Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-08-26
AT THE NORTH POLE.
IF ANY MAN EVER REACHES HeWlLL
BE SURELY LOST


Dense Fogs and Extreme Cold are There
For Six Months the sun Hangs in 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 ascertaining
ones whereabouts. A person arriving
there would find an altogether differ
ent world before him. Like a blind
man he would grope about and vainly
endeavor to get back whence he came.
This by no means enviable situation
is calculated to destroy the illusions
which he may nave 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 abe zenith-that is to
say the point exactly above us. The
opposite point, VIZ, the. nadir, would
coincide with tEe direction to the
south. The longitudinal circles. and
hence also the n eridian of the local
ity, would coincide with the circles of
latitude an equS tor would coincide
with the horizon. Hence an astronomi-
cal determination of the locality, ac-
cording to latitude and longitude, is
precluded.
The same may De said as regards de-
terming ones bearings in any direc-
ton. The compass, too, will fail there,
because its horizontal intensity is so
slight as to precl9de 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 to 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 a day on which dense fogs do
not prevail, and sixty or more degrees
CO. of cold such as mostly exist
there, will enhaure the difficulties of
observation to sUch an extent that it
can only be a question of approximate
estimates. Such conditions are by no
means enviable, nnd 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 50 make a sOjourn at
the pole neEer-ending torment.
Worse than all The rest. one cannot
count the passing hours there; in other
words, there is NJ criterion for deter
mining the time of day During
period Of six menths 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 its axis in
twenty-four houra, the sun apparently
describes, during the same interval a
circuit of $50 degrees around the Sky,
being visible at ar altitude equal to the
declination Whenever declination 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, beGn by water-that is
to say, by ships and sledges. The idea
that one might gAt there by an aerial
passage has not gained ground until
recently, but if We consider that bal
looms are not nav,gable, 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
of common sense will comprehend how
success could have been expected from
such an enterprise Moreover, determi-
nations of locality cannot possibly be
made from balloon with any approx
innate degree of accuracy.