The Washington times., 1922-06-15
IS
SLIPPING NORTH
SAYS EXPLORER
Stefansson Declares Course OF
Empire Always Has Been
Toward Pole.
by wILLENE TAYLOR.
wright. 1853, by Cosmopolitan New

(CopyriEht. 1888, by Cosmopolitan News
NEW YORK. June l5.-Civilizs.
ton Ia slipping northward and the
human race is advancing toward
the North Pole, Vilhjamur Stefans-
son. greatest living artic explorer
and author Of numerous books on the
Far North, said today.
brow at the headquarters OF the
plorer remarked that the evolution
OF man advanced as the temperature
receded. Nations are moving north.
ward, he stated. and history's prece.
dents indicate that all races will be
going TO business on snow -shoes In
years TO come.
'Tis a comforting thought for hot
weather.
Civilization csnters were once In
q climate with the mean tempera
turs Of IS degrees Fahrenheit" ne
continued. Now Paris, London and
New York are the centsrs with so.
81 and 81 degrees Fahrenheit, for
average climate. Within the next
two or three generations the center of
civilization will move TO Winnipeg,
Chicago, PetroSrad, Montreal. Stock
holm or other cities with the same
temperature. Chicago's mean TEN.
perature 10 ~ degrees, while the other
cities mentioned are lower, Winn!
pes being % degrees. The distance
North hasn't anything 10 do With st.:
it's the temperature that counts.
With civilizations progress. the peo.
pies Of the world are finding the
North more and more habitabls.
Exploration Age Ends.
The age Of Arctic exploration 10
at an snd-the age OF Arctic com.
merciaiism II dawning The day has
como when people will live and work
In the North-not explore there"
Most Americans have the rnlstsk.
vastness where Explorer Cooks
snow baby" was horn. and where
greasy-faced eskimos live on whale
fat and sleep on cakes Of ice. while.
In fact. it's really a thoroughly dis.
covered place. busy sweeping whale
bones out Of the isloos and setting
up for trade. stsfansson explained.
When asked IL he intended to make
another expedition to the North
country. where he spent eleven and
one-half years north OF the Arctic
Circle. he said the age OF exploration
was gone. This land. rich in it's
resources and surprisingly adaptable
to human life. will, Stefansson
thinks, become a busy trading cen
ter within the next few years.
Generations hence, peace confer.
erlces likely will be held where sleek
seals now wallow.
Since the beginning Of time. civ.
ilization centers have gradually been
moving northward. and we have no
reason TO think that this law Of
northward progress will cease oper'
ating now" the explorer asserted.
In 1000 B. c., the center OF ciViliza. .
ton was upper Egypt where the
mean temperature for the year was
IS degrees Fahrenheit In 1000 B. c.,
Il was In Phoenicia with the mean
temperature 10 degrees: in the time
OF Christ civilization centered at
Rome where 50 degrees was the mean
temperature; In 1900 A. D.. with the
center at Grenada and Milan. the
temperature was 81 degrees: today
with the center OF civilization in
New York City. London and Paris.
so degrees IL the mean temperature
at Paris.
Now that clothing, fire. good
houses and transportation are avail.
able In the North, there 10 all the
more reason to think that the enl.
pires will move farther north"
All In His Book.
Stefansson's latest book, to be pub
lished in August, deals with The
Northward Course OF Empire"
Just to prove that Americans won't
evolve into noseless and eArless
freaks through the freezing Of such
extren1ities, these temperatures will
be quoted: The coldest spot in the
United States is the village of Glad.
stone. Mont, with a temperature OF
80 degrees below; the coldest In Can.
ada is Dawson. Yukon. with Ga de.
grees below; coolest in Alaska IA
Point Barrow, 900 miles north Of
Arctic circle with 81 degrees below:
coldest In northern hemisphere ID
Verhkoyanska, 90 degrees below. and
they farm there: and the temperature
around the North Pole Is thought to
be so degrees below.
The climate 30 miles north of the
Arctic circle ID about like Lake
Placid. N. Y. In January. the ex.
plorer says, 30 there need be no fear