The Washington herald., 1909-03-07

' Ct hAtg dllchs On the lana River, II %
degrees north latitude. is. so far as cold
is concerned. the pole Of the Old World
The average winter temperature is -5SI
degrees, while even in March the tenn
perature is but little above the freezing
point Of mercury. Here the soil is frozen
hundreds Of feet deep: one authority says
dO The brief interval between one win
ter's frosts and the next is barely month
long
Cold in Various Regions.
So much for the average cold. but at
times the temperature has been known to
fail to 10 degrees, and even to reach the
extreme figures Of go degrees. In such
coldness trees are frozen 10 their heart.
and since axes at the same time become
brittle. it is hard for the ruthless woods
man 10 make any impression on the
stunted forests. Rivers are frozen to the
very bottom. Fortunately these coolest
days occur only when the wind is still.
and ordinarily. IN their dress Of double
furs, the inhabitants live and thrive
Fishing. hunting. and gold mining are
busy occupations. and within this Siberian
province are many thriving settlements
and even towns large enough 10 support
churches and schools,
On s4t american elQe OF the WOTlQ lle
cold. II less intense. is more constant, and
the range OF temperatures from summer
TO winter does not often approach Sibe-
ria's great swing from one extreme 10 the
other. But America. too, has its localities
where the variation is enormous.
The normal temperature OF Havre.
Mont. ranges from IA degrees in January
70 IS degrees IN July. yet the highest and
lowest ever recorded there are -5S de-
grees and los degrees. respectively. a
range Of I6S degrees from hottest to cold
est. This exceeds all except the range In
Siberia. II we take Siberia's at 1914 de-
grees. At Poplar River. I'm Montana. has
been noted a temperature Of al de-
grees, which is the minimum recorded in
the United States The highest on record
is ll9 degrees, at Camp Mcdowell. Ariz..
making an extreme variation Of ls2 de-
grees for this country A figure that
equals the range in Asia, but that Is not
confined 10 one locality. was experienced
by Sir George Mares during his arctic ex-
peditiOn In 1870. His lowest for a year.
-13 degrees. was recorded at Floeberg
Beach. on board his ship. the Alert How
cold this is may be realized by comparing
it with the lowest temperature noted in
Danish Greenland. at Upernavik. ii de-
grees. II is not believed that greater cold
than this has been noted by any Of the
explorers who have made farthest north.
Experience of Explorers
In reading the experience OF arctic ex-
plorers we shall not find that the greatest
extremes OF cold experienced by them
were felt while they were AT their farthest
point north. It is necessary that they
should make their northern progress dur
ing the spring or early summer. and at
this time the temperature Of the polar re-
gions varies greatly. depending upon the
winds Consequently. We are more likely
TO find that their lowest records of tenn
perature have been made during the end
Of the preceding winter
Let US take. for example the three ex-
ploring expeditions that have most re-
Gently won the blue ribbon for the near
est approach 10 the pole We shall ex-
anime the data given during the voyages
and journeys OF the expedition Of Nansen
in the Fran, OF the Due d'Abruzzi in the
Pciar Star. and OF Peary In the Roosevelt.
TO take them In order: Nansen. in 1895. IN
March, at night, recorded a temperature
OF -5l degrees Fahrenheit and notes that
the quicksilver was continuously frozen.
Yet when he reached the farthest north.
"a
was 26 degrees higher, and this within 225
miles Of the pole During his sIedre
Journey with Johansen both found that
their clothing was ''an armor by day and
wet bGndages by night" These frozen
garments were absolutely rigid and cut
the explorers cruelty the sleeves actually
saving into the wrists. During the very
coolest days the two men sometimes slept
from twenty TO twenty-five hours out OF
the twenty-four
Peary's Cold Records.
The Due dAbruzzi notes as the lowest
temperature during his expedition in 1900
-i5.2 degrees Fab enheit during Febru-
ary; whereas # was on April 25 that Capt.
Cagni, OF that expedition, reached his
highest latitude. IS degrees "a minutes
This explorer had been forced 10 return
for a second start by the extreme cold on
Friday. February q. 1900. the thermome-
ter being SIS degrees. II IS remarked
by these hardy travellers that below Al
degrees cold becomes unbearable" and
that ANY metal burns Ike hot iron.
In regard to the American. Robert
Peary, he has become so hardened IN
arctic travelling that he notes the cold
less often than many of his fellow-ex
plorers- He does. however. give a table
from which we learn that the greatest
cold during his expedition OF 1900. on
March p. at night. the thermometer went
down 70 So degrees. which. II will be
noted, is Il degrees lower than the mint
mum recorded by the Italian explorers
though degrees above Mares lowest In
an earlier expedition Peary also notes a
temperature Of 10 degrees, on February
y, Lsgs Yet there IS no special mention
or low temperature on reaching his
farthest north, the farthest vet reached
by any explorer, 81 degrees S minutes. on
April p, 1906.
Probably the temperature of 90 da-
grees recorded at VerkhOvansk IN c.
IBERIA, is as low as has ever been e,,neri-
enced by man Il agrees with the obser-
vatlons OF the American explorer Glider
ana OF the German traveller Gmelin. both
or whom experienced similar cold in this
same region Al the south pole the cold
- more inYariable, but seems less intense
Ihe lowest record given Is Is degrees
Unless the most scientific appliances arc
used in observation slight variations have
little significance.
History gives Us many instances Of
notably low temperatures. An old chron-
lcler. Philippe de Confines. records the
fact that during the winter OF 1s4S vine
was sold in chuncks In Paris. The wear
l409 in France was called lie Grand
Hiver, yet the cold was only % de-
grees IN Paris. by the Centigrade Their
mometer. or g degrees in Fahrenheit
This was exceeded by the winter Of 17s4-5
IN the same city. where the temperature
was two degrees lower or -25 degrees
Centigrade, which is -1S degrees Fab
renheit
Retreat from Russia.
During Napoleon's retreat from Russia,
IN 1872 his army struggled across the
Beresina, breaking through into the icy
river and being cannonaded by the Rus
sian artillery from the eastern shore.
while the thermometer registered IA de-