The Washington times., 1908-03-01

! From East Cape TO Mini Kolymsk,
! Oustiana, Boulong. Yakutsk. r.
! llutsz; Mini Novgorod. Moscow. St.
! Petersburg, Berlin, Aix-la-Chappelle.
/ and Paris. miles Il $50.
! Total number of miles, 10000
by few unweildy sleds juggling along
/ behind.
Leaving out the question of avail
ability Of supplies and breakdowns does
not greatly clear the situation. Imag-
/ inc an automobile that would run under
any conditions, and there would still
remain such impregnable obstacles as
are presented by the geography of the
/ Arctic region,
Unknown Perils.
And if the party does penetrate
! northeast Siberia IT will have TO meet
! conditions which were not counted on.
4 For information on this Great Tn
! known" as the Russians call the re-
! gion, is extremely scarce. Only a hand
| full # travellers have mad the hardihooJ
| 70 explore the region. and the majority
! OF those have touched upon the out
l T.
There is perhaps Just one living traveller
( who has gone through the Nidra sec
/ ton by the northern section and lives
! to tell the tale. That is :tarry De
! Windt.
These travellers tell Of the perils of
! the Boring Strait, with ice stretching
| out for miles from It's frozen shores,
which makes It hazardous 10 cross by
| boat. and sim currents never wholly
! frozen over, making It impossible 10 go
| over on top Of the ice. Few have looked
/ on the painless wilds OF the leo miles
/ from East Cape 10 Mini KOlyElsk.
! Here an occasional human being is less
/ protection to the traveller than e wild
beast, and the few settlements are in
! ha5ited by tribes said TO be the filthiest
/ on the face OF the globe. De Windt
relates how, after three days of buffet
ing with a terrific Arctic simeon, half
/ frozen and weakened from hunger, he
1 stumbled on a dugout village, but the
| food and Accommodations were so nlthy
that his men refused TO eat even in their
! half-starved condition. The whole ST
/ berian route is punctuated with gulleyz
which smash tC pieces the stout sleds.
Mountains and Rivers.
Between Mini Kolymsk and Yakutsl
are the mountains. steep and prectpi-
/ tous They abound IN streams. and cat
| aracts make them impregnable. The
/ surface is never still. Huge blocks of
/ ice are loosed al every gale and bound
/ from ledge to ledge. and occasionally
mammoth avalanches thunder down the
! pr ,cipices, carrying everything before
! them. And all the while the Arctic
winds. always blowing a gale, which
/ occasionally, without moments warn
/ ing develops into one of the dreaded
/ poorga. a cyclone before which no tent
or human habitation can stand.
! DR.. William II. Dan, OF this city, and
now curator OF the National Museum,
/ was member OF the party which in
] vestgated the Arctic region to report
/ the possibility of establishing trans
continental telegraph communication.
/ The project was abandoned on the lay
ing of the Atlantic cable. but Mr.. Dali
/ does not regret the trip. Some of his
/ experiences have not been duplicated.
/ although he returned in the early SOS
and he is today a recognized authority
/ on the subject.
The Bering Strait.
1.-THE first difficulty the autoists will
encounter" said Mr.. Dan. lis in cross
/ ing the Bering strait 1t was ia August
that 1 was in northern Alaska. and even
at that time ice extended for from two
to four miles from the shore on the
Alaskan side. Ia winter it is extreme
/ iy doubtful if an automobile could pass
over the ice. since the strong current
/ makes travelling over the apparently
4 thick crust preCarioUs. The condition
/ of the ice on the banks presents more
difficulties. The wind has a tendency
to pack the snow together in small
/ cakes about the size Of an egg. and for
several miles back there is a strata OF
+ this substance several feet thick. The
whole beach resembles a newly made
/ maeadam road. and while know little
OF an autos abilities, I should think it
could pull through this with extreme
! difficulty.
IF the tourists can cross the strait
which 1 doubt, their troubles have only
/ begun. After leaving East cape they
face about 300 miles Of trackless waste
/ overgrown with thick underbrush and
/ tundra. and everywhere dotted with a
series Of unduIating snowdriHts, which
/ pay havoc Win the man SiedS WllCn
attempt TO pull through TO the Arctic
coast twice a year. The conformation
of the land includes a continuous chain
OF gulleys from eight. to fifteen feet
deep, which the drifting OF the snow
magnifes. Remember that through al
This there are no roads and no human
beings except the rowing reindeer tribes
Between Hills and the Sea.
ct know nothing Of their arrange
ments TO carry provisions through this
territory, but II they have solved the
Pre- blem they are the pioneers in that III
rect!on. But aside from that point and
their ability to endure the cold It ap-
peals to me as g physical impossibiIity
| TO attempt TO cross the mountains
which, all along the northern coast line
Of Siberia extend almost to the Arctic