Omaha daily bee., 1896-08-23
HUNTING ron run POLE.

Minneapolis Journal: Explorer Manson
might provide for the expense OF future polar
Investigations by proceeding without delay
to organize a series of personally conducted
tours.
New York Tribune: Tho simple fact that
this expedition has been able to spend three
years In The Arctic regions without disaster
or mish3p is in itself significant and encourg-
aging. 1t shows that increased knowledge
Of the realm OF ice and the advance OF
recent years in scientific equipment have
given men greater mastery over the forces
oil nature, and have enabled them to gain
access to her penetralia more readily aud
more safely than Of old.
Springfield Republican: Scientists will
await eagerly the details of this expedition,
which must be Of surprising value. His
voyage Will make a new map of the polar
regions necessary. In the latest aliases
Franz josef Land Is indicated only by a
fringe OF its southern coast, staring out
from the white desolation of the uneNplored
territory like the grin of a Cheshire cat.
Some have hoped that this might be the
highway to the pole for expeditions pat
termed after Peary's icecap trip. But this
expectation is dashed by the fact that nr.
Nansen in his drift to the northwest touched
the north coast of Franz Josef Land.
Detroit Free Press: 1t has been claimed
with some earnestness that Arctic cXplora-
tion has a certain amount of practical value
in keeping alive the spirit of adventure.
Probably it does keep that spirit alive, but
the unavoidable query is; OF what value
is it to keep that spirit alive when 1t finds
its chief or only exercise in following IL the
footsteps of men like Franklin, Schwatka,
Kane. Nansen and Jackson and adding to
the interesting but valueless results OF their
suffering and hardship? 1t is not like the
whale fishery, which was not only a good
thing in itself but a school for sailors. 1t
simply encourages men to undertake the diff
cult and dangerous and foolhardy. The de-
Velopment of such a spirit cannot be of any
actual value to mankind
Philadelphia Ledger: one point which
does not seem to have been thoroughly
studied by the scientists interested in at
tempts to reach the pole is the frequency
and violence of the storms reported from
that region. JacksOn's experience with
furious storms in Franz Josef Land is but a
repetition of that met with by other eX-
plorers. We are told by meteorologists that
a constant current of heated air rises from
the tropics and flows to either pole, where it
descends to the earth and returns in the
form of trade winds. May not the frequent
storms be due to the mingling of this warm, :
moist air with the currents that beat around
the pole, complicated, possibly, by the effect
of the earth's rotation? If so, this is a
factor that will have to be reckoned with
in all plans for Arctic exploration.
New York Sun: If DR.. Nansen had car
ried out his plan to drift across the polar
area, reaching open water again between
Spitzbergen and Greenland, the exploit would
scarcely have excited so much establishment
as the feat he has actually performed. Had
he emerged west Of Spitzbergen, with his
solid deck beneath his feet. his success
would have been largely due to his good
luck and the triumph of his theory of the
north-iowing current. 1t is another mat
ter to leave ones ship in an utterly unknown
sea, az a point never before approached by
a vessel within hundreds of miles, further
north than any man had ever before at
tanned and attempt a dash onto the North
Pole, with two dog teams and a single COM
rade. This is what Nansen did; and wear
ing woollen clothing ito save weight" in
temperatures of "a degrees to 40 degrees be-
low zero, he made his way almost due north
las miles, or about 1876 miles nearer the
pole than the place reached by Greely's
party. He was within about $50 miles of the
pole when the terrible ~sledging conditions
compelled him to turn southwest for the
land.