Evening journal., 1898-05-20
NO BlnARTNGs TO GET.

III amy lll' uttIlg BOL 10 ullt lJiE uht
would in common parlance, be- utterly
'at sea- simply because at
the polls there lis Mo pos
siLiEty of alSCersaining Cnlss
where llbouts. a person arriving thsre
would find an aNogether different
world before him. Like a blind man,
bla would glOpe about and vaiu-y en-
deayOr to ge.1 back whence he came
This by no means enviable situation
is calculated to destroy the Illusions
which HE may have cherished when
startling ON his Polar expedition. HIS
completely changed situation would
be Accounted fer by the fact that when
stationed at the pole the direction of
Jals north would be found to coincide
with the line of the zenith'-bhat is to
say, the point exactly above us The
opposite point, viz, the nGdir, would
coincide with the direction to the
south The longitudinal circles, and
h-nlce also the meridian OF the locality
would coincide with the circles af lati
tude; an equator would coincide with
THE horizon. Hence, am astronOmi-
Cal determination of the locality, ac-
cording to latitude and longitude, is
precluded.
The same may be said as regards de-
terminating Cne's bearings in amy di-
1ectIiOn The compass too. will fail
there. because its horizontal intensity
is So Slight as to preclude the posi-
bilty Of its action. The only crter-
ion for Judgment that one has arrived
at the pole is THAT the observed lati-
tude Of the sun, after having been cor
rected to altitude above the trle h0-
rzon, is found to coincide with the
value Of the d.5Clination OF THE sun for
the day i'm question.
Moreover, in those regions There is
scarcely a day in which dense fOgs do
not prevail, and 60 or more degrees
(C.) Of cold, such as mostly exis, there.
viii enhance the difficulties OF Obser-
vatiOn to such am extent THAT it can
only be a question of approximate esti-
/ MATES. Such conditions are hy no
means enViable, and are scarcely call
cuiated To induce us to long for thf m
with all our hearts.
But THESE are not the only things
which are likely to make a sOjOunn at
the pole a never ending torment Worse
than all the rest, one cannot count the
/ passing hours there; in other words
! There dis MO criterion for determining
/ the time of day During period OF six
! months The sun will neither rise MOI
sct, but during the whole of the timr
will always remain either above or be
low THE horizon. AS the earth revolves
around it's axis In twentyfcur hours
the sun apparently describes, during
! Tho same interval, a circuit OF $50 de
| grees around the sky being visible al
an altitude equal to the declnatloT
! Whenever decllnbtion lis Of the sam1
nRmh ais THE pole at which The OBJ
SERVER is stationed.
The numerous attempts hithert,
made to reach the pole have, as a mat
ter Of course, been by water-that is 3,
say, by ships and sledges. The ides
that one might get there by an
aerial passage has not gained grouuI
until uecently, but if we consider tha
balloons are mot navigable, and henC
are liable to be CARRIED AWAY by All
currents i'm any direction THAI ma.
accidentally prevail, and in the mes
unlikely event only to THE pole. NO on
possessed of bur a moderate al90wanc
Of common SENSE viii comprehend hoy
success could have. been eNpecte.
from such an enterprise Moleovel
I determinations Of locality cannot pos
s1bly be made from a balloon witt
E amy approximate degree Of accuracy -
, | Nautical Magazfnq