The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-02-26
TO NORTH.
| |' POLE.
Evelyn Baldwin's
Rivals in the
Race.
SEVEN NATIONS !
IN THE STRUGGLE
Attempts by Different Countries
to Get Foothold in
the North.

/
Evelyn b., Baldwin, the Kansan who
Pole, will not be alone in his ambition
as an Arctic explorer. He will have in
the race another American, who is al
! ready far in the North, and representa-
tives of six other nations all struggling
to reach the same goal Swede, a
German, a Russian, an Italian, a Cana
dian and a Norwegian will be ais COM
petitors IN the struggle, and the world
will have Van opportunity Of watching
and waiting to see who will come out
winner and who will be the "aIso rams"
Lieutenant Peary is already within the
iArctic circle. He sailed northward more
than two years ago. When last heard
from he was at the entrance to Bafin S
Bay on what is called Kane's basin. The
series of caches of stores planted by
him will lessen the difficulties of his ad-
vance to Cape Joseph Henry, where the
real trouble will begin. Lieutenant Peary
planned to take about dozen picked
Eskimo and some eighty dogs and as
many loaded sledges as the latter can
drag. When sledge has been emptied
/ it will be sent back to Cape Sabine with
one of the drivers, and the rest will push
on. Thus he hopes to reach Cape Joseph
Henry with q large supply of proyi-
sions. From this point he will Set out
with only two companions.
Besides Peary, two other explorers are
well their way to the North-Sver-
drup, a Swede, and a German-American.
Stein. The latter had reached Ellesmere
Land, according to the latest intelli-
sgence.
! The Russian expedition will be in COM
4 IA
/ plan is to enter the polar regions some
/ what to the eastward of Franz Josef
Land, thereby avoiding the unfavorable
East Greenland current and taking adj
vantage of the stream which it is be-
heved flows very near to, if not directly
/ over, the pole, Admiral MaSaroff main
tainS that probably the ice is relatively
! thin as one nears the pole, and it is his
belief that his ship will be able To steam
directly to that loEg-sought-for point.
But IF his ship is caught beyond extrica-
ton in the ice he VIII set out IN dog
sleds and push as far north as possible.
| The vice adu1iralS vessel will be the
specially built ice-breaking steamship
Ermack. The interest in this expedition
centers not only in the novelty of the
idea, bGt, SO far as Americans are con-
cerned, IN the fact that what If is be-
lieyed will prove effective feature of
this unique craft is the Invention of a
Yankee. The Ernacik has three screws,
ltwo aft and one forward. The forward
propeller is the American idea, the the
Dry being that ITS revolution will lessen
the resistance of the ice by disp1acing
the water underneath it,. Whether or
not this notion will work out ia practice
when the vessel is obliged to put forth
all her powers, the theory commended
itself to the judgment of Makaroff and
was adopted. In the recent trial the Err
mack ploughed her way through four
teen Of En1i6 nit
through the hummocked kind of twice
that thickness. The vessel is 302 feet
long and her propellers are so arranged
that they can be operated at full speed
dangering them. The vessels hull is of
| steel, and it is estimated that she will
Withstand fifteen times the strain which
may safely be brought to bear upon. the
average ship built of the same material
| The Duke of Abruzzi, first cousin of
the King of Italy, and Fridtjof Nansen,
the eminent Norwegian explorer, will be
in command of another expedition. 1t will
be recalled that the Stella Polare, under
| the command of the italian nobleman,
got within 2f miles of the pole last year
thereby beating the record of Nansen by
ltwenty-three niles. 1t is presumed that
the expedit on commanded by these two
daring and skillful men will follow the
general route which carried the Duke
nearer to the coveted spot than any 9TH
er human being is known to have been:
that is, path northward from Franz
Josef Land
! Captain Bender. the French Canadian,
proposes to leave Vancouver, bound for
Boring Strait, about June l. His inten-
ton Is to follow the Siberian coast to
| the Siberian Islands going into winter
quarters about $40 miles from the pole.
/ Bernfer believes that his vessel viii be
gradually carried northward by the
drifting Ice in which it will become i'm
bedded, but he does not expect to reach
the pole until the third summer The
captain is now in London fitting out his
! ship. the Scottish King,
| Captain Bernier VIII travel by the
route taken by the wreck of the Jean
nette. By this route, instead of being
| IN opposition to the currents. as so
many explorers have been, the captain
hopes to be carried along and aided at
all points of his journey by it.
! In the polar circle. from the shores of
Siberia the most frequent winds are
from the east and southeast, thus car
rying the ice to the north and northwest
and drawing it against the shores of
Franz josef Land, Spitzbergen snd
Greenland" said Captain Bernier. I'm
! the polar circles on the North American
coast, on the contrary, the wind blows
from the west and northwest. pushing
the Ice to the east and southeast, on the
shores of North Greenland and Grinnell
Land, where it accumulates from year
to year and forms those eternal masses,
or 'hummocks,' which Markham, who
explored this part of the Polar circle.
says tower many feet above the moving
/ ice. II we draw a line from Bering
Strait to North Greenland we will divide
the Polar basin into two parts. The
western part is formed of an immense
block of ice bearing upon the shore of
North America, which forms an impass-
~ RI 11fa
portion Is formed by ice which has drift
ed from the coast of Siberia and Boring
Straits and pursues the course of the
wind. When 1t approaches the pole 1t
Increases in thickness and volume. form
ing the 'hummocks,' which Dr. Nansen
found to be about thirty feet high. These
are no doubt higher near the pole'
1t Is authoritatively stated that an eK-
petition in command OF a German win
be sent to the North, but nothing def
rfte has been given out as to Its COM
position or plans. Another effort, it IS
said, will be made to discover some clue