Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-29

Mobile both automatically and be-
cause he was so near he could see It,
In two respects Mobile was always
worse OF than the previous expeditions.
He had injured men in his party. a
handicap obvious 10 any one. and he
was farther south. a handicap realized
only by the few VINO have studied the
conditions
Spitzbergen. near which Mobile came
down, looks far north on the map. But
IT Is not so physically. for the warm
waters OF the Gulf Stream reach it.
BY good luck Mobile landed north of
the islands and In such q position that
the winds which happened to be
blowing pressed the Ice he was on
agains. the rest If the ice, and that
In turn against the north coast. So
walking ashore should have been easier
for the Italians than 1t had been for
at least two OF the four expeditions we
have discussed, mile for mile
The striking difference between the
Mobile adventure and the others Is
none of those we have yet mentioned.
That difference Is in us, and in the
world in general, rather than In him
or In his companions. For this is the
new era of the radio and the airplane.
AthSt NnCt hI0ll n BEN SRNtiH
hansen went out before there ever was
q radio. He was prepared to rely on
himself in every emergency, and we
expected resourcefulneSS OF him. SO
with the rest of the expeditions We
have sketched. down 10 wilkins. who
had radio But ne was brought up
In the Older school of self-reliance and
believed in his own ability to fend for
himself whatever the emergency So
he did Just that. and walked ashore
80 miles over tumbling and splaShing
foes. We took his doing this for
granted and did not marvel at it or
praise him much---we must have sensed.
subconSciously that he belonged to the
old self-help school.
With the Mobile party everything was
different A few of his men appear to
have been of the opinion, when they
were cast adrift from the airShip. that
they should all begin at once TO travel
across the foes toward land. carrying
their sick with them, as the English
Markham had done successfully in 1876
and the American DE Long i'm 1881. But
the majority thought the party should
remain upon the noe where they landed
and place their whole trust In the radio.
The world at large was even more of
that opinion When the Italia failed 10
return to the Spitzbergen base, We all
began to say that they could be rescued
II only they had been able to descend
to the ice safely and could send out
their latitude and longitude by wireless.
When We finally got their position
coed In saving them II only they could
keep reporting their position until we
got the airpianes 10 them
Signs of the Times.
These are all signs of the times Even
after we learned over the radio that
Mobile had injured men In his party
we had only our modern defeat-and-
rescue complex 10 compel us to assume
that they were therefore helpless. for
previous expeditions had never been
helpless because of their sick or manned
their progress had been delayed, but
never stopped. From the earliest time
till the radio age We had taken It for
granted that men who so on perilouS
adventures are ready To aght their own
way out OF desperate situations. But
In 1928 1t seems to uS obvious that
Mobile could not travel because one of
his men had broken leg.
Possibly the Mobile party Travelled
little because they had 10 stay on one
foe 10 keep their radio working effee-
lively, That would be a sensible and
adequate reason We are not TRYING
to show that any thing was foolish
incompetent, or even ill-adeiSed We
are merely pointing out that the old
age OF self-reliance In polar exploration
is changing To one OF distress signals
and rescue operations and that this IL
the inevitable result Of our mechanical
conquest" Of the air and the ether by
the plane and radio.
But even II these things be In keep
ing with our time, we might neVerthe-
less we'll consider II there should not be
included hereafter IN each party that
files In the Arctic land many have 10
make forced landingl at least several
men who understand how To find seals
and get them on the pack Ice, who un-
derstand how Ia live comfortably and
how to travel afoot safely even under
Ciffieult circumstances Such men can
readily confer a useful part of their
skill on others
The ideal, of course, would be that
every man who flies To the Arctic
should learn, before he goes. the rudi-
ments of Seif-heln which he can apply
II his plane or dirigihle comes TO earth
Radios and icebreakers and rescue
planes would still have their place for
even the most competent may need help
at times, but the chances OF the safety
0f explnring parties would be doubled
and the expenditure nt lives and money
on rescue operations would be cut IN
half.