Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-01-09
. HE exploration by airplane of

IN liz exploration Dy alrpldHe OIL
more than one million square
miles of territory never before
seen by a white man, and incidental
ly a visit to the North Pole, is the
daring project of Captain Bartlett,
who was the commander of Admiral
reary's ship on his last voyage, and
for years wanderer within the Arc
tic Circle.
Were the plan the product of the
mind of just one man, even of such
a man as Captain Bartlett, the world
would dismiss it with few caustic
comments about the danger of read
ing too much of Gerne, Poe and
Wells. But back of Captain Bart
lett, not only theoretically, but finan-
cially, and at the risk of their repu-
tations, stand such men as Rear Ad-
miral Robert +. Peary, the first man
to reach the pole; Alan r. Hawley,
president of the Aero Club of Amer
lea; Rear Admiral Bradley y. Fiske,
Rear Admiral William n. Little,
John Hays Hammond, Jr., and other
members of the special committee
of the Aero Club of America, who
have announced their belief in the
success of such a plan and their will
ingness to finance the expedition.
The cost will be borne by the Aero
Club and possibly by geographical
and other scientific organizations in
terested in revealing the hitherto un-
solved mysteries of the North.
An Officer of the Navy
Captain Bartlett, a Newfoundland
man, although citizen of the United
States since 1911, and at present
an officer of the United States
~
of respect for his birthplace's indus
try, so he has selected to bear him
and his party to Etah, Greenland,
one OF those stout wooden New
foundland craft which are almost
uncrushable in the most menacing
ice packs.
The name of the vessel is still
withheld, as are the names OF all
members of the party except Cap
tain Bartlett himself. The vessel,
however, is 125 feet long, thirty feet
of beam and draws fifteen feet of
water. She is equipped with a ESQ
horsepower oil engine, but will rely
mainly on her sails. She will be rig
ged as. a three-masted schooner. 1t
is probable she will leave New York
about May 81.
The vessel will carry in her hold
folded up one large airplane, pos
sibly of the type known as seapIanes.
and several smaller planes. In ad-
dition she will be fitted with all the
latest and best scientific instruments
and will become on her arrival at
Etah a floating laboratory.
At Etah, which will be reached in
from ten to thirty days after setting
sail from New York, depending on
ice conditions, the smaller airplanes
4 ,nt. Arth Il lAe
across Ellesmere Land to Cape Co
lum bia, where a cache of gasoline
and supplies will be made. Then as
the weather moderates the ship it
self will be used to dredge the Polar
seas for the submarine flora and
fauna of the Arctic Basin.
Planes to Replace Dog Sleds
Skilled meteorologists will study
the air currents with the aid of
small balloons and airplanes that
travel hundreds of miles q day
where in former years dog sledges
crawled miles.
Cape Columbia, the point from
which Peary made his dash to the
pole in 1909, will be the base for
the exploration of the vast territory
to the westward. From Cape Column
bia he will make d flight in huge
airplane across the Polar Sea to Si-
IBERIA. 1t is known that coal. mica
and many minerals are abundant in
some of the explored portions of the
North, so 1t is within the bounds of
| probability that this region, il 1t Is
above water. may be rich in valu-
able minerals.
The great mineral wealth of AL
aslka is widely known. AS the unex-
piored portion of the Arctic is north
of Alaska and Canada, those foster
ing the Bartlett expedition believe
it logical to assume that minerals
exist here also. The primary pur-
pose, however. is not search for
mineral wealth but merely to dispel
the ignorance of man concerning an
area of the globe greater than the
United States east of the Mississippi.
The exact, character of the air.
planes which will be used in explor-
alton has not yet been determined,
but as many experts in airplane
construction are members of the
Aero Club and deeply interested In