Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-09-11
The North Pole Up to Date


difficult tn surprise the world with any
thing. The north pole had been dis
covered That mysterious point about
which nothing was known. and which
had been the goal OF venturesomc eX-
plorers Tor centuries was reached at
last And every one IN this country
felt pardonablc pride that the first
man 10 reach the end OF the world
In northern direction had been an
American. Dr. Frederick A. Cook what
made the news still more remarkable
was the fact that very little was known
about Dr. Cook being in search Of the
pole. lie got ready quietly. started
without making any announcements,
went up 60 the land Of the EskimOs-
and waited fot his chance. And the first
word received direct Is typical OF the
man. He cabicd Successful. Well Nd
dress Copenhagen.
When further details came. still more
surprises were In store the date of
discovery was April p. 1905 showing
that the journey was made IN mid
winter. a season considere9 most un-
favorable. and time when other eN-
plorers have been stopped ia their
northward progress
Five days later another brief mes
sage came from the northland. stars
and stripes nailed 60 north pole. Signed.
Peary." Another successful explorer.
and another American
when Or. Cook heard the report. hc
said. THAT is good news. J hope PcurN
did get to the pole His observations
and report on that region will confirm
mine" And then came the first un-
plcassntness peary sends word from
Labrador, Cooks story should not he
taken too seriously
Tho world is now waiting for the two
explorers 10 reach this country. when
the matter viii be brought before some
body OF scientific men who arc qualified
TO pass judgment The coast and geo
detic survey has been suggested.
4 brief review OF previous polar OK
petitions is interesting, as IL gives an
opportunity for comparisons OF men
and methods. and causes 81 failures,
FIRST EXPEDITIONS.
The first expeditions into the arctic
seas were made, as might be expected,
by Norsemen. who are noted as pio-
neers in exploration and discovery.
Norwegian named Other sailed TO the
north coast OF Russia. and made
a report Of his voyage to King Alfred;
and about the beginning of the eleventh
century the intrepid Icelander Erik the
Red took a colony TO the west coast
OF Greenland. No further discoveries
were made for about five and a half
centuries. when sir Hugh Wllloughby
discovered the islands Of Nova Zembla.
The first European explorer winterins
In the arctic regions was Dutchman
named William BarendszOon, who, i'm
1896 discovered sptzbergen and Bear
Island. and wintered on the east coast
Of Nova Zemba.
From then up to the present time,
arctic expeditions Of discovery have
been frequent. Among the later eNplor-
ers may be mentioned Henry Hudson.
Gael Hamke. Baffin, Davis. Fox and
other. who have had land or water
bodies named after them. Principal
among the great explorers Of the north
during the last century should be mem
toned some who. while they did not
reach the pole. made important discov-
cries Sir John Ross. an Englishman,
while on an expedition In 1928, dis
covered the earths magnetic pole. Sir
John Franklin went 20 ind a north
west passage from the Atlantic ocean 10
Behring straits He succeeded in find -
ing il. but died. before the return OF the
expedition. in June. ls7. he took with
him two vessels: the captain OF ono OF
them now took command and succeed
ca III UIllklHk "a rev % tiit iil'AA hehNNf
but most OF the party perisned II
was found later that the deaths were
due TO starvation: not because suf-
ncient provisions had not been taken,
but because Of the contemplate ras-
cality Of the contractors who provi-
stoned the expedition Not till the par
~ got away from civilization entirely
was the truth discovered-the canned
provisions were putrid, and II was i'm
possible TO eat them. That meant the
failure OF the expedition, as all that
could be done was to return as soon as
possible.
GREEDY EXPEDITION.
Lieutenant Greedy. L. $. A. took an
expedition in lSsl-4. and reached the
farthest north up 10 that time, - deg
"A min. north latitude.
Fridiorff hansen. about 1880, con-
ceived the idea OF building a vessel on
a special design, such that IL could not
be crushed by ice. but II caught be-
tween packs would be squeezed up on
top OF the ice. His ship. the Fran.
was built on this principle and fitted
up deliberately. Nansen's idea being 10
let the Fran freeze up in the ice. and
drift over the pole. A daring design,and
we'll executed. as far as human ef-
forts went. hansen took his vessel and
allowed H. to freeze up in the ice, anu
remained with II two winters. He failed
to reach the pole because the drift OF
the ice, instead OF being directly north.
had an east-west movement which had
not been reckoned on. However ne
established new "farthest north
mark. reaching Sc deg. 4 min. In 1893.
Duke de Abruzzi commanded later
expedition. one OF his officers, Capt.
Cagni. reached latitude So deg. "a min.
Capt Road Amundsen. a Dane. in
1904 undiscovered the magnetic pole,
which Is changing It's position slowly
all tho time. lie was the FIRST 20 To-
cate Il definitely. and the first 20 sue
cessfully navigate the northwest pas
sage,
AlRsHIP A FAILURE.
Wellman and Baldwin. Americans,
have also explored in the arctic regions,
and made valuable discoveries. Well
man recently attempted another voyage
In an airship. but the journey ended
soon after IL began, owing 20 the break
ing OF a rope holding an his provisions
for the Journey
one previous attempt was made 10
reach the pole by balloon solomon
Augustc Andree tried Il some years ago.
lie has not been heard OF since. but
evidence has been found leading 10 the
belief that he and his party persisted
Anthony Fiala, an American also
tried 10 reach the pole In ls03-5 Be
fore he took up arctic exploration. he