Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1922-04-13
COLDER IN ARIZONA
THAN At NORTH POLE
Sixty Below in Far North, But
Il is Often Colder in
Northwest.

N~NriN. III not VuiNe. lne UlCSt 1un-
damcntal wrong idea about the North
IN that the North Pole Is the coolest
place in the northern hemisphere. and
that the polar regions are far colder
In winter than any countries that are
now Inhabited by the average kind OF
civilized European or American. When
We stop 10 think about It. we see we
have really always known that this
could not be true.
Besides minor considerations. there
are three main factors that determine
what the possible minimum tempera-
ture Of any place may be. These are
Ia titrde. altitude and distance from
the ocean. We see at once that the
North Polo has In n high degree only
one OF these three qualifications for
being extremely cold. Certainly Il is
at high latitude. But the North Pole
does not lilo high above sea level. for
Il Is located In an ocean which Ad-
miral pcary. at the time he visited
the Pole. found to. be more than
twelve thousand feet deep. And IL II
a not above sea level neither is 1t
far away from the ocean. for Il lies
in the ocean. Possessing only one of
ang extremely cold. 1t naturally is
never extremely cold. Those who
1heorize about 1t generally agree that
the minimum temperature there sell
dom II ever drops below sixty below
zero. Fahrenheit. However. that is
q matter of theory. No one has as
Yet spent an entire year at the North
Pole. II need not he more than a
year or two, and in my opinion Il
Will not be more than n decade or
two. until somebody goes 10 the
North Pole. stays there n year. and
brings back TO US a coherent account
OF how cold or warm IL is there from
day 10 day for twelve months, The
main handicap in an attempt OF this
sort would he the mobile nature Of
the fractured floating ice that covers
the vicinity of the Pole. Il seems
probable that after being formed in
the part OF the ocean that lies be-
TWEEN the North Pole and Alaska, the
Zee masses drift across the polar area
al the rate OF perhaps half mile per
day. They are bound for the Atlantic {;
their destination Is the ocean to the
north ur Iceland and Norway. where
melted. and disappear. Any one who
made his camp at the North Pole
would learn through astronomical oh
servstions after a few weeks that he
was no longer at home and would
have TO pick up his bed and walk back
10 the North Pole. Apart from that,
living there year would be easier
than some polar achievements that
are already history.
IL the actual minimum temperature
of the North Pole Is matter OF
theory, we ore IN no doubt about tho
tenroeratures OF the north coast OF
Canada or Alaska Fee more than
twenty years tn the case Of Canada
and about forty In the case o. the
United States there have been wea ther
bureau observatories on the north
coast OF North America. l have spent
In the polar regions ten winters and
thirteen summers myself and during
most OF that time have carried re-
,mble thermometers, go that ! coult
cay from my own experience how cox
n 10 UP there in winter. but l prefer
to quote the records OF the Canadian
and American weather bureaus.
them 10 give me the lowest tempera
ture ever recorded in the Canadian
station AZ Herschel Island On the nortl
coas, OF Canada near the mouth o
the Mackenzie river. and the Amerl
can station near Point Barrow. at IN
north tip Of Alaska. about 300 miles
north of the Arctic Circle. The re
niles in both ca ses were identical: wv,
have never recorded anything lowe
Than 81 degrees Fahrenheit below
zero"
Tho other DAY was reading over 1
report OF the meteorological ob<erva
lions O. my Arctic expedition of 1919
IS. made by the second-tn-comuland
Or. r NJ Anderson. lie says, tn
loves; temperature of the winter wa
az degrees below zero" or about Xix
saranac Lake. New York State, whic'
s. a winter resort Temperatures a
low as 80 degrees below zero are rar
on The north coaS of North Annericl
and there are many winters when
degree. or as degrees below II tn
lowest record.
After asking the United State
Weather Bureau FOR the lowest recon
applicable 70 the north coast
Alaska, ! inquired for the lowest TEN
perature ever recorded in some set
Ted portion OF the United Statee Il
! acme average American communit
where a good many average Arneri
cans live In average Am1rican com
fort. They replied that N "a sma
town near Havre. Montana, they ha
registered ss degrees below zero. Al
most ns low temperatures have bee
recorded in Havre itself. and Havr
IS a typical American town OF three o
four thousand Inhabitants. with store
and shops. with schools and Gttl
children going 10 school. with church
es and people going TO church al
temperature fourteen degrees lowe
than II ever has been known 70 be o
che north coast OF North America an
nbolrr ten degrees lower than II prot