The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1898-05-06
DiEculties Which Would Reset q
Person I'm the Center OF the
Arctic Circle If He
Lived.

If anyone really got TO the pole ne
would, in common parlance, be utterly
''at sea- simply because at the pole
there is no possibility of ascertaining
ones whereabouts. A person arriving
here 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-
sons which he may have cherished
when starting on his polar expedition.
His completely changed situation would
oe 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 10
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 its 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 a day on which dense fogs
10 not prevail, and 60 or more degrees
co. of cold, such as mostly exist there,
Will enhance the difficulties of observa-
tlon to such an extent that it can only
be question of approximate estimates.
Such conditions are by no means envi-
lble, 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 sojOurn at
me pole never-ending torment. Worse
han all the rest, one cannot count the
9asslng hours there; in other words,
here is no criterion for determining
;'he time of day. Duringa period of six
'nonths the sun will neither rise nor
set. but during the whole of this time
Will always remain either above or be-
Lew the horizon. As the earth revolves
round its axis in "a hours, the sun ap-
parcntly describes, during the same in
'erva., circle of 800 degrees round the
Sky, being visible at an altitude equal
70 the declination whenever declina-
ton is of the same name as the pole a t
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
'ay. by ships and s,edges 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-
'lon by any air currents that may acci-
GentaHy prevail, and in the most ur-
likely event only to the pole, no one
possessed of but a 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 a balloon with any ap-
proximate degree of accuracy-Nauti-
cal Magazine.