The Washington herald., 1913-06-22
NEW POLAR LANDS TO BE SOUGHT

Trey, N. Y. in the seventies, He was
at that time in command Of the whanns
bark Stamboui, of New Bedford. Capt.
Keenan, said that after taking several
whales. the weather became thick, ana
he stood to the north under easy sail
and was busily engaged in trying out
and slowing down the oil taken. Wnen
the fog cleared of, land was disuncty
seen to the north by him and all the
men Of his crew, but as he was not on
a voyage Of discovery and there were
no whales in sight he was Obliged 70
give the order to keep away to the south
In search of them.
In June, 1904. Or. r. A. Harris, OF tne
United States Coast and Geodetic sur
vey, published in the National Geographic
Magazine his reasons for believing tnat
there must be a large body of undiscov-
cred land or shallow water In the Poiar
regions. He based his theory upon the
report that Siberian driftwood had been
picked up in south Greenland. upon the
observations of drifting Polar Ice. upon
the drift of the ship Jeanette, upon
numerous tidal observations made along
the northern coast of Alaska and east
ward.
Knowing Harris theory regarding such
land. Peary. when he went westward
along the northern shore of Grant Land
in 1906 kept anxiously scanning the
northwestern horizon for confirmation OF
IL. On June 80, 1906. as he states In his
book Nearest the Pole he stood on
the summit of Cape Thomas Hubbard
1.4oo feet above the level OF the sea, and
saw distinctly "the snowciad SUBMITS
of the distant land in the northwest
above the ice horizon" The explorer
had seen the new land from 1000 feet
up on Cape Colgate a few days before,
and. therefore. was enabled to estimate
its distance as being about 13o miles
from Cape Thomas Hubbard, in longt-
tude 100 degrees west and latitude 81
degrees north. He named II Croker
Land In honor of the late Mr.. George
Croker. OF the Peary Arctic Club.
Next in Importance to establishing the
extent of Croker Land Tor islands, and
delincating Its coast line is the investiga-
ton Of the region west and southwest OF
Cape Thomas Hubbard and north of the
Parry Islands to determine what land
there may be there.
Another question OF supreme geographi-
cal Importance is the location OF the edge
Of the continental shelf TO quote hansen
("North Polar Problems" lso0; The de-
termination OF the extent Of the CONT
mental shelf to the north of Axel Hell
berg Land and Ellesmere Land would
be a great achievement The ex-
tent and shape CT the Polar continental
shelf, which means the real, continental
mass, is the great feature of North Polar
geography. which is of much more i'm
portance. geographically or geomorpho-
logically. than the possible occurrence of
unknown islands on this shelf.
Lieutenant of Peary.
The leader of the party, Donald Bax-
ter Macmillan, who was co-leader with
inally planned. won his spurs in Arctic
work as one OF Admiral Peary's trusted
Iieutenants during the successful quest
of the northern pole in 1sOs-1so9. travelling
more than two thousand miles by dog
team. Mr.. Macmillan is a graduate, A.
B. and honorary A. NJ, OF Bowdoin Col
lege. He has spent the three and one
half years since his return from the
Arctic in studying lecturing. and travel
ing. always keeping in mind the present
great enterprise as the goal Of his am
bition. The summers OF 1910 and 1872
were spent in exploratory, pathological,
and archaeological work in and along
the coast OF Labrador. The year 1910.
1911. and the past autumn and winter
have been spent at Harvard University
working in anthropology and practical
astronomy.
Mr.. Macmillan is of Scotch ancestry.
and was born in Massachusetts thirty
seven years ago. He is a fellow of the
Royal Geographical Society Of London
and OF the American Geographical So
ciety OF New York.
After leaving New York the Diana will
call at Boston for pemmican and other
supplies, at Sydney. Nova Scotia, for
coal and sundry parts of the equipment,
touch at Battle Harbor, Hopedale. and
Okkak on the Labrador coast. and then
head for the west coast of Greenland,