The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1922-02-06
WORLDS LARGEST ISLAND
Arctic Climate Gives 10000 Square
Miles Only $1,000 Inhabitants


Australia be classcd as contlnentJ,
the land reaching closest to the North
Pole, the country harbor'ng the nor.
thernmost civilized community and
the one land mass where conditions
of the great ice age are now dominant
such is Greenland says a bulletin
Issued by the National Geographic so
ciety.
"Mercator Of map fame has unwit-
tingly confused the mind of the world
In regard to Greenland" continues the
i bulletin Because the sphere is fat
tened out on many maps as though it's
surface were stretched, Greenland,
vast as it is, is made to appear many
times larger 1t is as though the
country were reflected in one Of the
mirrors set up at country fairs to make
the thin appear fat.
but viewed properly, the great
northern island bulks large enough to 4
command respect II it, northenmost
point were placed at the Canadian
border in North Dakota, its southern
most point would reach to the mouth
of the Rio Grande, the southern ex-
tlamity Of Texas. It's greatest width
is approximately equal to the distance
from New York to Chicago.
But though the island is almost con-
tinental in size having an area Of
about 100000 square miles it has only
1900 inhabitants the daily population
OF single huge Office building in low
or New York city. The reason for this
sparse population is not alone the far
northern position OF the country. for
the lower half Of the island is in ap-
( proximately the same latitude as the
Scandinavian peninsula with It's 5000. /
! 600 souls But while Scandinavia is
hathed by the warm Gulf Stream. and
Iceland too Is benefited by it, Green
land lies far from It's Influence and is
washed only by icy Arctic currents.
"ExpoGed TO the full effects Of the
frosts of the Arctic, the great island
which at one time in geologic history
had the climate and yerdure Of Califor-
MIA, has been changed into a frozen
desert, The once green hills aud val
leys and even mountains have been lit /
orally buried under a sheet OF snow
and ice varying from hundreds to thou !
sands Of feet IN thickness All but a |
few mountain peaks have been sub /
merged, and the entire vast interior
Of the country is a nearly level plateau
of ice.
only a narrow fringe along part |
OF the coast is free from the ice can. /
and even this ground is frozen in win /
ter and covered with snow II is along /
the fords Of these narrow ice.free sec. /
tons of the coast that the few thou. /
sand Eskimos and the handful of I
Danes that make up the population OF |
Greenland find precarious livel.h hood.
During the short summer the in
terror CT Greenland presents phenom-
ena to be found nowhere else in the
world; but the frozen wastes are in
accessible and only q few eyes have
beheld the changes that take place
there when the sun swings to the
north. Great lakes are formed: mighty
rivers flow between blue crystal banks.
their waters never touching a stone
nor a fragment Of soil until they final.
~ plunge down some chasm in the ice
Glaciers push out of the countless
iiords, some discharging ice into the
sea at the rate OF . TO 100 feet a day.
NOISES and lichens and few flow
ers and shrubs spring to sudden life
IN the summer along the ice-free FIRM
ges OF the coast, but few vegetables
except Iadi des, turnips and lettuce
can be grcSn. The people of Green.
land are almost entirely dependent for
food on the sea and on supplies
brought from outside
Greenland was discovered and set
tied by Eric the Red from Iceland
noar.y 1000 years ago-the same Eric |
who soon after discovered America.
The settlements throye for 400 wears
but mysteriously disappeared before
Columbus discovery. The early set.
tiers were Norweg ans. Later Nor
way was combined Tor a time with
Denmark and the Danes became the
heirs to the bleak island A Danish
who reached the southwest Y
shores of Greenland in 1921 was the {
first to renew Scandinavian settle $
ment of the country. Other settlers I
followed and Denmark established a :
paternal government over the Eskimo
of the south.
Northwest Greenland was discov.
cred, explored and occupied as a base
for polar expeditions by Americans
during the nineteenth century-notab. "
ly by Peary and Greedy. When the :,
United States purchased the Danish =
West Indies in 1917. as part of the pur- ,
chase consideration it relinquished all .
claim to any part of Greenland Since y
then the Danish Government has ex- :
tended its authority to the sparsely =
settled northwest coast and to all
other inhabited sections of the island.
THE towns of Greenland are few
and unimportant Godhaven, the cap
ital of the northern Inspectorate. is
the chief settlement and yet has only
a few hundred inhabitants. Uperniyik,
near latitude 73 degrees, is the nor.
thernmost town in the world. Juli.
anehaab, near the southwest point of
the island, is close to the site of the
settlement of Eric the Red and in the
vicinity are still to be seen ruins of the
stone houses and churches built in this
isolated corner of America in the days
of the early Crusades.'