The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-10-12


lar development Of physical instruction
professor. He must be able to shoulder
his fifty or a hundred pounds and travel
for day at time over slippery ice hill
locks and around dangerous foe cracks.
indeed, over the worst road known to
travel And this he must do not one day
or a week, but perhaps a year or two
years.
'"Then he who leaves his family and
sails away. toward the North must pos
sess such determination to do and dare
as is commensurate with few other enter
prises Of the day. He must have made
UP his mind to take his life in his hand
at any moment. must be ready to meet
his Maker all the time.
"On almost every expedition that has
entered the Arctic circle there have been
ructions between the men, and in many
cases the officers those who are supposed
to set an example by their actions. have
become involved in quarrels which have
resulted more or less disastrously.
Zone press report OF the Baldwin expe-
dition says: There were rows and deaths
in the company which are to be investi-
gated Another press notice has it: The
case of DR.. Thomas 8. Dedrick and Peary
will doubtless be taken into the courts
almost every expedition. that of Greedy
included, nave not been without some UNI
pleasant feature in the way Of quarrels
and MISUNDERSTANDING.
'In reference to the route to be taken,
am able to add but little to what is al
ready known. In 1900 Peary followed the
track taken by Lockwood, Brainard and
myself along the western coast of Green
land. When he DETECTED from the north
by northeast course and struck direct for
the region of the pole 1t was impossible
for him to make much progress. for the
reason that the ice was too perilousy un-
settled for safe travel.
"In 1901 Peary followed the course al
ready outlined in this story, but with
practically the sane result.
BALDWIN says: The old idea of an open
polar sea is baseess. We know that land
extends as far north as 50 degrees on the
Franz Josef Land side and from there
believe the pole can be reached. I agree
with Peary that the most practical way
of reaching the pole S by sledging from
this point
LAS Baldwin says Peary Of the opin-
ion that there is no such thing as an open
polar sea. and from my experience l am
forced to the same conclusion. That be-
ing the case, Baldwin is r., when he
says that the only way of succeeding in
reaching the pole is by sledging from the
extreme of Franz Josef Lind, where
winter quarters she uld be nade
"But the question naturally arises. why
did Baldwin not follow out this line of
campaign during his recent trip. and why
has it taken Peary three trips 20 arrive at
the same decision?
Twenty years ago. we of the Greedy
expedition reached 1924 north latitude
The highest point yet reached is $685. by
the Duke d'Abruzzi. hansen claimed to
have reached S6.14. but he offered very
little proof for his assertion. Peary sends
the intelligence back to mis- native land
that he succeeded in reaching &17
"Peary's, Nansen's and the Duke dab
ruzzi's expeditions were equipped as we
of the Greedy expedition never dreamed of
ftting out our vessels. They awaited them
selves of all the modern inventions appli-
cable in that region and. prof1ting by the
experience of those who had gone before,
arranged many details never before
thought necessary.
"But only three degrees separates our
mark and that of the intrepid duke.
"The difficulty and danger of Arctic ex-
ploration has almost determined me on
one point. The north pole will never be
reached except by @irshp.
1.-THE Mcdonnell expedition of which 1
am a member, despite the memory of
y
of desolation, and the twenty years that
have passed since I regained civilization,
has now in course of construction three
airships which will really fly. And that
essential point being settled, there will be
nothing to prevent us from reaching that
prize for which countless brave men have
lost their lives-the north pole"
The Mcdonald party Is taking the
proper course. Three airships of dimen-
llzt1v 10 fnv1f lrN1 md
power to propel at least sixty miles per
hour having conditions for manipulation
far beyond anything heretofore at
tempted, are factors in their favor.
These ships will be started so as to be
100 miles apart on direct course, each
supplied with wireless telegraphy, COM
municating both with eacn other and with
stations at Spitzenbergen, Cape Frederick
and King Oscar Land, these stations
again in Communication with wire sta
tons, from which the whole civilized
world will be in direct communication
with the expedition from the start to the
end
Is there anything chimerical bout such
an expedition?
Is such an airship greater accomplish
ment than communicating 5000 miles in
simultaneously without any means to carry
impressions except the earth Itself as a
medium?
This feat has been accomplished. In
view of the fact that buoyant bodies were
driven through the air at the will of the
engineer with power that made rea-
sonably fast speed, why cannot greater
and more powerful one be made? One.
too. where the power can be used to assist
elevation and descent, instead of throwing
out ballast to go up and letting out gas to
come down. These are conditions that
mean important factors toward the sue
cess of the art Why should they be hard
to accomplish?
These ships are now In course of con-
struction by a chicago firm of capital
lists. Next spring will witness the fight
of these air vessels toward the North.
The success Of their venture is assured
at least In the minds of those who are
fostering the project.
What reasons Peary and Baldwin will
give, other than those they have already
presented, why they failed in their OBJ
ject can only be conjectured.
They say they will each make new at
tempt next year. But will the food ques-
ton, the route and the crew problems be
sufficiently solved?
Will modern science ever overcome the
climatic obstacles Of success N the far
North?
Will that awful region ofw hite death
never loosen it's direful spell over the
minds Of civilized man?
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