The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-09-29
HQenGS For

dertaking is to he done under the aus
pices of the Royal Society. of which
Lord Lister is president, and of the
Royal Geographical Society, of which
Sir Clements Markham is president.
No communication has been held with
the United States on the subject, but 1t
can be said that if an expedition were
to be fitted out there, to sail at the
same time as the German and English
ships every scientist would rejoice
Even if the United States Government
were unwilling to take official part in
it, it is thought that an American
counterpart of Mr.. Longstaff might
easily be found who would be willing
to supply part of the necessary funds,
the remainder to be raised by public
subscription. 1t is suggested, hOwev-
er, that the international cooperation
could be had only if such arrange
ments were made in time for the
American representatives to reach Ber-
lin before the September conference.
Personally" said Mr.. Longstaff. in
answer to my question. Il should think
the more expeditions the better, so
long as they work in harmony and
there is no waste of energy
1t is believed that the English and
German expeditions will approach the
Pole from opposite directions, spending
the winter On the outer edge of the
mysterious continent that lies behind
the ice-pack, through which Ross was
the first to penetrate.
Ross was unable to set foot on this
continent owing to the towering ice
cliffs that bordered it, but Borchgrev-
ink managed to land on it, When
spring breaks the English and German
To n 6yva 70 Of c,y,1n
did equipment and of the information
gained by Ross and Borchgrevink, eX-
pect not only to land, but to make an
effective dash due south toward the
Pole
Until last year no one believed that
it was possible to survive the terrors
of an Antarctic winter, but the steam
Ell Belgica, sent out by the Belgian
Government, got caught in the pack
ice as the winter came on and stuck
there three months, without coming to
any great harm. hansen says that the
Antarctic icepack is less dangerous
than that of the Arctic, for the open
ocean is so much bigger that it re-
duces the probability of severe press
ure in the pack, the ice floating about
more freely.
The Antarctic region has taken the
frozen North, into which Andree and
his men have been the last to disap-
pear. But the open sea which separ-
ates the Antarctic belt of broken ice
from the mainland is frightfully
rough, and the difficulties of making
landing over the vertical ice cliffs,
rarely less than $50 feet high are ap-
palling. Not only does the sea for
ever lash itself to fury at their base,
but powerful currents drive the ice to
and fro wherever man would land as
if Nature were doing her best to keep
what is now her biggest secret. so far
as geography is concerned.
This mainland which Ross touched
in 1912, he named Victoria Land. and
this is the name printed on the maps
on the fringe of terra firma jutting out
from the vast blank space around the
Pole. 1t was he, also, who discovered
Mount Erebus, the volcano designated
on those maps. He discovered, like
wise, great mountain range, and
since then explorers have found volca-
nos in eruption on the side of the con-
tinent opposite Victoria Land
Fifty years later Borchgrevink. fol-
lowing Ross route, got through the
1ce-pack into the open ocean in a lit
tie over a month, and had the first look
at Victoria Land of anyone since Ross
sailed away from it fifty years before
Although he managed to get the sat
isfaction of setting foot on the main
land, he narrowly missed paying for it
with his life, for the current and the
floating ice nearly carried him away
while he was trying to return to the
ship. After sailing back through the
open sea he managed to get through its
icy boundary in only six days.
So it appears that this expedition,
which will be making its report to the
world at the beginning of the TWEEN
tieth century, will probably be remem
bered at the end of that century as the
most important scientific legacy to it
by this century.-Pittsbur Dispatch.