The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-04-19
DIFFICULT TO REACH THE POLE.
in which n Man Would IS
Placed On Gaining the Goal.

Situation in which a Man would Be
Placed on Gaining the Goal.
From the Nautical Magazine.
Just as the magnet always turns TO
the pole. so human endeavor for CEN
turtles past has been similarly directed.
Whether at any future time IL will be
vo~uchsafed to mortals to reach the pole
is a matter 10 which. for various rea-
sons. considerable doubt may be enter
tanned. But would such an achievement
be desirable? assert the contrary
quite seriously.
III any one really got to the pole he
would. In common parlance, be utterly
lat sea-" simply at the pole
there is no possibility of a~scertaining
ones whereabouts. A person arriving
there would find an altogether different
world before him. Like a blind man
he would grope about and vainly en-
deavor to get back to whence he came.
This by no means enviable situation
is calculated to thoroughly destroy the
illusions 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 direction 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 najir-would
coincide with the direction to the south.
The longitudinal circles. and hence also
the meridian OF the locality. would CO.
inclde with the circles of latitude: an
equator would coincide with the horizon.
Hence an astronomical determination
OF the locality. according To latitude
and longitude, Is altogether p~recluded.
The same may be said as Regards de-
termining ones bearings In any direc-
ton. The compass. too. will fail there.
becauses its horizontal intensity Is so
slight as to preclude the possibility Of
It's action. The only criterion for
judging 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 CO.
incide with the value OF the d~eclination
or the sun for the day in question.
Moreover, in those regions there is
a day on which dense fogs do
not prevail, and so or more degrees CO.
OF cold, such as mostly exist there. will
enhance the difficulties of observation
to such an extent that II can only be a
question Of approximate estimates.
conditions are by no means envia-
BILE. and are scarcely calculated to in
us to long for them with all
But these are not the only things
which are likely to make a sojourn at
the pole a n~ever-ending Orment Worse
than all the rest, one cannot count the
passing hours there: i'm other words.
there Is no criterion for determining
the time of day. During a period of
six months the sun will neither rise nor
set. but during the whole of this time
Will always remain either above or be-
the horizon. AS the earth revolves
round its axis in "a hours. the sun APP
parently describes. during the same in
terval, a circle of 800 degrees round the
sky, being visible at an altitude equal
to h d~eclinatlon whenever decllnation
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 a mat
ter of course. been by water-that is to
by ships and sledges. The Flea
one might get there by an aerial
passage has not gained ground until re-
Gently. but IL we consider that balloons
are not ~navlgable. and hence are liable
to be carried away in any direction by
any air currents that may accidentally
prevail, and In the most unlikely event
only to the pole, no one possessed of but
a moderate allowance of common sense
Will comprehend how success could
been expected from such an enter
prise. Moreover, determinations OF To-
cality cannot possibly be made from a
balloon with any approximate degree
of accuracy.