The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1909-10-13

| rounding regions has had an i'm
portant place in the history of the
| world.
That the quest for the North Pole
| has been more persistent and more
| extensive than the search for the
South Pole is obviously due to the
| fact that the Arctic is much nearer
to the great maritime nations than
| Is the Antarctic and that its waters
more nearly merge with those of the
highways of the sea trade.
The first incentive which sent ex-
piorers into the Arctic regions had its
| basis in the commercial instinct.
One was to extend the limits Of the
northern fisheries; the other desire
| TO shorten the water route between
| the ports of Europe and the Orient,
either by northwest or northeast
passage. But while these incentives
were predominating ones in the ear
| lier history of Arctic exploration, all
| of the more recent ones have been in
the interest of scientific research.
1t is not known who was the first
to venture into the Arctic region
| the region which, as the little girl
wrote in her copybook, "ls chilly used
| for purposes of exploration" But as
early as 1856 Frobisher made a yoy-
| age to the southern extremity of
Greenland and the opposite American
| nd In ptra Go ~
the entrance to the Arctic regions
west of Greenland was discovered by
John Davis. In 1915 Bafin and Bylot
passed through Davis Strait and
sailed up the North Water to Smith
| Sound, discovering on the homeward
voyage Jones Sound and Lancaster
Sound, which were closed by ice. Ex-
cept for the voyage in 1851 of Luke
Fox, who sailed up Fox Channel to
Peregrine Point, nothing further was
learned of these regions for about
two hundred years, and Ballin's dis
coveries were almost forgotten.
Last Century's Research.
The interest in a northwest passage
having revived, Commander John
Ross, in 1918, set out with the Isa-
bella and Alexander. He confirmed
| the accuracy of BafIin's observations,
and in the following year Lieutenant
Parry, commanding the Hecla and
Griper, sailed through Lancaster
Sound. Some few years later Sir
John Ross made another voyage in
the Victory, and passed up Regent
Inlet to the Gulf of Boothia; while
his nephew, James G.. Ross, traversed
the southern part of Boothia and the
strait named after him. A few years
earlier, in 1926, DR.. Richardson had
passed through Dolphin and Union
Straits, and sighted Wollaston Land,
part of which was afterward named
Victoria Land by Simpson. of the
Hudson Bay Company, who. with
Dease, in 1889, passed through
Dease Strait, and the entrance of
Simpson Strait; while Dr.. John Rae,
in 1S45-7, explored the southern
coast of the Gulf of Boothia from
Fury and Hecla Straits on the east to
Lord Mayors Bay on the west, and
proved Boothia 70 be a peninsula.
The successful though ill-fated ex-
ploration Of Sir John Franklin in
search of northwest passage set sail
from the Thames on May 20, 1S45,
With the Erebus and the Terror, un-
der command of Captains Fitzjames
| and Crozier, Franklin passed through
Lancaster Sound, and, as was after
ward ascertained, sailed up Yelling
ton Channel to Penny Strait and down
Crozier Channel, returning to Beechey
Island in winter. Subsequently the
vessels made their way to the north
west coast of King William Island,
where Franklin died in June, 1S47.
The survivors, under Captain Crozier,
started in 1S4S for the Great Fish
River, and their remains were found
along the route to Adelaide PENN
sula. The expedition had, therefore,
ascertained the existence of a sea
passage from the Atlantic to the chan
nels south of Victoria and Wollaston
Land, leading to Bering Strait.
Kane After the Pole.
Hopeful of finding some tidings of
her husband, Lady Franklin, in 1852,
sent out the Isabel and the Com
mander, afterward Sir Edward Au-
gustus Inglefield. Steaming up the
open water stretching through seven
points of the compass" he sighted
what is now known as Cape Louis
Napoleon, but he found no traces of
Franklin, despite long and diligent
search. Twelve months later DR..
Elijah Kane, in the United States
brig Advance, followed in his tracks.
Ostensibly Kane was on a Franklin
search, but his real objective was the
North Pole. He explored the sea
which is named after him and en-
countered many hardships and met
with numerous adventures. But he
was no more successful at finding the
Pole than he was in finding traces
| of Franklin.
On July 10, 1860, DR.. Hayes, who
had served with Kane. sailed from
Boston for Smith Sound, in the