The Monmouth inquirer., 1926-04-01

Society," Washington D. CO.
~ PITSBERGEN, which has fig
ured several times in Arctic ex-
petitions, is to be the taking-off
point this summer for airplanes
in an attempt to reach the North pole
This far northern island is one of
the few Arctic or Antarctic lands that
are being made to yield up minerals
to the temperate zones.
The northern tip of Alaska, to which
few government officials push each
summer, may seem all too close to the
North pole for the average dweller of
the warmer regions of the earth to
live in unless he is pursuing scientific
Investigations In Spitsbergen, how
ever, which is 600 miles closer to the
top of the world, several hundred or
binary men Of Europe and America
are making their homes the year
round while they strip coal from be-
meath the ice-covered mountains. 1t is
excellent coal, too, and there is every
reason to believe that the mining OPP
erations will grow steadily.
The discovery early in the Tween
tieth century, that Spitsbergen's coal
underlies large areas brought It sud
denly back to the worlds attention
and made sovereignty over it well
worth claiming after it had been aban-
doned for generations as a sort of
No-Man's land. Barents, Dutchman,
discovered Spitsbergen in 1896 ac-
cording to the usual records; but the
Norwegians claim that their seamen
visited the islands at earlier dates.
Henry Hudson, searching for a north
ern passage to the Orient in 1907,
learned of the vast number of whales
near the islands, and as result Splits
bergen's waters became for time the
worlds greatest whale fishery.
Dutch First In Field.
The Dutch were foremost in this de-
Velopment. BY the time of Americas
Revolutionary war, whalers from the
Netherlands had taken about $780,
100000 worth Of whale products from
the region.
In the year 1920 whales frequented
the bays and immediate coast of
Spitshergen in such numbers that the
fishers were embarrassed to transport
homeward the blubber and other prod
ucts These conditions led to the
summer colonization of Spitsbergen
(and Jan Mayen), where establish
ments for trying out cooperage, ETC..
were erected, as the most economical
method of pursuing the industry.
although the experiences of Pelham
and other English sailors, who, invol-
unfairly wintered in Spitsbergen in
1630-1631, led to an attempt to estab-
lish Dutch colony. The party OF
1633-1634 wintered successfully, but
that of the following year perished
and so ended the experiment.
The most remarkable of the summer
establishments was at Amsterdam is
land, where on a broad plain grew up
the astonishing village of Smeeren-
berg. Here, nearly within ten de-
grees of the North pole, for a score
of years. prevailed an amount of com
fort and prosperity that can scarcely
be credited by the visitor of today.
Several hundred ships, with more
than 10000 men, visited it annually.
These consisted not alone of the whal-
ers and the land laborers, but of the
camp followers who always frequent
centers of great and rapid productive
ity.
In the train OF the whalers followed
merchant vessels, loaded with wine,
brandy, tobacco and edibles unknown
in the plain fare of the hardy fishers.
Shops were opened, drinking booths
erected, wooden (and even brick) tile
covered houses constructed for the la
borers OF visiting whalemen. Even
bakeries were constructed, and, as in
Holland, the sound of the bakers
horn, announcing hot, fresh bread,
drew crowds Of eager purchasers. If
report errs not, even the Dutch frau
Of 1880 was sufficiently enterprising
to visit Smeerenberg
Forced to Abandon Town.
The shore fisheries soon failed
(about 1640) and the Dutch being
driven to the remote and open seas,
Smeerenberg fell into decadence; The
furnaces were demolished. the cooper
caldrons removed, and the tools and
utensils of the cooper and whaler dis
appeared; only the polar bear re-
NAMED to guard the ruins of the IA
nous Spitsbergen fair.
Spitsbergen and the adjacent is
lands acquired a settled sovereignty
for the first time in 1919 as an In
direct result, strangely enough. Of the
World war. which was fought thou
sands of niles to the south, and during
which both claimants to the island
group were sneutrals. The supreme