The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-11-25

is of French Canadian extraction, ana
confident of his ability to plant the flag
of the empire and the arms Of his ma
tive country upon the exact end of the
worlds imaginary axis. The captain ha;
promise of generous Canadian aid for
his expedition, ard has gone to England
| to interview ST. Clements Markham, pres
ident of the Royal Geographical society,
on the project, and also to make ar
rangements for the. construction of a
new ship. II will be decided in England
whether this vessel is to be of wood or
malleabIe steel; that is, the Siemens-
! Martin mild steel
| The experience of Nansen's Fran
makes the captain rather unfaVorable 70
a wooden ship, because of the fears that
| that vessel engendered among her crew
! when in the ice foes. His preference
is for a steel ship, the sides of which
| can be so heated from within that she
will avoid the evil effects of ice press
IRE, and being shaped like the Fran
! will readily rise from the pressure or
| opposing ice foes. Capt. Bernier esti-
mates the total cost OF the expedition at
| from $4,000 to $50, O00 of which $4,000 to
$50, 600 will be required for the vessel and
! its outfit. He gives his own services free.
| Sir Clement Markham has already de-
| clared that another expedition ought to
! continue Nansen's work, taking the drift
! ing ice further to the east than he did,
! in which case he believes it would float
! over the pole. Bernier does not sharS
! the belief of some that there is any ex-
| tent of land in the neighborhood OF the
! pole that would interfere with the reg
| ular drift of the Arctic ice. He declares
it unreasonable to believe that there is
other than deep water in the vicinity of
| the pole, when 800 miles south OF it, In
! the direction Of Greenland, the depth Of
water is from 1880 to 1000 fathoms.
Capt. Bernier proposes to set out on
his voyage about June 1, leaving van
| couVer for Behring straits, accompanied
bv crew of twelve all possessed Of
special scientific attainments The coast
| of Siberia will be followed as far as
the new Siberian islands, the eXpedi-
! ton passing to the west Of them TO
/ survey Sannikof land, and to finish the
survey of North Bennett island, COM
menced by the Jeannette's crew. There
the opportunity will be watched for in
! the late period of navigation to pro-
! ceed to the north of the Jeannettes
Arctic position through one OF the
northeasterly openings in the ice that are
! always found to exist about OCTOBER.
/ The winter quarters of the ship will be
about 500 miles from the pole. Here
! the explorers will slaughter the live
stock brought with them for food and
! store the flesh in a depot on the ice
J
when there will be nothing to kill
| around them In the latitude where the
| first winter will be passed the explorers
! expect to kill large quantities Of bear,
! seal and walrus, not only for current
use, but also to add to their reserve
| stores.
| All this time the captain expects to
! be gradually nearing the pole, carried
| toward it by the drift of the ice in
which his vessel and attendant camps
! will be imbedded upon the surface
! of which they will be borne. So gradual
! is the drift and so slow will be the
| progress of the party that they only eX-
| pect to reach the pole during the third
| summer of their absence from home. 1t
/ may not be possible for the expedition
| to take the drift ice far enough to the
! east TO be sure of passing directly over
! the pole, because of the westerly Grift.
! In order to counterfeit this, however, a
| series of observation stations will be es-
tablished on the ice ten miles apart
and stretching away due east of the
main camp. These observation camps
will constitute one of the main features
j of the expedition. Not only will they
be sighted from one another, but they
/ will be connected by telephone COM
nunication, supplemented by q system
/ of wireless telegraphy. The fiagStaffs of
these stations will be composed of hol-
! low aluminium pipes two to three inches
in diameter, containing emergency sup
plies Of food. These pipes viii be
eighteen feet high. Each station will
be supplied with self-registering Their
/ mometer and barometer Five of them
at least are to be established, and If
this eastward extension of communica-
ton for fifty miles is found by observa-
ton to be sufficient for overcoming the
westward drift, the number and extern
sion Of these observation stations can
readily be increased, so that the pas
sage Of at least a portion of the party
Immediately over the pole may be def
nftely accomplished.
Small balloons with records of the ex-
| petitions progress will be released al
monthly or fortnghtly intervals. and each
succeeding balloon will contain the record
entrusted to former ones, to provide
against the loss of any. Each will be
! furnished with twenty days supply Of
| hydrogen. TO avoid evaporation they win
be so freighted as to be imprisoned in
the cold air near the surface of the sea
and Capt. Bernier is convinced that the
J prevailing currents OF air will carry them