Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-06-27
ADVENTURE CALLS MEN
INTO ARCTIC, SAYS BYRD
Scientific Considerations Secondary to
Instinct to Conquer the Unknown,
Is Opinion of Explorer.
BY RICHARD +. BYRD.

Again and again these questions are
asked. And they are not easily
answered, for dollars and cents are
not Immediately involved.
The things which have made men
explore the Arctic and seek the Pole,
the incentive which urged them
through infinite encouragement to the
conquest of the air. the constant at
tempting of the difficult in SO many
fields of human endeavor are not to
be analysed, or explained without diff
Guilty. with wonder. These things must
be felt to he understood. But they hold
a meaning for progress, though it is
not always apparent to those whose
lives are far removed from such pion-
eering effects.
For flying in the Arctic is pioneer
ing, pioneering in a field which may
some day have a distinct value. /
think it is not at all improbable that
within 30 years men will fly in the
Arctic regions, possibly carrying pas
senSers, during the Arctic Summer
and also during the long Arctic night
I There are definite problems to be
solved first, and such flights as have
been made this year by Wilkins.
. Amundsen and myself will, | hope
help to solve them.
But in its immediate prospects Arc
tic flying seems a very doubtful and
1 risky proceeding to most people. The
fate of most Arctic explorers by air
has been unpleasant-some have lost
/ t.heir lives, nearly all have lost their
fortunes, and until this year all had
failed. The common experience was
. TO meet disaster and so broke. The
| latter outcome is apparently inevita-
bic, for there is no money to he made
! in polar exploration.
The Last Unknown Land.
What, then. are the definite returns
In such work? We gain a greater
knowledge of the magnetic variations
of ocean currents. of the causes of
meteorological disturbances. and we
have the great hope of finding land
| the last unknown land, if it eXists-in
. the world. Outside of the aeronauti
cal knowledge gained. these are the
tangible results of Arctic eXplora-
ton, by foot or in the air, but l
think that the great driving motive
in polar adventure and the cause of
the interest those at home take in it,
are due to a deep-seated instinct in
man.
The lure of the unknown has always
called him. TO enter where no one
has been before, to look upon territory
where man has never set foot-these
things exercise a powerful and ire
mind. For years men have been try
ing TO scale Mount Everest. 1t is pos
Sible that two brave young English
mel reached the top, but they never
returned and we shall not know until
more fortunate explorer finds some
trace of them. Why make these ter
rifle efforts? Why risk reputation,
happiness, even life itself merely to
see what no other man has ever seen?
he would find the secret of that i'm
pulse in the development of life which
has raised man from the amoeba
which has raised him from a half
dumb brute to the intellectual mastery
of the earth, and the waters under the
earth, and the air above. The ambi-
ton which caused man to invent the
airplane led inevitably to the flight to
the Pole. 1t is not probable that
Langley or the Wright brothers had
any desire or hope of making money
from their inventions. They wanted
TO fly.
From Europe to Japan.
But they were building for poster
ity; they We're blazing that difficult
path which the pioneer must always
travel 1t is so with flying in the
Arctic regions. Some day flying there
will be secure and practicable. The
development of the airplane will reach
a point where multi-motored machines
with a tremendous cruising radius
will fly from Europe to China or ia
nan across the Arctic basin. These
preliminary flights will yield the data
which will make it possible for our
children to take Summer trips to the
Pole-if we may be INDUCED in slight
fantasy.
No man wishes to risk his life USE
nh oh In flo
exploration now is to find land which
would serve as a base for airplanes,
for such bases must be established be-
fore flying in the North is practical
/ believe land is there. somewhere De
tween Axel Heiberg Island and ELS
mere Island and Point Barrow, Alaska.
To find that would be sufficient
accomplishment, but in seeking 1t in
formation of tremendous value to aVl-
alton is being obtained which VIII en-
able those who come after us to eX-
plore every bit of this tremendous
basin. The world will never be salts
fed so long as any uneXplored terri
tory remains. What is unknown at
tracts man with a greater fascination
than anything else in life, whether II
be in the laboratory of the physlcist
who steadily extends the limits OF his
vision, or in the waste places OF the
earth.
A VicariOus Adventure.
It is amazing how great an interest
peaple take in such exploration. L
have received hundreds of letters from
those who have read of what we nave
done this year and last year in Green
land. expressing their pleasure in
learning of what we had accom-
plished They live the adventure with
YOU: it gives them the opportunity to
take part in what to them Is chiefly
great sporting event, and that is i'm
portant to any country. Why? Be
cause 1t was an indication of the
spirit of the country itself.
But | think its greatest value at
present is to aviation, for we shall
never be thoroughly equipped in avi-
alton until we know all about flying
in cold regions. 1t may be very nee
essary to do so some day, and the
country which has progressed fur
thest in that respect may be very for
/ tunate We must know how to fly
from snow and ice under all condi-
tions. That is the reason why avia-
tors all over the world have taken so
great an interest in our work this
Spring at SpitZbergen. No aviator
will be satisfied until the Arctic is
conquered, as it eventually will be.
have always wanted to fly to the
Pole ever since / first began to be in
terested in aviation. 1t seemed pri-
marily problem of navigation, and
! think that determined to some eX-
tent the interest l took in problems
of air navigation. | Mad worked out
the navigation problems for the NC
planes on the Transatlantic flight and
/ was to have been assistant navigat-
inc nfficar of the ill-fatad RAJ the