dated Aug. gath, con. natura