The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1918-09-19
THE "ARCTIC PIE"
LMOST coincident with the
sailing of the Norwegian
explorer, Captain Roald
A Brief Sketch of Captain Bernier, Famous Arctic
Explorer, and His Good Ship Guide
By Charles Henry Dorr, in "Irauel'

NGBMSN sailing OF the Norwegian
NS%5NGN explorer, Captain Roald
H!g@gy Amundsen, whose good
ship Maude left Christiana about
July first to begin the journey to
the North Pole, is the sailing of
Captain Joseph E. Bernier from
Quebec for the Arctic Archipelago,
in the Guide. a vessel of almost the
same dimensions as the Maude.
Captain Amundsen designed the
Norwegian vessel, which is con-
structed like the half of an egg
shell, to withstand the pressure of
great masses of Arctic ice. Every
point of her hull presents to the
ice pressure the convex circle of an
arc. It carries nine hundred tons
of provisions, with equipment
for voyage which may last for
four or five years. One Swedish
and seven Norwegian seamen &C.
company Amundsen, who proposes
not only to reach the Pole, but to
take scientific soundings of the
ocean to determine the existence of
marine life. The Maude-named
for the present Queen of Norway
is the first Arctic ship to carry
airplanes and pilot balloons capable
of attaining an altitude of $4,000
feet, to assist in exploration.
Captain Amundsen was decorat-
ed by the German emperor for his
discovery of the Northwest Passage
in 1906. Last October he returned
the decorations as "a personal
protest against the German muir
der of peaceful Norwegian sailors
on the North Sea-"
Captain Bernier is the man who
puts places ON the map. He holds
the record of charting more than
five hundred thousand square miles
of Arctic territory. and of mapping
hundreds of islands, straits and
sounds.
The Canadian vessel, the Guide,
is not debutante, having already
made several Polar trips. She is
one hundred and fourteen feet over
all, with steam power, and sail for
auxiliary work in Arctic waters,
while the Maude uses oil as fuel
when necessary to supplement her
sails. Three thicknesses of steel
encase the hull of the Guide to
ward off ice attacks and the addi-
ton of a glass pilot house enables
her officers to steer a true course
in comfort and safety, no matter
what the weather. Snug and warm
in this .parlor" the exploring
party can laugh at the Arctic
blasts.
A big polar bear perched on a
great iceberg spied the glass pilot
house on the last voyage of the
Guide, and was so astonished that
he sat perfectly still to gaze at the
glistening object. Not long enough,
however, to add a polar bear trophy
to the credit of the expedition, for,
suddenly concluding that discre-
ton was the better part of valor,
he slid hastily out of sight before
a gun could be trained on him.
Captain Bernier plans a trip OF
over ten thousand miles through
the Arctic Archipelago, and will
doubtless return with much terri.
tory added to his already long list
of explorations. His plans includ.
ed a stop at his unique summer
place" of fifteen hundred acres al
Bafin Land.
1t is during July and August
that ice conditions in the Arctic
are most favorable to navigation,
but a careful lookout is kept by
the Arctic pilot and good leads
along the coast are watched for by
the sailors to use in case escape
from drifting berg is necessary
In mid-August or early September
the gigantic icefelds which have
accumulated for months migrate