Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-08

~ mately score OF brave men
n have disappeared into the fog
4 \ beyond the Arctic Circle and
have not returned.
Some of them. there is reason to fear,
never will come back. Others may be
lives. One or two may save themselves
by a combination of intrepidity and
good luck such as attended the Russian
aviator Babushkin. who found his way
to his base ship Wednesday after three
days in a fragile seaplane amid tossing
Ice blocks where he had been forced
down.
What purpose, the world asks. is
served by this sacrifice? Is the scien-
tific data to be obtained in the white
desolation of fog and eternal ice worth
the price? Are Arctic expeditions
merely stunts" intended for national
or personal advertising? Or is it the
mystical, hypnotic call of the North"
that lures men to high adventure and
death under the circumpolar stars?
The reason varies, of course. with the
men. Scientific exploration" always Is
the ostensible excuse for QUILTING such
expeditions. often at great expense. But
what remains to be found?
Problems Already Solved.
There is no new land in the Arctic,
except possibly a few small, rocky
islands. During the past few years
Macmillan, Amundsen and Wilkins have
effectively disposed of the phantasma-
gCrical Harrisland-the latter two by
flying over the area it was supposed to
occupy and seeing below them nothing
but frozen ocean The North Pole-the
'boreal center as DR.. Cook used to call
it---has been discovered these 20 years.
While this theoretical spot from which
all directions are south remained un-
visited it was a challenge to the human
race. like forbidden room 10 the small
boy or to Blue Boards wives Nobody
expected to find anything there. But
its discovery was more or less of a
sporting proposition.
Within the past three years the
"boreal center" has been crossed three
times-once by Byrd. once By Amund-
sen and Mobile, and again by ob-le.
The challenge has been met. The door
of the forbidden room has been opened
and there is no mystery any longer.
The Greenland icecap has been
crossed and recrossed. Canadian police
patrols keep order in El1esmere Land.
European hunters have penetrated into
the depths of the SpitZbergen noun
tains. Russian expeditions are making
maps of Franz Josef Land and Nova
zembla.
Far North No Longer Mystery.
The facts are that the geography of
the Far North now is pretty well known.
Little remains to be discovered for the
purposes of the map makers. Most ex-
peditions to date have been essentially
typographical parties. Their essential
object was to discove They have
brought back other scientific data
largely as a side line.
Up to the present the exploration of
the Arctic has been a sort of inter-
national sporting event. Americans.
Canadians, English, French. Germans,
Eorwegians. Russians. Italians and
Danes have striven for the honor of
adding dots of color to the map-a bit
of red here for Britain and a bit of
blue here for Denmark. TINS nations
have given for this purpose some of
the ablest and bravest of their sailors
and their scientists.
The United States has played her
full part in, this heroic adventure. 1t
so happens that there is nothing oil
the map to bear witness to the part
she has PLAYED. BY right of discov-
cry she may have had some slight claim
to parts of northern Greenland. but
the whole island was claimed by Den
mark. This nation specifically gave
no all rights there resulting from the
discoveries of Pearv when she pur-
chased the Virgin Islands. Thnnreti-
ca''y she NAV have claim 10 Wran-
CELL and Herald Islands because of the
discoveries of De Long. Russia. how
ever, insists that they belong to her
and no effort has been made to dispute
| her assertion. Canada also wants them.
The disposition is to let Canada and
| Russia settle 1t among themselves.
Blind Spot" Conceded to Canada.
Even II Byrd or Macmillan had dis
| covered Harrisland--a supposed land
! mass of continental proportions in the
blind spot" of the Arctic-the validity
of the American claim would have been
questionable. since Canada has insisted
, on her right to all land from her Arc
| tic coast line straight to the Pole.
The possession of land in the Arctic
/ has been like the possession of a
sporting trophy. and the race has been
good humored enough. During the past
few years Russia has had a disposition
to show her teeth in her claims for
Wrangell and Herald Islands, and Den
mark has served notice TO the world
that there shall be no trespaSSine In
Greenland for the sake of the limo
cent natives, who must be saved from
the vices and diseases of the white
men.
But In no case has the Arctic terri
tory been of much economic impor-
lance, with the possible exception of
Spitzbergen and a small strip of the
eastern coast of Greenland. On the
whole Arctic territory has been only a
source Of expense to its owners.
OF late there have been theories re-
garding airlines over the top OF the
world. This would be the shortest dis
lance between New York and Toxic
II such lines ever are realized fuel
ing station in the Arctic probably
would be of international importance,
and If the American explorers actually
had discovered 'Harrisland" the coun-
try might have made a determined eff
fort to hold 1t for the sake of poster
ity. But they didn't find Ii and de-
spite evidence of the tides on the Arc
tic shore of Alaska, II seems certain
that it doesn't exist
What, then. Is the use of further
Arctic exploration?
Lecturer Answers Query.
The question was answered in a lee
cure In Washington last Winter by Or,
Fridtjof Nansen. president of the Nor
wegian Society for Exploration of the
Polar Regions and the dean of that
heroic company who ventured over the
Northern icecap. DIR. Nansen probably
anne the nearest of them all TO the
pure scientist, He set out on the lneory
that II his ship was frozen III the ice
pack 1t would drift across the North
Pole, 1t didn't exactly do this. bur
DR., Nansen reached latitude SO. the
tarthest north point visited by man up
to that time
seeking personal glory. but hardly Nam
sen The NOrWerian exnlnred the Arctic