Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-16
MUCH OF THE GLOBE
STILL UNEMPLOYED
IN 10Th CENTURY
Burst of Activity Among
Explorers Due to Rivalry
Between Nations = Many
Rich Fields Left.

Although the north and south poles
nave been reached and expeditions have
penetrated to the heart of unknown re-
sions in Asia, Africa and the Arctic and
Antarctic, a great part of the world
is still unmapped and unknown, accord
ing to Earl Cur2on, in an address to the
Royal Geographical Society on retiring
| from the office of president
While the routes of exploring expedi-
tions have made a network over the little
known parts of the earth. the spaces
between these wide meshes remain to be
explored, and great labors are still before
the explorer and scientist
when an ex-President of the United
States can plunge into the unknown and
return with a river 1000 miles long, SO
TO speak, in his pocket there is material
to satisfy the most jaded appetite" he
said.
The question may be asked, What is
the explanation of these sudden spurts
OF geographical activity in different parts
OF the wor.d-this almost volcanic trasti-
tloh from quiascence to explosion? The
answer Is that it has always been So
Daring breeds daring; a spirit of honor
able rivalry, appealing not merely to in
dlVlduals, but to nations, is engendered
each FRESH reclamation from the unknown
reveals fresh ground to be won which is
worth the winning; every sacrifice en-
tailed Is the parent of future sacrifice.
ne attention attracted to tho ant
arctic area by recent exploits has pro-
Voked not unnatural ambition to wrest
from nature the many secrets which she
there holds concealed. A glance at the
antarctic map, with its wavering and
hypothetical coast lines, and the staring
white blank of the circumpoar area,
will reveal at once the nature of the
promblems which remain to be solved.
What are the actual fringes of that
dark and unknown continent? How much
of 1t is waite" and how much land or
floating ice?
ut is not surprising that those mys-
telies should have appealed to the imagi-
nation and fired the ardor of the select
few who are dreaming Of the solution
of these problems OF these attempts
the most adventurous and the furthest
advanced. both in scale and equipment,
is that of Sir Ernest Shackleton, who
crossing tho continent from
the Wcddell Sea to the Ross Sea. If he.
is able to carry out this bold and Napole-
onic conception he will add n final wreath
to those with which he Is already
crowned.
while the poles have thus attracted
the most intrepid pioneers of many ma
tions, the remaining continents in both
hemispheres have not lost their charm
for explorers. In Asia there has been
continuous and prolific activity. State
craft sometimes closes the doors to eX-
sometimes steps in to profit |
by the results. on the borders of India, |
which are iealously guarded, and across |
which, particularly on the northern side. |
t Is difficult to obtain permission to |
travel, the political activity Of the Gov !
eminent of India in the unknown and |
debated ground between Assam and Tibet |
mas produced Il small but valuable har-
vest of geographical discovery.
Africa may be thought, on a super
icial view OF the case, to have receded |
ntO the background, for great CONT
mental exploration and startling d scov-
'res are no longer made. The kinemato-
graph and the film might be thought to
'e gradually taking the place of the
life and the bullet. But there is scarce
Y part Of the African continent
whether it be Nigeria the Sudan, Abys-
nia, British East Africa and Centra.
Africa, or even the less-known region
# the German and other continental
rontiers in the west, that has not pro-
uced its quota Of successful explorers
md interesting papers. The work of
Tontier demarkation and deliminatlon
lways bring fish into the geographer's
let.
America is mot behindhand in its APP
eals to geography. Even from North
america we have had valuable papers
N the Rocky Mountains and the Sonora
Desert. The fact that We have given one
+ our gold medals to an American eX-
lorcr in the basin OF the Upper Amazon
an indication of the value that we
ttach to good work in those regions
nd ! assert without fear of contradic-
ion that there are gaps in our knowledge
here, rivers to be traced, mountains to
c mapped, tribes who have sareiy seen
white man to be visited and described,
hat will prove serious work for many
ears to come !