Daily camera., 1898-06-07
SEARCH FOR THE POLE.
What a Man Would Find on Gain
ing the Goal.
Difficulties Which Would Beset /,
Person in the Center of the
Arctic Circle If He
Lived.

If anyone really got to the pole he
would, in common parlance, be utterly
sat sea-" simply because at the pole
there is no possibility of ascertaining
ones whereabouts. A person arriving
there would find an altogether different
world before him. Like blind man he
would grope about and vainly endeavor
to get back to whence he came. This
by no means enviable situation is cal
culated to thoroughly destroy the illu-
sions which he may have cherished
when starting on his polar expedition.
His completely changed situation would
be accounted for by the fact that when
stationed at the pole the directions to
the north would be found to coincide
with the line to the zenith-that is to
say, the point exactly above US. The
opposite point-viz: the nadir-would
coincide with the directions to the
south. The longitudinal circles, and
hence also the meridian of the locality,
would coincide with the circles of lati,
tude; an equator would coincide with
the horizon Hence an astronomical
determination of the locality, according
to latitude and longitude, is altogether
precluded.
The same may be said as regards de-
termining ones bearings in any direc-
ton. The compass, too, will fail there,
because it's horizontal intensity is SO
slight as to preclude the possibility of
its action. The only criterion for judg-
ing that one has arrived at the pole
is that the observed altitude of the sun,
after having been corrected to altitude
above the true horizon, is found to coin
eide with the value of the declination
of the sun for the day in question.
Moreover, in those regions there is
scarcely day on. which dense fogs
do not prevail, and 60 or more degrees
co. of cold, such as mostly exist there,
will enhance the difficulties of observa-
tion to such an extent that it can only
be question of approximate estimates.
Such conditions are by no means envi-
able, and are scarcely calculated to in
duce us to long for them with all our
hearts.
But these are not the only things
which are likely to make a sojomrn at
the pole never-ending torment. Worse
than all the rest, one cannot count the
passing hours there; in other words,
there is NO criterion for determining
the time of day. During period of six
months the sun will neither rise nor
get, but during the whole of this time
will always remain either above or be-
Low the horizon. As the earth revolves
round its axis in "a hours, the sun ap-
parently describes, during the same in
terval, circle Of 800 degrees round the
sky, being visible at an altitude equal
to the declination whenever declina-
tion is of the same name as the pole at
which the observer is stationed.
The numerous attempts hitherto
made to reach the pole have, as mat
ter of course, been by water-that is to
say, by ships and sledges. The idea
that one might get there by an aerial
passage has not gained ground until
recently, but if we consider that bal
looms are not navigable, and hence are
liable to be carried away in any direc-
ton by any air currents that may acct
dentally prevail, and IL the most un-
likely event only to the pole, no one
possessed of but moderate allowance
OF common sense will comprehend how
success could have. been expected from
such an enterprise. Moreover, deter
limitations of locality cannot possibly
be made from q balloon with any ap-
proximaIte degree Of securacy.-Nauti-
cal Magazine,