Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-12-21
ARCTIC IMPULSE
Powerful Magnets Which Draw
Men to the Pole,
Inc 'anta|izing Mystery Of the Great
Frozen Zone.
explorers Spurred BY Desire for KnowIedoe.
Adventure and Fame.

| - 'Vo 0itt Oh ItOl anl
even IN a balloon. men have in the las
rev years literally by the hundred Sc
,heir faces to the pole and are ,oda,
| concealed within the mystery which
surrounds it. Some perhaps many. o
| them now lie silent bencat, the whit,
snow mantle that covers its grinding
| foes. Andree and his balloon ar. n,
more seen nor heard from nor are they
likely to be until the day of the res
uffection. The same mary allous force
Whlch sent them on their forlorn hon.
mas slnce sent scores of others in their
wake by other and less d;.re-,leyil
modes of travel. Following Andree's
expedition came Otto Sverdrup ar.d
the crew of the Fran, which left in
The summer of 1898 for the northwest
coast Of Greenland. In 1898 the Wind
ward took I'ea,y north in the summer
of 1900 TIE Russians sent an expedi
tior under Baron Edward Won Toll in
TO the arctic Sea north OF Siberia, and
{. few months ago the Bdldwin-Zeigle
party set out with several score of
| men. four hundred dogs and lavish
equipments of all sorts. with the
aVowet intention of reachiub the north
pole.
In the Antarctic, likewise there are
row two large AMI costly outfits. and
two more will soon be on tIe way.
Hundreds of men, to sum up the
whole situation-hnndre Is Of men rep
resenting an expenditure OF hundreds
OF thousands Of dollars, have eagerly
imEurcd themselves in the icS- fast
ncSses about the poles. enduring ter
rlblc cold, months of continual dark
hess, anG separation for years from
kindred and the comforts of ci, ilzed
life. What. then, is tho strange fas-
cination which draws thes. little
armies into perils so dire?
We cannot solve the problem in its
deepest phase. There is strong and
subtle underlying impulse which, al
though the ShreWdeSt of u:s will never
understand it, we can nevertheless
formulate its superficial motives Per
haps the least worthy of these. no
doubt the least powerful. is the harm
less desire to pose. To be- I" be about
to be, or to have been. an Arctic eN-
plorer lifts 4 man high abov" the level
Of the every day citizen and gives him
a certain rather forgivable eXaltation
of spirit. There is happiness much
happiness-in being pointed out as a
doughty adven:urcr, who has done
something. 1t has its root in that in
nOcent vanity which led Nansen 40 r.
main seated in the presence OF royalty.
and when someone said, III is the
king" to reply without rising. Well. |
am Nansen." The king might have
been king for n dreary long time and
with vast pOmp. but he had neN or been
almost" to the north pole Then. Of
course there is wanderlust." the lie
sire to go to new and strange places
5hat is so strong in many men that il
,onouers homesicknrss. crusheS the
bonds of duty. and sunders he tbs of
affection. sending the fiery soul pos
sessed of il forth with an impuls. none
can control The ''Spri!.- fret" dances
eternallv in some veins and sets the
face Of many one toward the pole.
One might add to these motives the
excellent business reasons which lead
the newspaper man. the lecturer. the
photographer. or the professional max
er of books. to places where strange
and new copy" may be found.
Some years ago the revenue cutter,
! Bear, cruising late in Bering Sea. an
Chored on the east coast of Siberia
where they found an uncomfortable
white man barricaded in topek De
| longing to old Noarie, chief o: the IN
dian Point Eskimos. The iribesmen
had robbed him of provisions and out
| fit and no doubt intended to take
away also his life. This victim oi self
| ,ir t.n Harry De-
Windt. He had started to 40 a thing
| in northern travel. cross HerinG Straits
on the ice and thus 90 from New York
/, 70 Paris without taking snip. he
failed 70 cross the strait on the ice.
however. and had been icnominiouslf
fcrried over in a boat instead. Then
he had fallen into The hands OF
koaric's men. and was in evil case.
What earthly motive had ire hot
beaded peWindt for thus i,IttinC Ills
bodv to supreme discomfort and his
life in jeopardy shall we say the Ge-
Giro IN pose as a daredevil in attempt
ino a dangerous feat? No doubt this
l,1 its influence but the chief reason.
overshadowing the other I'LL IL can pe
! .,lietiy ignored was the innocent 'ie-
sire of an author t. finC '4csiEaDie
| COPY and make an interesting and
prt fitahc book.
Again in the winter of lS9S people on
,be hard d-packed sled trail that leads
.lovn riyef. from Dawson City 20 St.
, Nicbacls were astonished to &c" ii
| vonnc gentleman riding 4 bicycle i'e
hind him on ii sled was bulky out
iii which he drnw iS doG '"am
night. Hc turned ont to bH a -e8tt'"
photographer in puestf"f WINTER 'i'
! il. the Arctic and he took that no:ef
and inexpensive method of traFel to
.er them. Here at least. there vas
| nothins of pose He was dong a
startling and pictureSqu" thing NJ p"
! didn't intend to lecture or WritH \ BOOK
| ,hout H. X WAS business. 'ure aH't
! .ip,ple. and when rc returned I"
| scattl.. he had plates and views oi
u,,iyuc scenes that have given nm q
GOOD living ever since ''oth THESE
/ NON we're Arctic travellers. but CLAM
,,,r of the North for them lay IN
large measure in it's power to tease and
n,eosa others through the thrilling
tales of tho one and the photographs
of the other
The arctic impulse is particularly
fftf. =