Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1925-05-27


~ QUIPPED with two genii of mod
~ ern invention, the airplane and
the radio, the Macmillan Arctic
expedition under the auspices Of
the National Geographic society, with
the active cooperation of the navy,
will attempt to explore the earth's
! largest remaining blind spot" an I'M
known million square miles between
the Alaskan peninsula and the North
pole. Amphibian airplanes, capable of
landing on water, ice or land will be
taken by ship to Etah, northern
Greenland, within 700 miles of the
North pole, and from there and sup
Elemental bases will fly over tremend-
Gus areas either wholly unexplored or
practically unknown.
The major objective, the region be-
tween Alaska and the pole, One-third
the area of the United States, has
never been seen by human eye. 1t
Is considered possible that it holds
hitherto unknown continent, and it is
probable that some sort of land ex-
lists there.
The existence of this land is pos
tulated on reports of explorers who
have skirted the edges Of the unknown
area, and of observations of tides and
Ice conditions along this fringe, which
conditions indicate the existence of
| land.
Should such land exist it will be of
great future economic Importance in
view of the commercial flying that, in
| years to come, will be done across the
Arctic region.
The combination of aircraft and
radio in Arctic exploration is a new
feature of exploration, which not only
adds romance and adventure to the
undertaking, but which enhances the
scientific value of the expedition.
In Summer and Daylight.
Hitherto our information about the
Far North has been from explorers
who had to penetrate it in winter,
when the ice was continuous; summer
flying makes possible observations of
entirely different conditions, with "a
hours of daylight to aid the flyers.
This same daylight, however, as
radio fans will realize, Is handicap
to broadcasting, because night time is
radio time. The use Of the new short
wave length apparatus, under these
conditions, is an experiment which
will be of value to the new science of
wireless communication.
Upper air temperatures in the Far
North are almost as little known as
the million square miles which may
shroud a long-hidden continent. Sum-
mer records of these conditions not
only will have a value to future flying
but may have a direct bearing on
weather forecasting.
Forecasting weather consists largely
in detecting new disturbances as they
show up on the western and north
western borders Of the United States,
learning their characteristics, and fig
uring out the paths they probably will
follow because of prevailing baro-
metric pressures and temperatures
ahead of them.
The great majority of what the
weather forecasters call the lows
harometric pressure-se seem to originate
over the warm sea south of the Aleu-
tan islands in the winter, and over
the interior of Alaska during the sum-
lner. But some of the conditions
Which cause these flows" to be built
up in those places and create thighs"
to the east have their birth farther
north in the Polar regions, and a bet
ter knowledge of temperatures, pres
sure and wind changes there undoubt-
edly would facilitate weather forecast
ing.
In the search for the beginnings OF
its weather the United States is not
concerned with the entire Polar re-
glons. 1t is most concerned, it hap
pens, with the unexplored territory
which lies north of Alaska.
Temperatures, pressures and wind
conditions-the vital weather factors
are not known in the regions north
from Alaska to the pole. Explora-
ton of this area is a preliminary to
making detailed observations of these
conditions which directly affect farms
and orchards of the United States.
Plans for the Expedition.
Etah. the main base of the expedi-
tIon-the northernmost settlement In
the worid-lies near the northwestern
corner of Greenland at the head of
Baffin bay where narrow Smith sound
begins. Directly across Smith sound
tell a