Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-22

AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION
STUDYING EARTH'S SECRETS
Written for The Evening Star.

'Leie II btcdine pTOHtaDle hunting ground.
In fact, there was time when large fleets
of whalefs visited its shores, and in order
to minimize the dreariness of this region
the shippers took their families along and
established on land as comfortable camps
as possible, with the factory for extracting
Gil as the central feature of the temporary
Rene. To some of these camps names of
far-away southern cities were given, and
now we find quiet bays and iutting head
lands without vestige of evidence of pre-
vious occupation perpetuating on the mans
the fact that years ago there were life and
activity here
The summer outing was accompanied nv
SO. few discomforts compared with those
tEat attended the long voyage hither and
thther that more than once adventurous
spirits tempted the elements by deciding
to winter near their hunting grounds Eut
the envious Ice King laid his hand unon
them and the coasts have been sowu with
graves. "-'ii
Inc explorer has gone hand in hand with
the hunter. But he has described in de-
tai those features which the latter only
mentioned in passing, and not being TEMPT
ca py iear OIL competitors following in his
wake ne has given with fullness the routes
10 De followed and the dangers 70 he avoid
ed The catch was prosecuted with s1Icb
vlgor that the game was soon reduced until
II was below paying proportions and now
f 2pi'Epergen Is no longer hunting ground
ior whale and walrus, but a Mecca for
tourists and the haunt of the snortsn,an in
search or larger game. The North Cane
ana the midnight sun do not satisfy the
Increasing appetite for new thinge. Even
the approach to the saddening sunset must
De avoided and latitude reached where
even even at midnight the orb of day. rides
nigh in the heavens
An Arctic Supply Station.
mus 1t is that tourists hut has been
erected AT Advent bay, in latitude 7S0 and
~ ana a steamer makes weekly trim for
month and half from Hammerfest Eli
ropes most northerly town. This arctic
supply station is a great blessing to sucb
expeditions as wish to push further north
ward or make closer eyam;nations - -
regions round about "
Nhen Sabine made his famous nenduJnr,
observations here, his base was Norway
NordenskJold could not steam into Advent
lay ior COAL as did Nathorst during the
past summer Sir Martin Conway. in col
lecting MS valuable material for his worl,
on Spitzbergen. came here several times
LOT t 1000 and fuel, and if it had not been
LOT the presence here of an availahla
steamer | could not have carried a nenduo
lum to the eightieth parallel to obtain re-
suits that would let the extreme north
have q voice in deciding Tho shonn o IN ~
earth. VI 'iie
AS early in July as I thought it safe we
cropped out of Advent bay to round the
southern point of Ice Ford and thence
push upward along the western coast The
sharp shark s-tooth" mountains were COW
cred with snow, except on the exposed s11r-
faces, where the wind had not permitted if
10 lie, and every valley was a glacier bed
There the glacial rivers came down to tho
waters edge, and the indigo-like nieces Of
Ice were broken off by the ocean swell and
Joined in the great aimless procession drift
ing southwark.
On the Edge of the Ice
The second day out we came to the edge
of the pack ice-that great mocking full
stop to arctic progress-and while beating
about in search of an opening a snow
storm became an ally of the enemy seeking
to blind the cautious pilot. We pushed up
close to the great grinding crushing
masseg of ice, and listened in awe to the
unceaslng humping and grating. as one
piece, not knowing which way 1t wanted
TO go. found its course blocked by another
equally ignorant. Never did hear such
SOunds-not loud, but Sullen remorseless
like the reiterated chorus of a chant to
mans weakness-nature's prowess. After
a while We seemed to be in the center Of
crescent-shaped bay, with the two arms
swinging around as If to take US into a
chilling embrace. Huge blocks of ice APP
peared to come up as If from the deep. 1t
was fascinating to watch the encircling
arms, to see them grow in length and
beckon one another to close in, but to the
experienced captain delay might mean
death, so, with the minor chords of this
chant lingering in our ears, we o.ISJ out
into the open water to the south.
The course was laid to the southwest and
then to the northwest, and for while all
went we'll but the ice movement was great
er than had been anticipated, and a second
time we found the rocking, rasping enemy
before us. A wider detour was then made,
and fortunately clear water was found.
Through this we plowed our way, and on
the next day swung into Virgo bay and
n nod nhny iI1cr In mi md q c
house. In a little while boat was lowered,
my instruments and supplies put aboard
and, thanks to the little landing stage that
Andree had built everything was gotten
ashore in good shape. BY accident rather
than intention it was Just one year from
the time he had bid his friends goodbye
and sailed northward.
Studying n Pendulum's Movements.
Owing to the uncertainty as to how long
our favorable weather might last time
was spent in striving to animate the place
with the spirits of those who had so silently
departed, but haste was made to build lit
tie house to protect the instruments and to
serve an observing room. Fortunately
the best of material was available in the
timber Andree had left. and by noon on the
following day the pendulum was mounted,
and at each swing appealed to Nature to
reveal the secret of the earths shape.
We know that gravity. the mysterious
force that draws a body toward the center
of the earth, depends upon the distance
from that center 1t is also true that the
force which impels pendulum to swing is
this same gravity, and as the time of the
oscillation depends upon gravity the swing
of a pendulum can be used to determine its
distance from the center of the earth If
the earth were a sphere the time required
for any pendulum to make an oscillation
under identical conditions would be the
same at all points on the earth's surface;
but not being sphere it is impor tant to
determine its sphericity, the relative dis
tances of various points from the center OF
the earth.
This determination can best be made by
a pendulum. Mathematical physics has
told US what the pendulum should show at
various ATTITUDES, and theory has been
confirmed in the temperate zones, bat the
apparatus is so heavy and so delicate that
few are willing to take it into the Arctic
circle and make the tests in that region,
where the confirmation is most desired. 1t
is not an easy matter to take ones self
into the Arctics, and when in the impede
menta there are boxes weighing as much
as 200 pounds the task assumes serious pro-
portions. But Andree's going before made
it asier for me to follow, and hereafter
with Danes Island will be associated my
success and his failure If failures can
ever be enviable, that of Andree's is pre-
univ Nv