Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1909-11-09

ed an easterly drift, and westerly
course must be continuously forced to
counterbalance the movement. 4 cur
tain was drawn over the land in the
afternoon of March 81. and we saw
no more of it. Day after day we now
pushed along in desperate northward
efforts Strong winds and fractured,
irregular ice increased the difficulties.
Progress was slow.
In one way or other we managed to
gain q fair march between storms dur
ing each twenty-four hours. In an oc-
casional spell of stiffness mirages
spread screens of fantasy out for our
entertainment. Curious cliffs. odd
shaped mountains and inverted ice
walls were displayed in attractive col
ors. Discoveries were made often, but
detected.
On April 3 the barometer remained
steady and the thermometer sank.
The weather became settled and clear.
The pack became a more permanent
glitter of color and joy. At noon there
was now Il dazzling light. while the
sun at midnight sank for but few
moments under a persistent northerly
haze, leaving the frosted blues bathed
in MONDAY spleEdor.
In these days we made long marches.
The ice steadily improved. Fields be-
came larger and thicker. the pressure
lines less frequent and less trouble
some. Nothing changed materially.
The horizon moved: our footing was
seemingly solid crust of ice, but it
shifted eastward. All was in motion.
Often we We're too tired to build snov
houses. and in sheer exhaustion W
bivouacked in the lee of hummoclls
Here the ovrrworked body called for
sleep, but the mind refused to close tn
eye.
In Lifeiess World.
There was a weird attraction in the
anomaly of our surroundings which
aroused the spirits. We had passed
beyond the range OF all life. For
many days we had not seen sugges-
ton of animated nature. There were
no longer footprints to indicate other
life; no breath spouts escaped from
the frosted bosom of the sea.
Even the sea algae of the surface
waters were no longer detected. We
were alone, all alone, in lifeless
world. We had come to this mental
blank in slow but progressive stages
AS we sailed from the barren areas OF
the fisher folk along the outposts OF
civilization the complex luxury of tho
metropolis was lost and the brain call
ed for food.
Beyond. in the half savage wilder
ness Of Danish Greenland, there wa.
the dawn of new life of primitiv,
delight. Still farther along, in TIL
ultima Thule of the aborigines, tn
sun rose over the days of prehistoric
joys. Advancing beyond the haunt
of man, we reached the MONDAY splen
dor Of thought in times before man.
creation.
Now, as we pushed beyond the habi
tat of all creatures, ever onward, int
the sterile wastes, the sun sets. Be
yond were night and hopelessness
With eager eyes we searched tn
dusky plains of frost, but there wa
no speck of life to grace the purpl
run of death.
In this mid-polar basin the ice doe
not readily escape and disentangle.
is probably in motion at all times G
the year, and in the REIMBURSEMENT c
the fields following motion and expal
sion there are open spaces Of waite
and these during most months al
quickly sheeted with new ice.
Measuring the Ice.
In these troubled areas VIC were gi'
en- frequent opportunities to measul
ice thickness. and from our observ:
lions we have come to the concluSio
that the ice during one year does NJ
freeze to a depth of more than abo,
! ten feet But much of the ice Of I'll
l central pacl reaches depth Of fro
twenty to twenty-five feet. and occ
!. sionally we crossed fields fifty fc
l thick These invariably showed sigl
: of many years of surface upbuilding
: 1t is very difficult to surmise IL
amount of submerged freezing aft
!, the first year. but the very unifor
e thickness of the antarctic sea ice lea,
f to the suggestion that limit is reac
d ed in the second year, when the ic
: with its cover of snow. is so thick til
very little is added aftcrwarG from b
s low
l. Increase in size after that is pro
G ably in the main the result Of add
d ton to the superstructure. Frcquc
s falls of snow, combined with tho :
< ternate melting and freezing Of sui
l. mer and a process similar to tho u
e building of glacial ice, are mainly !
8 sponsible for the growth in thicknc!
The very heavy, undulating ficl
which give character to the mid-pol
!, ice and escape along the east and VIC
: coasts of Greenland are therefore mo-
ly augmented from the surface.
,, Children Cry
o FOR FLETCHER'S
Il "A - n