The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-25
NO BEARINGS TO DISCOVER.
If Man Ever Reaches the North
Pole He VIII BE Lost.
From the Nautical Magazine.

From the Nautical Magazine.
If any one really got to the pole he
would, in common parIance, be utterly at
sea-" simply because at the pole there is
no possibility of ascertaining ones where
abouts. A person arriving there would
find an altogether different world before
him. Like a blind man. he would grope
about and vainly endeavor to get back
whence he came. This by no means envia-
bic situation Is calculated TO destroy the
illusions which he may have cherished
when starting on his polar expedition. His
completely changed situation would be ac.
counted for by the fact that when station
ed at the pole the direction of the north
would be found to coincide with the line
of the zenth-that is to say, the point
exactly above us. The opposite point, viz,
the nadir would coincide with the difec-
ton to the south The longitudinal circles
and, hence, also the meridian OF the local
ity, would coincide with the horizon.
Hence an astronomical determination of
the locality, according 10 latitude and
longitude is precluded.
The same may be said as regards deter
mining ones bearings i'm any direction. The
compass, too. win fail there, because it's
horizontal intensity Is so slight as to pre-
clude the possibility of it's action. the only
criterion for judging that one has ar
rived at the pole is that the observed lat
tude of the sun, after having been cor
rected TO latitude above the true horizon,
is found to coincide with The value of the
decination of the sun for the day In que5-
ton.
Moreover. in those regions there Is
scarcely a day on which dense fogs do not
prevail, and sixty or more degrees (C) of
cold, such as mostly exists there, will en-
nance the difficulties Of observation to
such an extent that IL can only be a ques-
ton of approximate estimates. Such con-
ditlons are by no means envlable, and are
scarcely calculated 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 he pole a
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
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 revolves
around It's axis in twenty-four hours, the
sun apparently describes, during the same
interval, a circuit of $50 degrees around
the sky being visible at an altitude equal
to the declination whenever declination il
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 matter of course,
been by water-that is to say. by ships and
sledges. The idea that one night get there
by an arial passage has not gained ground
until recently, but II we consider that bal
looms are not navigable, and hence any d.
rection that may accidentally prevail, and
In the most unlikely event only 10 the
pole, no one possessed of but a moderate
amount of commonsense will comprehend
how success could have been expected
from such an enterprise. Moreover de-
examinations of locality cannot possibly be
made from a balloon with any approxi-
mate degree Of accuracy.