The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-03-12
FAR up IN the ffUsen North.
= within 700 miles u the north
pole. an American company IL

ep SUO sOSoA
within TOO miles u the north
pole, an American company IL
making a fortune out Of the
European war under possibly the
etrangest circumstances that Q war
bride ever thrived
The Arctic Coal Company il . Boston
corporation. owned principally BY J. NJ.
Longyear and Frederick Aver, which
for the past ten years has been operat.
Ing q coal mine OF the ~undnhabited and
unclaimed islands of West Sp~itzbergen,
nve days voyage north Of the most
northerly inhabited point Of Europe.
Since tho beginning Of the European
war the company has greatly Increased
Its business and the once hazardous
adventure has turned out { be q sue
cessful enterprise which reflects great
credit on the Americans who frst
braved the cold and ice Of the north
to test out the coal found there.
Spitzbergen Ia a no mans land dis.
covered by Barents. the Dutch ex-
plorer. and since traversed by many
hardy adventurous. Hendrix Hudson,
well known to New Yorkers, touched
at Spitzbergen In 1907 when he was
seeking Q northwest passage 10 India
Hudson's report Of q great number Of
whales among the islands-for there
ara seven Of them-led the English
and Dutch adventurers in the seven
teenth century to visit the territory.
The land. which wa believed to be
too a north to be Of n real = to
man. has been claimed by Russia. Eng
land and Norway. az well as by Hol-
land No agreement has ever been
reached among the nations a. to who
should " It. BY right Of possession
a considerable part Of the main island,
West Spitzbergen, belongs to the
United States. at least TO the Arctic
Coal Company. which lays claim to
about 700 acres Of the best coal land
found there.
The general manager OF the COM
pany. an American by the name Of
Scott Turner, comes to the United States
every year and fles his claim to the
territory at Washington. The State
Department has thus far recognized
the claim n supported the company
In it, but q new claim must be filed
every cal. Mr.. Turner is now in this
country and it will be impossible for
him TO return TO S~pitzbergen until next
June. when the eight months winter in
the north IL ended.
u prior to the beginning Of the
war in August, 1914. arrangements had
been made for an International con-
ference to determine the status OF
Spitzbergen. The outbreak OF HOSTILE
ties. however. put an end to the negO-
t!ations. The conference was held at
Christiania at the invitation of Nor
way. The nations invited to send dele.
gates were Sweden, Russia, Denmark.
Germany. Holland. Belgium. Great
Britain, Franc and the UGitej States.
This Government was invited solely
because these two Americans from
Boston. Messrs. Longyear and Aver,
had enough enterprise to finance an
expedition which went there and
staked out q claim about ten years
ago. The representatives Of the United
States at the conference were Prof.
W. VI. Collier of Auburn. n. Y. profee-
sor OF international law at the New
York University; Albert G.. Schmede-
man. United States Minister to Nor
way. and r. X. Nelson. an ass!stan,
solicitor in the State Department.
Norway first claimed Spitzbergen
because it was believed that It be-
longed to Greenland. When explorers
discovered that 1t was a separate island
Norway refused TO rehnquish heI
claim: Russia at me time put In a
very strong claim TO the territory and
vas even reported to have annexed
Bell Sound.
The Cars Government undoubtedly
was actuated in this move by jealousy
of Great Britain. because Russia has
no interests there. Great Britain on
the other hand has some commercial
interests on Yves, Spitzbergen. the
most important OF the islands and
generally referred to merely as Spite
bergen, because an English company
Is q%uarrying marb.e which is found
there In good quantity and OF excel
lent quality. The coal Ian was claimed
first by an English company. but tn,
Americans came along and bought O u
the claim.
The Arctic Coal Company employ:
about four hundred men. OF this mum
her only a very few are Americans
tllp NOISES anu tIlt INV lpbNC. ~ "
mainder are mostly S~orweG!ans, will
some Firms and a spvinkling Of othel
n~ationalities.
AZ the country doe not be.ong 4
any nation there Is no government AM
the word OF the company officials !
law. Some years ago there was con
siderable trouble between the miner
and their employers because some O
the former struck on OF tn
} hardships Of eight months OF per
petual night during the winter. TIL
brought about international complica
tons bet ween the United States "a
Norway. because the latter Govern
ment felt bound to protect Its nation
ais. The result was the iH%ternattona
conference mentioned above, which
failed to accomplish anything owinI
to the war.
The coal found In S~pitzbergen !
semi bituminous and OF excellent DUAL
ity. Norway. having no coal OF he
own. buys a part Of her supply fror
%Spitzbergen and the rest from Eng
land. The S%pitzbergen product Ia q
the same quality as the best Wells
: steam coal and has been found to b
better for some purposes. Russia ais
, buys some coal from these Arcti
mines.
The average annual output Ia MOI
about 100000 o n and steadily in
creasing. In fact. the Arctic Goa
! Co~na,v ho1 rreat AiNic,Ilty last ann