The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-08-05
AT THE NORTH POLE.
IF ANY MAN EVER REACHES IT HE WILL
! BE SURELY LOST

Tho Impossibility of Getting Fearings-
I For Six Months the sun Hangs n the
Sky without Rising or Setting.
If any one really got to the pole he
would. in common parlance, be utterly
at sea, simply because at the pole
there is no possibility of ascertaning
ones whereabouts. A person arriving
there would find an altogether differ
eT world before him. Like a blind
man he would grope about and vainly
endeavor to get back whence he came.
This by no means cnWable situation
Is calculated to 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 OF
the north would be found to coincide
with the line Of the zenith-that is to
say, the point exactly above us. The
opposite point, viz, the nadir, would
coincide with the direction to the
south. The longitudinal circles, and
hence also the meridian of the local
ny, would coincide with the circles Of
latitude; an equator would coincide
with the horizon. Hence an astronomi-
cal determination of the locality, ac-
cording to latitude and longitude, Is
precluded.
The same may be said as regards de-
terming ones bearings in any direc-
0on. The compass, too, will fail there,
because its horizontal intensity is so
slight as to preclude the possibility of
its action. The only criterion for
Judging that one has arrived at the
pole Is that the observed latitude of the
sun, after having been corrected 10 al
titude above the true horizon, is found
TO coincide with the value of the dec
lination of the sun for the day in ques-
ton.
, Moreover, in those regions there Is
scarcely ii day on which dense fOgs do
not prevail, and sixty or more degrees
there. will enhance the difficulties of
observation to such an extent that 1t
can only be question of approximate
estimates Such conditions are by no
means enviable, and are scarcely cal
culated to induce us to long for them
with all our hearts.
! But these are not the only things
which are likely to make a sojourn at
the pole neverending torment.
Worse than all the rest, one cannot
count the passing hours there; in other
words, there is no criterion for deter-
mining the time of day. During a
period Of six months the sun will
neither rise nor SET but during the
whole OF the time will always remain
either above or below the horizon. As
the earth revo!veB around ita axis in
t@enty-four hours, the sun apparently
describes, during the same interval, a
Circuit of 800 degrees around the sky,
being visible at an altitude equal to the
declinaton whenever dec!lnat.on 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 say, by ships and sledges. The idea
that one might got there by an aerial
passage has not gained ground until
recently. but II we consider that bal
looms are not navigable, and hence are
liable to be carried away by air cur
rents In any direction that may acct
dentally prevail, and in the most un-
likely event only to the pole, no one
possessed OF but moderate allowance
pf common sense will comprehend how
success could have been expected from |
Iuch an enterprise. Moreover determi-
nations Of locality cannot possibly DO
made from balloon with any approx
mate degree of accuracy.