Evening star., 1923-12-07
in TODAY's SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL y. COLLINS.

The United States Is about to send
a great polar expedition from Point
Barrow, the. northernmost, point of
Alaska, across the north pole TO
Spftzbergen. For the first time in the
world the expedition will travel by
dirisible balloon. the great shenan-
doah. instead OF struggling by ship
and on foot through forbidding ice
and snow and treacherous water. 1t
will be commanded by Lieut. Com
mander Robert A. Bartlett, who ac-
companied Rear Admiral Peary when
the latter reached the pole. There
Is no man in neutrality-suspicious. the
world--so competent and experienced
in Arctic travel as is Lieut.. Com
mander Bartlett. .,-
What OF practical use will there
be In another polar expedition which
Will justify its great expense and
possible hardship? The north pole
has been reached; why hunt it again?
That question of practical results"
annoys some members Of the board
OF commissioners appointed by the
Secretary of the Navy to work out
the details of the trip. practical
use? Why. the arousing of the
spirit OF adventure Is the great con-
sideration." exclaimed Admiral Mof-
let. What We need is the spirit
of Columbus"
- But the obvious answer to that is
that Christopher Columbus did have
adventure. He sought a new route
to Cathay-but found continent
blocking through traffic.
so Explorer Bartlett. seeking an
air route along great circle.
shrSSgn .ons,nno, the north pole may yss find
hitherto unknown, for he viii trav-
erse q million square miles never
before explored, and ocean currents
and tides are speaking to ocean
ographers the most fascinating Sc
cret: Here in the locked Arctics
is a new continent Come and enter
1t, and it shall belong to your ma
tion, by right of discovery"
What that undiscovered bourne
may hold In wealth. the Indies them
dications, In other parts of the. Arc
tic, that. oil may be abundant. There
are miles of possible Klondikes.
awaiting rthe spirit OF adventure.
and of conquest. Through Bartlett's s
flight, all this will become ours.
Il =
thousand miles square. equivalent to
100000 square miles. 1t fies be-
tween the north pole and Alaska.
II is not on mere guesswork that
the presence OF great land areas
there is predicatad, for DETECTED cur
rents and excessive tides SO indicate.
Now, from the gallery OF the skies.
man purposes to look down upon II
all. while floating a mile or less
above the surface. travelling at d
<f L.,
journey of e2,100 miles-equaI to the
distance from Washington to the Rocky
mountains.
There Is grave Importance in the
decision, not yet reached by the
commission. as to. whether the flight
shall be continuous. so that 1t will
accomplish the 2.100 miles In less
than three days (barring storms) or
whether there should be numerou
stops for scientific observations.
1t is quite practicable for the
Shenandoah to descend either on land
or water. provided there Is anchor
age. 1t is required that the great
ship should anchor to tower. so as
to avoid the risk of damage against
the earth. but aside from the face
ttous suggestion that 1t might tie up
to the north pole IN safety. there has
not yet been found a feasible anchor.
Yet without descent 1t is stated that
there will be no possibility Of max
ing observations or photographs of
scientific value, for at height of
mile there are no contours of the
surface that are practically observ-
able-all has the appearance of a
level plane.
~ +
+ When Rear Admiral Peary reached
the pole. April 6, 1909. he wrote ex-
ultingly in his diary: THE pole at
last! The prize of three centuries.
l cannot bring myself to realize it.
It seems all SO simple and common
place"
Well. aside from the realization
that at last he had achieved the goal
of his thirty-two years of effort, and
of scores of tragic failures by others.