The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-19
POLAR EXPLORATIONS.
MILLIONS OF MILES WITHIN THE
ARCTIC CIRCLE STILL UNKNOWN.

ry-EGect ON Weather Predictions.
Terrestrial Magnetism Mineral
WeaIth-Polar Exploration shows
Greater Financial Return Than
Amy Other Enterprisc-Whnt of the
Future :-ShaII the United states BE
behind England and Germany:
By Dr. Frederick A. Cook.
Copyright, 1900, by F. A. Cook)
New York. Aug. 1.-THE true aim of le-
Ultimate polar exploration. is not, as it
is popularity supposed, TO reach the north
or the south pole, but to push aside the
realm of ignorance within the polar zones.
There is a blank space of about 100000
square miles around the northern axis,
and another of about 100000 square miles
around the southern pivot. We thus
have, at the two poles, an unknown area
equal TO the combined spread of North
America and Europe. In this region there
would be room for 200 countries as large
as the state of New York. and shen there
would still be space for the British Isles,
Germany. France and Spain. In a re-
gion of such incomprehensible extent, is
there not the prospect of material dis
coveries of interest and value to man.
kind? In the dawn of the new century
of boasted progress and enlightenment is
it not a confession of regrettable darkness
to find that an area equal to one-quarter
of the entire known land surface of the
globe is still blank upon our charts?
The Most Useful Search Ever Made.
&c IA hah Of 30
the efforts of polar explorers as being
barren of results comparable to the ex-
penditures of life. and time, and money.
Fortunately, for the progress of terres-
trial knowledge, these complainers are
the men who measure everything by dol
lars and cents, and such men seldom pen
citrate far enough into the records of ex-
ploration to find the far-reaching effect
A short time ago the editor of a New
York newspaper sent a bright young man
to me with instructions to get story of
| what he called THE Colossal Folly of the
| Century; the Useless Search for che
| North Pole l explained TO this repor er
| that the discovery of the pole was a per-
| fectly feasible project, but that the aim
| of polar explorers had not been and
| should not be narrowed to pole-chasirg. II
| should be enlarged 20 include a thorough,
! systematic study of the land, the life and
of any area beyond the threshold of the
| unknown is quite as important as a mere
| dash for the pole And, Furthermore, |
| explained that, including the several arc
| tic tragedies, the mortality of arctic ex-
| plorers was less than that of people who
stay at home in New York. But he must
prepare an article. and I was made to
say without qualification, in large head
| lines. that mo Particular Scientific Adj
| d
ing of the Pole" But I also said: at
is not more valuable, as point, than any
| other point 600 or thousand miles away.
| The great advantage 90 be derived from
| the discovery of the pole is the clearing
up of the mystery which surrounds the
rolar regions. Obtaining definite knowl-
edge Of the unknown blank space in the
vicinity of the pole is worth striving TOT
and no polar expedition can be under
taken-no expedition, that is properly fit
ted with scientific appliances and correct
w conducted-without resulting in some
| scientific benefit
The result of polar exploration ~ the
| past has been productive OF great results
| but these results enter so naturally lntf
| the development of commerce and the va
| rious branches of natural science, that
like the contributory waters OF river
the original SOURCE is lost in the new
results of research within the frigd zones
| is at first glance, difficult; but brief
| ANALYSIS of the outcome of work or the
past will indicate the complex but impor-
| tant usefulness. Early voyages into the
| frozen seas were directed only by ambl
tons to conquer new lands for CONNER
| cial purposes. From their efforts 1t no"
follows that we have knowledge OF Alas'
ka with its limitless gold, of the grea'
|
British North America, with its known
wealth of furs and its unknown beds o.
| minerals and of Spitzenbergen and mucf
of Siberia. AS a result of the work o.
these forgotten explorers we have develop
ed a sealing industry. a fur trade, anf
a whale fishery which has brought
wealth of billions of dollars to hardy ad
venturers. 1t is true, that in this worl
lives have been lost and much money ha'
been spent. but the investment has paiC
a profit not to the pioneers, but to thu
succeeding generations, mary hundred
times greater than the original outlay.
The Present Benefits.
The aim of modern polar effort is not
| however to discover a new passage L
reach the profitable trade of the Orient
or to find new avenues for the development
| of commercial enterprises. 1t is 10 gathe
informa ton to better understand the con
| ditions of the earth, not only within tn
arctic circle but at the equator or il
our own locality, as well. To attempt L
study the natural history of the globe
without a specific knowledge of the tw'
| polar areas, is like attempting to study
| the physiology of the human system with
| out a knowledge of the circulation. 1t i
no more possible to understand the physics
| of the regions in which We live withou
a better knowledge of the polar unknown
than il is to understand the function o
the stomach without q clear conception
Of the influence of the brain upon ii. W.
must go to Greenland and to the Antarc
tic 20 learn the conditions during the gla
cial epoch of the lands upon which W.
live The sand of Long Island and tn
boulders of New Jersey cannot be wei
understood until we study the moraine!
of the polar glaciers. In meteorology Their
are various problems which are hidden b.
the hand of Nature behind the icy pola
walls. The number and the Importance
of these problems will depend upon futur'
development. The science of forecastinI
its perfection depends thousands of live
and millions of dollars. We cannot hops
to find the origin and destiny of storms
and cold waves, and a hundred othe
weather peculiarities, until the atmospher
ic conditions. the terrestrial topography
and the Interchange of cir and sea cur
rents are carefully noted at the pole. IL
geology and in meteoroiogy there is muci
TO he gained by a continuation of pola
exploration The keys which will opel