New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-07-18
ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION.
A BELGIAN EXPEDITION TO START
SOUTHWARK NEXT WEEK.
THE MAGNETIC POLE TO BE sTUDIED-EARIiER
VOYAGES. THEIR OBJECTS AND RESULTS
DEsoLATE FRIGID ZONE

THE MAGNETIC POLE TO BE sTuDIED-EARLIER
VOYAGES THEIR OBJECTS AND RESULTS
DEsoLArE FRIoID ZONE
The british Association for the Advancement OF
Science some time ago appointed co',
among its members being Dir Leopold McChh'o'N
and Sir George Mares, for the purpose OF ora"ns
attention TO the dss,rabiity Of an expedition to the
Antarctic the region regarded as 'the iahu VI
mystery and wo der" region covering an aie'
OF eight million square miles. ana al'ose
terra incognita. Not the outcome OF any isp
from this British Committee, out as 'o
interest stirred up among the Belgians. VINO oe"eVe
that the Antarctic Continent is Of sufficient i"po'
lance to nay for TIE trouble. expense ana ua'ee
involved a fund of go 90 francs 05oooo) mas Deem
raised and on July % the Begica steam "i'ai'''s
vessel especially built for navigation among
packs icefoes and icebergs. VIII san iIo'" 80
werp with the expedition The commahder Vi 'n
exploring party is Captain Adrien dc der.ace. az"
the other members will comprise two neute'
(one ~ them NJ LecoInte who served In the rre"c"
Navy, Two engineers a sailing master, carpenter
tu, harpooners twelve sailors. two stoKers'
cook and steward. ,
The exploring party expects 10 'eas'' ,,
Land about the middle OF October, the peh"e
OF the fine austral season Graham Lam i've =.
tween So and S. south latitude. ana lohsi' go
to So west. and was discovered by briscoe u 'oo
He Is credited with being the first explorer ~ Se
foot on the Antarctic Continent. the parry W."
call at the Canary Islands and Rio Janciro' p'a.
and will also stop at the Falk ana isianu'' opi
the eastern end of the Magellan straits W
ish the stores Thence the expedition Will san io 'ns
Antarctic Ocean, pushing far AS possip'e 'o""
the south When the hard weather begins 10 set
IN az Il usually does In March, the vesse' WIZ 'e
turn to Melbourne fill up with the necessary 500
and in due time start south again to"ai"
Land In latitude 70' to 79' south. ana ions''
iS' east. This is the land discovered by 'ie m
James Ross expedition. on which are '"
towering volcanoes, Mount Erebus anu -,
Terror From this point the expedition wiz ~
observations for the austral magnetic pole. lhoSo
who have given Antarctic explorations NUN
tifc study have declared that a siheie 'e''
not safely venture upon explorations ]" ~.
arctic circle for II serious accident shouiu oo'u'
there would be very little chance that soui wou.r
escape. Ice-imprisoned shpwrecked Explores
there could have little hope Of retreating saiey u
inhabited lands as Arctic travellers have DONE io'
the nearest places where human pe"sS can "
found are at T IRA del FueGo ana fa'as"''''' va
the Magellan Straits shores. No man ever "int,,"
on the Antarctic Continent and no quadrupeu. Inv
the bear and he wolf and the musA o~ "
Arctic lives In this frigid zone
THE MYSTERIOUS SOUTHERN POLE.
Almost everybody has heard something concern
ing the North Pole however vague may be the I'M
nrossion nrodu ed by the term. No one has ever
seen the North Pole and the latest data from there
are bv Nan~n who maintains that the pole IL
situated in a region Of perpetual Ice pu' NV
many know much as this cohcerhi'e wv
South Pole? No will dispute that there Is d
South Pole the extreme end of the axis OF the
earth: a point having the maximum OF sou,h ia'i-
tude. the very opposite Of the North Poe' put
having the same existing conditions. except that
those which would be observed In December at the
North Pole would he observed in June at the soutn
Pole The midnight sun OF July at the north "ouiu
take p,ace in the Antarctic in January. The old
geogra pliers had notion that in order to balance
the continents OF the northern ATTITUDES there
should likewise be continents in the Antarctic;
hence occasional voyages have been made In the
hope of discovering stretches OF land and voyages
have also been made for observation other IMAM
determining the terrestrial poe-i. to study the
magnetic pole, where 1t is when II changes why
1t changes and the variation Of changes.
II was about three hundred years ago that Juan
Fernandez discovered what is now claimed to he
New-Zealand but that is fully three thousand miles
from the Poe. Other expeditions OF corresponding
character followed at intervals. but the first TO
penetrate within southwark OF the Antarctic
circle with avowed purpose Of fathoming It's
mysteries the renowned Captain Cook. Then
followed Weddell Briscoe and others. the former
reaching the latitude a. which was further south
than any of his predecessors. and less than thou
sand miles from the South Pole. Then came the
American expedition under the command Of Lieu
tenant Charles Wilkes, Of the Navy, In 1887. The
ships Vincennes and Peacock were paced at his
disposal with instructions to push far south
as possible, and look out for lands" The Por-
pose Sea Gull and the Flying Fish later Joined in
the expedition and during four years much ocean
explored for the first time. but there were
very few valuable results The Sea Gull met with
disaster somewhere and was never more heard of
Lieutenant Wilkes claimed have discovered an
ANITA Ito nnfi hlrt nyn1 IN Ia dala
Land, which had been discovered and plotted a
little while before by DUrvilles expedition. This
latter expedition was organized about the same
time that Of Wilkes Louis Philippe. In 1881. dis
patching Admiral Dumont D'Urville with the
vettes Astrolabe and Zelce During a series of
three years of voyaging many islands dis
covered. including Louis Philippe's Land Adele
Land manned after DUrvilles wife,
THE EXPEDITION OF SIR JOHN ROSS.
Next came the memorable expedition OF Sir John
Ross. an expedition not much to discover new
lands TO obtain information concerning the
south magnetic pole-a matter which the British
Association for the Advancement Of Science consd-
cred more important than continental discovery
The appeal was made to the British Government in
1898, but 1t until the following year that
the Erebus and Terror, under comma nd of Sir John
from eauped sSS on for
four years cruise in region Of the world knowl-
limited almost wholly to the imagination 80 % ''''
The Ross party first sighted large. compact Ice
befgs In latitude So south; and 10 or 30 miles
south OF that II found itself the edge OF
the pack, a vast field Of hummock ice extending
unknown number OF miles This was In
the midsummer Of the southern hi hemisphere ami
yet the members OF the expedition were supplied
with extra heavy clothing TO keep their bodies
warm. Preparations were made for dashing
through the noe ice and humn.ocks at points where
the more solid pack could be avoided and the fol-
lowing Is an extract from the log made by Ross
himself of his observations at that time:
I'm the evening "a remarkable appearance Of land
was reported. During several hours n number OF
pointed hills, apparently covered with snow were
seen. assuming an appearance so calculated TO de-
ceiye the experienced eye that, had been pre-
vented from proceeding further. 1t would doubtless
have been asserted on our return to England that
had discovered land at this point. The appear
ance OF land was. however. nothing more than the
but Irregular line the limit to which vapor
cend in these ATTITUDES. Below Is vapor I'm every
degree OF condensation. bove the clear cold space
which vapor can never attain. II Is always near
the margin OF the ice that these appearances OF
land are most remarkable and most deceptive. IL
proved a useful lesson to some of our new hands.
who would not be persuaded II land until
W. had passed the place their base