Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1921-07-27

III you nave 10 ideas about the
world within the arctic circle nine
Of them are wrong" said Vilhja-
mar Stefansson, world famous arc
tic explorer and writer, shortly af-
ter his arrival in Salem yesterday
morning, with the assurance of a
man who has faced for years a
! public mind that is illusionized in
regard to the country OF the
North. There is inertia hard to
overcome in the general opinion of
the people that all Of the north is
an ice-bound waste.
did you know" he asked sud
denly, that there is more snow in
the Carolinas than on the coast
line Of northern Canada?" The ia
nous explorer seemed keenly alive
with interest in the lands which
he has studied. He is a man of
nearly six feet in stature, compara-
lively light for one of his height,
with blue eyes, medium-li light hair
and strong hands. There are the
beginnings of frontier Iife," he
said, there is land of opportun-
ity for the pioneer.
Stefansson went on to mention
the undeveloped countries of the
world; Argentina, now in an ad-
vanced stage in the progress OF
development; and number of 9th |
er parts of the world; but north
ern Canada he said, only sparsley |
inhabited by natives, with its min
eral deposits and the grazing lands
on its prafries still furnishes much !
of the opportunities that awaited
the people who sought the west in
the early fifties.
Mining could continue through
out the winter, much as 1t does in
Spitzenbergen and other northern
points, and railway transportation
could serve the country through
out the entire winter, he prophe-
sled. II is no colder there than in
and the snow is only a
Lrifle compared with the fan on
the Canadian border, the really
heavy snow belt OF America.
Stefansson spoke briefly OF hin
trip to the north where
he will venture next year without
he supply of food which is usu-
lilly taken on arctic expeditions.1
t is perfectly possible to exist on
he game and fish of the country.
Neat is all that is needed.
How near the pole will | go?"
le said. THAT is the question
which l am always asked, and one
which means nothing. If would
ay was going further you would
ret the wrong idea, and II l said
would not go so far you would
Iold an equally wrong impression.
he North Pole is not the goal of
he arctic endeavor nor the spec
acular part of it. The true center
4 the arctic regions lies about 400
niles south of the Pole towards J
Alaska, and II is just as easy to,
each the pole from the Atlantic as
is to approach within 500 miles =
n this side of the continent.
Neither Amundsen or myself -
ave been as far north from Alas y
a as Dundee fishermen sail every N
ear on the Atlantic. The Pole is
lirly easy to reach from that side
nd does not present the difficult
es that are offered by other parts
the North. The temperature In
inter at the Pole is probably 60 HI
egress below zero, while Montana
Speriences temperature 20 de- iii
rees below, and parts of Siberia.
here 1t reaches lilo in summer, Hi
ave temperatures in winter of 90
agrees below" I
Stefansson is making his first iii
lpearance in Chautauque circles iii
lis summer on his tour OF thelI Hi
est. "Chautauqua work is not as iii
I'd as | thought II would be-" he IH
i'd with a laugh, at the end of
short chat in the Marion hotel iii
'sterday. Last night he told of his iii
periences in the North as the
cond evening number on the
lautauqua program.