Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-11-15
MAKE NOVEL DASH
Ronald Admundsen Will be
Drawn by Bears on Next Trip
to Find North Pole.
CUBS ARE NOW IN TRAINING
Norwegian Explorer OF Northwest
Passage Fame Will Stay Six Years
in the North if Necessary.

: Gee around the hummock. Oscar!
Haw that lead. Theodore and Il little
more speed, if you please. Albert and
William are trotting ahead of you"
Thus will the next up to date hunters
for the north pole drive their hardy
teams to its lair. Their beasts Of draft
and burden will not be reindeer or
dogs, but bears big, white, enduring
polar bears.
This is the very latest scheme for
reaching the pole. says the New York
World. Ronald AmundseD. the captain.
who in 1904 successfully finished his
three years navigation OF the north
west passage in the little sloop Gjoa.
fathers the idea. The captain, proud
of past achievements and sanguine of
future success. arrived in New York
recently. In the Gjoa he located The
true magnetic pole. With the bears he
will try TO discover the geographical
north pole. There will be four bears in
all, one each to sled.
Hagenbeck of Hamburg and Bostock
the bears before Captain Amundsen
drives them TO sledges. Two polar cubs
are in training near Hamburg. They
are being petted. doctorcd. brought up
by hand. taught to associate with hd-
mans and broken to harness and draw
ing burdens.
Captain AmundSen believes the
scheme practical. In the first place, he
says. polar bears like cold weather,
| glaciers and field ice. An arctic snow
| storm or blizzard is to them only a
| summer picnic. an ice assure only an
| excuse for q jump or a swim and an
| iceberg their browning delight
The alternating habits of the polar
bear" said the discoverer. render ii
| peculiarly fitted for arctic travel. II
| does not lave to rest at such short in
| winter of the keenest cold and discom
fort with real pleasure. The bears will
be fed on seal flesh.
| Each bear is ten times as strong rs
a horse and can haul as much as .
hundred dogs. When tanned the bears
are tractable reliable and affectionate.'
If he finds the region of the north
! pole inhabited the captain may give
with Hagenbeck' and BostOcks con
sem, -bear matinees and realize pref
ty penny In the arctic circulating me
dunn.
VIII BE Prepared TO -Stay.
Captain Amundsen Will make no fly
by night incursion into the domains Of
Jack Frost. He viii go north to stay
six years if necessary.
Il want to secure the Fran, Nan
sens polar ship, if can" said he %
consider the manner in which NanSeT
fitted out the Fran ideal. We viii
provision her for six years. and in five
years by remaining on the ground OF
Ice we shall have gained until an op
portunity comes to advance again.
believe l can locate the geographical
pole"
Another important feature of Cap
tain Amundsen's plans is the route h,
intends to follow. 1t is that of TIL
unlucky Jeanette expedition. through
Boring sea. He considers this the onl.
true way to reach the north pole.
MY experience in the northwest pas
sage has taught me much,' said th
captain. II found EskimOs much far
Their north than l expected and abb,
to stand cold much more severe thar
that of their own habitation The.
make nothing of going out in tenn
perature of 10 degrees below zero"
, Commander Peary's theory that
white man cannot stay north for NOR
than two or three seasons Captain
Amundsen scouts.
The arctic prospect, with its swirl
; ing SHOWS and glittering expanses, 1
, altogether lovely" said he.