The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1920-12-29
EXPEDITIONS IN
PROGRESS NOW
Activity Since Closing OF The War
Is Now Being Resumed In
The U. S.
Associated Press


scientific research due to the Great
War. Most Of these enterprises have
been undertaken or projected since
the armistice and they recall the fact
that Mother Earth still has import
ant biological, geological, geological,
chronological and meteorological prob
lens which are still unsolved.
One of the most important of these
enterprises is the British Antarctic
Expedition, headed by Commander
John Lachlan Cope, f. R. G. S., for
merly of the British Navy. 1t is fl
nanced for $750,00O, includes five
ships, 125 men, several airplanes and
extensive wireless apparatus. The un-
dertaking is to require five years and
it's objects are the circumnavigation
Of the Antarctic Sea, a dash to the
South Pole, the locating of new whal-
ing grounds, and the discovery Of sup
posedly rich gold, silver, coal and ruby
fields.
Captain Roald Amundsen, who dis
covered the South Pole in 1911, left
Nome, Alaska, last August in an at
tempt to reach the North Pole. His
ship, the Maud, had already spent 10
months in the Arctic, north Of Asia
and Europe, and had successfully
made the Northeast Passage. He ex-
pected the Maud to be locked in the
icepack and to drift toward the Pole
when the Arctic winter ended.
In negotiating his way to Nome he
was frequently compelled to blast a
path through the ice. Captain A
was last heard of off East
Cape, about ITO miles northwest of
Nome in the Bering Straits. The ex-
plorer on account of high wages and
scarcity Of men, was handicapped by
lack of help, his only companions be-
ing three sailors and an Eskimo
cook.
The other interesting expeditions
projected or now under way are as
follows:
SIBERIA -- Captain Axel Land
mark and Captain John Vatney, in a
50-foot power boat are on a 1000
mile voyage to the Kolyma river, US
ing a primitive chart made in 1878 |
by Nordenskjold, Swedish explorer
on his voyage from Norway to ia
pan via the Arctic Ocean.
GREENLAND-Knud Rasmussen,
Danish explorer, who returned from
the East coast late in 1919, after
studying Eskimo tribes, is preparing
for another expedition Of five years
duration. Lange Koch, another Dane,
is planning scientific survey of
North Greenland, his main purpose
being to establish Danish sovereign
~ in that territory.
AFRICA-Four expeditions are in
namely, the Mackie Ethno-
ogical Expedition to Central Africa
or the purpose of studying the Bahi-
ma, one of the chief pastoral tribes
If Ankole, a district west of Ugan-
la: the British Natural History Mu-
;eum Expeditions to the West Coast
and the Jeb-Maria mountains; the
Duke of the Abruzzi's effort to find
he sources of the Webb Shebeli riv-
r, which flows from Abyssinia thru
Italian Somaliland into the Indian
Ocean and the chronological tour Of
he Belgian portion Of Tanganvika I
md the Eastern Congo, by 7. A.
Barns, who explored the Ituri and
semliki forests, finding a strange
ace of pygmy savages as well as
rathering a wonderful collection OF
moths and butterflies. |,
BAFFIN LAND--Donald B. Mac
Milan, who was with Peary, plans to
tart to explore one Of the richest
ields in the Far North. He expects
O establish a camp TOO miles south
4 Etah in Northwest Greenland,
where his Crocker Land Expedition f,
,assed four winters. He will at
empt to eircumnavigate Baffin Land
md penetrate 1900 miles of its west
I'm coast.
NOVA ZEMBLA-7Dr. Olaf Holte-
ahl of Christiania University, is or
.anizing Northwestern Natural I
;cience and Geological Expedition to 4
his country and plans to start next
ummer.
MEXICO-Professor Emelio Od-
one a famous Neapolitan seismoli-
list, representing the Italian govern ,
oent. is now studying the earthquake
;tuation in Mexico by means Of his
ineryiameter," an invention by
,hich he is able to measure both mo-
ion and energy. N
THE Acknowledgements OF
his great river is to be undertaken
ext year by a large party Of Ameri- (
an scientists, headed by DR.. Henry Il
I. Rusby, Of Columbia University. 7
he party expected to leave early inl Z