New-York tribune., 1912-03-08

II was not until 1913, with the CROSSING
Of the Antarctic circle by the famous cap
tain James Cook. that real Antarcuc eN-
ploration began. For centuries the Arc'c
region had been the resort of adVenturers'
The entire Southern Hemisphere had heeh'
in fact. A sealed book until shortly before
the discovery Of America. As for inc ols-
coverv Of the South Pole Itself, IT has not
until recently been generally believed pos
sibIe even by those who were sansuine
of Success in the north The POTION oi
the earth" was too far from the great IN
habited lani masses and their permanent
bases Of supplies. and the great ice pack
surrounding il too little broken
The doubling Of the Cape OF Good Hope
by Bartholomew Diaz In 1887. first proved
that the ocean separated Africa from any
possible Antarctic continent, and the pas
sage Of the Strait Of Magellan. in 1920
showed that America and Asia were siml-
Iarly isolated. Then. In 1873, Drake round
ed Cape Horn and destroyed the belief that
TERRA del Fuego was part OF an unknown
world Through the sixteenth and seven
teenth centuries explorers continued 10
search for the third world"
Then Cooks series Of voyages eliminated
In i774 ny reaching latitude II degrees 10
minutes south the limit Of eighteenth cen
tury explorations. He II was who hnally
exploded the persistent myth OF a hsbitable
southern continent and opened the way for
future Antarctic explorations. In 1921 Fa-
bian Won Belinghausen. sent out by Alex
ander I Of Russia, discovered the little ISL
and Of Peter T. the first land sighted within
the circle. James Weddell. In 1928, reached
latitude "A degrees 3 minutes. penetrating
the region now known as The Weddell Sea.
John Biscoe. sent out by Enderby Brothers,
Of London. in 1881 discovered Adelaide
Land, Bscoe Islands and Graham Land.
The Balleny Islands we're discovered by
John BaIleny, another of Enderby Broth
ers' men, in 1889.
American Claims Continent.
in 1888 expeditions were sent out by
America France and Great Britain 10 make
magnetic observations In the Far South.
The French expedition, under Dumont
d'Urville, made the first dash for the mag
netic pole He discovered Adele Land in 1910.
but got no further south than 81 degrees 30
minutes Charles Wilkes, sent out by the
United States government in 1886, followed
the routes of Cook and Weddel, and laid
claim to the discovery Of the Antarctic Con
tnent. a claim over which controversies
have arisen At intervals ever since.
To Captain James Clark Ross r. N.
| sent out by the British government In 1899.
belongs the credit of making one Of the
most remarkable Of Antarctic voyages. He
broke through the ice pack into the open
| sea beyond. and. landing on Possession
Island, took formal possession Of the con-
tinent for Queen Victoria, the mainland be
ing inaccessible. Coasting along Victoria
Land. he sighted Mount Melbourne and the
twin volcanoes, Erebus and Terror. He
also sighted King Edward Land a discov-
cry not positively confirmed till the next
century. he reached In the course Of his
voyage rs degrees 10 minutes. the highest
latitude attained for sixty years
No further attempt OF any consequence
at South Polar exploration was made for
thirty years. In 1894 the party accompanied
by carstens Egeberg Borchgrevink landed
on the mainland near Cape Adare. the frst
people to set foot on the Antarctic Conti-
nent BorchgreTnk returned south I'm 1895
and. landing at Cape Adare, was the first
man to spend whole year on Antarctic
soil In 1900 he made latitude rs degrees 20
minutes
The year 1901 saw three we'll equipped