Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1922-06-23

under government auspices to explore the Arctlcs
After drifting through the Northwest passage his
vessel Maud, had propeller blade smashed in
the ice off the northeastern Siberian coast So
the Maud was taken to Seattle for repairs The
sturdy vessel was thoroughly reftted in Lake
Union Seattle's fresIl-water lake. And that's how
1t happens that Amundsen's second start is from
America
Amundsen visited Washington before his start
and evidently established friendly relations with
Uncle Sam eve want to find out what is in
the Arctic circle" he said there ut is believed
that the information which may be obtained from
a thorough inspection of the territory around the
pole will be of value to science"
81 am going to retire from the exploring BUSH
ness when this trip is finished" he said. Il have
been engaged in making explorations ever since
was twenty-one years old, and I think it is about
time to rest little bit. The life is very hard
one and makes great demands upon strength and
vitality. At any rate, 1 have been at it for a
good many years and have had about enough"
Jules Verne has nothing Roald Amundsen,
as the Norwegian outlines his plans for exploring
the roof of the world. His expedition will not be
like those which have preceded it. It's vision
will not be confined to a few miles on either side
of the ship, but from the air it will be able to
take in at a glance objects 200 miles away
It will not be for years cut off from touch with
the outside world, leaving friends and relatives
to wonder if the northland had smashed in its
icy fist the hardy Adventures who encroached on
its Businesses. Instead, it will talk by radio
every day with all the world
1t will not have spent years charting merely a
narrow strip but, with the aid of aviation will be
able to chart 100000 square miles sketching
the currents of the Dir as well those of the
sea. He hopes to accomplish with his airplanes
in fve-years voyage what would take score
of years. millions of dollars and many lives if
only ship and dog sleds were employed.
Now here's another view of the expedition
based upon the additional fact that Vilhjalmur
Stefansson the famous Canadian explorer is also
headed for the Arctic. Capt. c. D. Petersen the
"Lone Wolf of the Arctic" skipper Of the whaler
Hermann, thinks there's something doing beside
science in these two expeditions Captain Peder-
sen was in San Francisco just before Amundsen's
departure from Seattle. He said he was anxious
to sail, so as to get ring-sde seat under the
aurora boreas. From that vantage point he
wants to watch what he says is historys great
est international marathon across the top of the
world, in which the untold riches of the north
land will reward the victor
Principals in the international race to the pole
viii be ROAD Amundsen, discoverer of the South
Pole who'll represent Norway and ViIhialmur
Stefansson, who'll carry the flag of Great Britain.
They'll start as soon as the ice will let them
Amundsen from Seattle with ship equipped with
airplanes and radio, Stefansson from Wrangel
island with the old-fashioned equipment of dog
sled
The two explorers tell the world they'll shut
themselves off from civilization and risk their
lives in Arctic icepacks for the glory of discovery
and scientific achievement.
But wolf Petersen says there's more than
that in the expedition. He sees a race for vast
treasures hidden behind the ice barriers.
He says the explorers are seeking for Norway
and England great radium mines. vast oil fields
and coal deposits fossil ivory, diamonds areas
of fertile land where reindeer thrive
81 cannot believe" Petersen says, that Eng
land and Norway have gone to this great expense
purely for exploration purposes
''For I myself have seen oil ooze from the
ground and form q lake near Point Barrow-oil
so pure that natives burn it in lamps without
refining!