The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-23
TREY MAY REACH TIE POLE.

Since Lieut.. Greely's expedition pole
minutes, the then farthwest north, there
has been q determined effort among
scientific men to reach this end of tho
earth's axis. The suffering of the Greedy
expedition had no effect as a deterrent to
new expeditions. The specifications of
each were arranged to overcome the
weak points in the Greedy pan
The scheme of DR.. Nansen was bold and
original From a close study of ocean
currents, he concluded that the polar ice
was in constant motion, following a web
pole. And if ship could be so con-
structed as to withstand the assaults of
the ice fe1dsy itwould, if consigned to the
drifting ice, not only reach the pole, but
be carried beyond to orer water.
His theory was right, but the Fran did
not strike the ice current in Just the
right place and missed the pole by few
degrees
scientific knowledge of the far North and
a record of Sc degrees and IA minutes.
The next successful attack upon the
polar regions was made by the Italian
Duke of Abruzzi in the Stella Polare
The duke did not drift, but made dash
for the pole with sleds SURPRISING Nam
sens record by twenty-one miles, but
suffering great hardships and adding but
little to the scientific knowledge OF the
region.
Two expeditions are now in the frozen
North, the Sverdrup expedition, with the
Fran and Lieut.. Peary. The latter is
now at Fort rConger, the famous head.
quarters Of the Greedy expedition. He re-
ports that he is well supplied with pro-
visions and will make a run for the pole
in the spring. Will he succeed? The
people of all civilized nations will look
eagerly for news of the fate of this
venture.
There is a halo of interest about
the heads of. great explorers that appeals
strongly to the imagination. Some one,
speaking of Henry NJ. Stanley, said that
he was the most wonderful embodiment
of physical and intellectual energy since
the great Napoleon And any one who
has followed that intrepid African ex-
plorer through his life, filled with
achievements and chair breadth 'scapes,"
will conclude that Stanley, although
moving in totally different field, is as
great a character as was Napoleon To
this class belong such men as Greedy,
and Nansen and Peary The theater of
operations is as different as can well be
imagined. The dark continent of Afri-
ca contained world of romance The
giant and almost imitless forest has hid
for untold centuries a race of pygmies of
unknown ancestry. The commercial pos
sibilfties of the continent infame the
imagination and stimulate the ambition
of the daring pathfinder. There the ex-
plorer meets and enters into treaties with
princes and kings and emperors. In
short he treads a living land of Won
der
Not so, with the seeker for scientific
facts in the regions of the pole. There
he pursues his course within the awful
presence of. the Infinite. He breathes
| the frigid air of Gods eternal soiitudes.
No color is there to rest the wearied eye
no life to warm the soul. Above him,
| in unvarying cycles, move the northern
| consultations. Cold beneath him lies the
| pulseless earth Death, unemployed,
moves Ger the trackless waste.
| And silence. in her snow-white shroud,
| Stands pressing on her wordless lips
| The hush of noveless finger tips,
| While with her threatening glance she
draws
The line. that who so passes slips
| Into the soundless gulf of Sleep"
Into this region of everlasting silence
go these men in search of facts. that
they may add to the fund of knowledge.
! If, to overcome the forces of nature
| by The sheer power of physical and men
ia! endurance, makes a hero, then are