The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-01-25
EXPLORER TELLS OF |NGRESS INTO
 ARCTIC CIRCLE
Revolution of Former Theories on Arctic Probing Explained. Colored Lantern Slides
 Illustrate Adventures

lllC dSCCoSdUlllIy Ol IIlG hitherto unexplored polar re- gions and the manner and means of travel and subsistence north of the Arctic circle were told in the lecture delivered last night by Vilhjalmur Stefans- son, Arctic explorer, at Temple Emanu-El under the auspices of the Birmingham Lyceum course.
 The explorer began by general dis cussion of the topography of the frigid gene. and explained the difference be- tween what people thought about the pole as learned from geography, ana what the pole country was really hke.
 First of all the North pole might seem to you hard to get to- he said, and it probably would be if the country were syrnetrical, but it is not-no more than your face is symetrical-
 "The sea off the far Alaskan coast ranges anywhere from two to three smiles deep, and this is covered by thin coat ing Of ice, anywhere from 10 to 3O feet thick. This ice is in little blocks, the largest never measuring over 40 miles across, and these ice cakes continually drift towards the Atlantic.
 WARM Ol RLAM
 This is because the warm streams off the Japanese coast up through Bear ing strait are not pronounced enough to cause melting which would allow the drifting of the ice blocks towards the Pacific, while the gulf stream sweeping up the Atlantic coast penetrates far into the north waters with the result the melting ice blocks find treir outlet to- wa rds this stream.
 The reason for the lack of extreme cold which is supposed to exist at the role and which in reality does not exlst there is because of the depth of the water and the warm undercurrents which are bound to sweep up there from the gulf".
 MT. Stefansson told of the geography commonly studied in the public schools, and showed how, from his actual ex- perience in the frigid zone, much set down for the education of school children was untrue.
 "I am of the opinion," he said, that the geography, if not the most popular is the most widely-read work of fiction in the world."
 Mr. Stefansson told of his first expedi- tion into the artic circle when ne Ilrse began to uElearn all the theories the exn.orers for hundreds of years before hlrn mad taught.
 .sT was not in command then" he sald. 'I was merely one of the staff. But IL was on this first trip that I learned tnal the only way any successful exploration of the polar zone could be brought apout would be in discarding the transports ton system built up by explorers peloie us. and carry as little equipment as possible, living off the game shot as we went.
 UPSET BELIEFS
 "Just to show you how we had to upset common beliefs that had peen handed down for years. EVerypoos knows that we've always been taugn.s when our faces were freezing 10 app.s snow to it-rub it with snow. That IS i,st the thing you shouldn't do. Your face. when freezing, is about 90 degrees and the snow on the ground where IL ls 50 below is also 50 degreese below zero. Gan vou understand how a substance oV degrees colder than the freezing part or your face would help to thaw 1t any!
 Another thing. For years ana years arctic explorers were puzzled lor a means to obtain drinking water in the winter without Masuhs pieoipHos H fuel to melt snow. There was pe- lief that if you ate snow it would give YOU cramps in the stomach, and youd double up and freeze to death. 1ig- ured that if we could eat ice cream ana shergets in America we ought to be able to eat snow. l tried IT, ! didn't get cramps and we upset an other theory that made arctic gong easier. Since then l guess we eaten tons of snow.
 ..Then neople said we talked like crazy men when we told them we would find our meat as we went along. We couldn't hire anyone to start the expedition with us, at first. and IT. nally succeeded in getting two Morse trappers at $25 day to make the trip. This was on our expedition or 1913, when we left vancouver wi.n three ships and carried scientific staff equal to the faculty of small college.
 SEARCH FOR ISLANDS "So the three of us left the main land and started out across the ice blocks in search for new islands. We carried one sled, and on this we had almost everything else but food. We even took books to read. and 1 think 1t about the first arctic expedition or it's kind equipped with books to read for pastime.
 "But pinned my faith in oceanolog. and I knew that in the open water between those ice cakes there must be SedlS. w U eldIlCO O0t V1i tiiio thSOis ~ and we found seals. Ln five and half years we never missed meal, and never lost dog with the exception of one which was by accident. "The accident was this. We washed dishes at one place, which we seldom ever did, <and in throwing out the dishwater, the boy left greasy rag in it. A dog ate the rag and 1t killed him."
 The lecturer explained the methods used in trapping seals. and shooting them. and also told of the habits of the sea lions. His lecture made plain the fact that any normal person could accomplish what his expedition accom- plished if good. common sense and l forethought was used in making l preparations and level headedness was maintained throughout the ven- | ture.
 BLUE GRASS GROWS "I spoke before Parliament" he said. "on the possibilities of the island l country north of the circle, in an att ltempt to interest the Canadian govern Iment in my expedition. and one sem ator got up and said: Isn't it strange lthat this blue grass you speak of | grows up there, and all these flOWers?' l T said, in answer. since it rains ! up there, and sfnce the sun shines ,much like 1t does right here, it seems
 strange to me that you wouldn't know
 that grass and flowers grew up l there'
 1 Mir. Stefansson concluded his lec- ture with an exhibition of colored Ian I tern slides bearing out the various points made in his talk and showing
 the actual manner of exploration fol- 1 lowed.