Evening star., 1925-06-07
Continued from First Page)

tCOntlnueQ from FlrSJ RaRe.b
able value to any country and GER
tainly not worth any diplomatic dis
cussion. In the quarter century since,
however, the island has become per-
haps the most important strategic
point in the Arctic Ocean. as is dem
onstrated by the fact that on it's
northern tip, Cape Thomas Hubbard,
Lieut.. Comdr. Byrd of the Navy, will
attempt to set up the first military
base established by airplanes in all
history during the Macmillan eXpedi-
ton.
vivid imagination. able to foresee
world war, with great air armadas
sweeping across the pole for surprise
attacks on the other side of the world,
can assign AXel Heiburg Land as the
Helgoland of that struggle. and the
nation holding il as having the key
to all warfare in the Arctic, especially
if Macmillan discovers more land to
the northwest on the way to the pole.
Named for Financier.
Sverdrup set up the Norwegian flag,
claimed the territory in the name of
the King and named the country after
AXel Heiburg, the Still-living Nor
wegian tinancier who had made his
expedition possible. He followed the
same procedure on Amund Ringnes-
Land. 4,S00 square miles nearby,
named for another Norwegian who
had backed the expedition.
But, so far as the records go, 1t
seems that Norway never laid claim to
Sverdrup's discovery. Canada simply
painted the two lands red on her maps
and included them in her northwest
territory, without a protest from the
nation which might have claimed them
by right of discovery. So far as tan
eible results went, Sverdrup. the Nor
wegian, simply was working to extend
the territorial limits of Canada.
Status May Be Doubted.
There may still be doubt over the
status of AXel Heiburg Land. The
whole affair is buried in obscurity SO
far as any records in Washington are
concerned. In the files of the Nor
wegian legation here, under "Axel
Heiburg Land" is simply the state
ment that it was discovered by Sver-
drup. Legation attaches expressed
surprise that Canada ever had even
claimed the territory, let alone consid-
ering all claims as foregone conclu-
Sions.
SO far as can be ascertained, the
issue has never been raised in the
Norwegian Parliament. Perhaps some
old, obscure treaty with Great Britain
covering the subject was recognized
by the Norwegian foreign minister at
the time and nobody else was inter
eSted suffice, tly to raise any ques-
tions.
On just wtaG happened in the Axel
Heiburg Laki case may depend the
right of the United States TO lay claim
TO any land upon which Capt. MacMil-
Ian has expressed his intention of rails
ing the American flag.
One Other Precedent
There is one other precedent which
may apply, although it is even more
obscure than that created by the Axel
Heiburg Land discovery.
Early in the last century an Amer
lean naval lieutenant, Charles Wilkes.
sailed south of Cape Horn with a fleet
of five small ships, actually in race
with French and British expeditions
toward the South Pole.
Wilkes had received sudden orders
from Washington. His ships were not
equipped for entering the terrible
stretches of ice and fog which extend
I'd for a thousand miles to the SOUTH
&fard. He protested, but obeyed or
ders.
The expedition endured terrible
hardships. But it had one tangible
result-looking through the fog to the
southwark, Wilkes saw sticking out of
the ocean the icy cliffs of what he be-
lieved to be a new land.
Charted Coast.
For a week he charted the coast.
He had no equipment which would
have permitted a landing on a sin
gularly dangerous coast. He made
no effort to circumnavigate the land.
He reported his findings to Washing
ton and an underlined stretch was
placed on the maps as Wilkes Land
A few years later British and Ger
man expeditions charted this coast
more correctly. 1t was found that
Wilkes observations had been at fault
in many particulars. The claim was
made that the American had lied from
start to finish.
Today, however, ii is universally
admitted by geographers that Wilkes
discovered the Antarctic continent in
an expedition made up of American
naval ships and personnel.
Yet the United States makes no
claim whatever to the enormous, life
less stretch of land, the least known
area on the globe and of the least
possible value, somewhere in the CEN
ter of which is the South Pole over
which floats the flag of Norway. The
Antarctic Circle has been split into
quadrants and the only recognized
claims are those of Great Britain and
Norway. Even these latter might be
open to dispute, although q Norwe-
gian expedition under Amundsen first
penetrated the continent to the pole.
German Claim Seen.